Relay socket

[Mark Maulden]

I have a friend that has intermittent glow plug problems with his Volvo MD 2030. I traced the issue to a loose fitting relay in the socket. The relay has metal tabs that fit into female connectors inserted in the plastic base. Basically, it's a spayed (sp?) connector. The relay is about 1 cu in in size. I think over the years with vibration, the female part has spread the compression tangs and electrical connection suffers. The relays are contained in a housing so they are pretty clean and I have cleaned with appropriate cleaner. There are two relays one for the glow plugs and one for a starter relay. The glow plug relay is definately looser than the other. I hope I've explained this sufficiently. So, my question is can the individual wires be removed from the plastic base and be reinserted after some adjustments? In the long term these type of devices should be moved off engine..

 

[Ken Cross]

A photo may help to determine what type of relay base is used. It's also possible to solder the relay in place and eliminate the base. The problem with that is it would make replacement of the relay more difficult.

There are so many ways to fix this (relocate relay, different hardware, hard-wire the relay, solid state replacement, etc.)
I suspect it's a simple single pole relay. A horn relay may be an appropriate replacement.

Ken

 

[Mark Maulden]

If it were my boat, a multitude of solutions would exist. These look to be pretty generic relays as I've seen them on heaters etc..the female wire termination(s) is inserted in the plastic socket and locked into place somehow. I'd like to just pull the termination out and squeeze the termination down a little and reinsert if thats possible. Hmmm...speaking of heaters, Sure Marine may be able to help!

 

[jlp0217]

Replacement bases are available at auto parts stores. Come with short pigtails that can be crimped connected into the wiring harness.