89Kicker_IROC-Z

Alright guys, for the first time in over a year, my relay blew.

So i went to radioshack and bought another one, POP it went.

I mean it will work for the first few cranks, then after a while it goes.

(everything is wired right)

Only thing ive changed electronically in the car has been my new ignition, coil, wires, cap, rotor etc. I did do a engine overhaul with new heads, cam, and stealthram but that has nothing to do with why its blowing on me.

I bought another one tonight and the car wouldnt even crank over with this little bugger, and the longer i held down the key, the more smoke would start to develop on the relay.

if I hold it down for more than 5 seconds its gonna blow like the one that did yesterday.

question is....

CAN I USE A HIGHER AMP RELAY?

possibly a 10 amp, or even a 30amp automotive relay instead of this crappy little 5 amper?

I mean it worked fine for over a year, and now i go to star the car with the new engine and this keeps happening to me, I dont want to keep wasting 10 bucks on every damn relay just to watch it go bang everytime i try to start the car.

Trickster

It has been posted on here recently that a 30 AMP'er works better.

89Kicker_IROC-Z

this one should work better right? (radioshack image)

Trickster

Here is the link that I was referring to earlier and it has a picture of the relay.

https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=251586

89Kicker_IROC-Z

yes, thats the standard 5 amp one from radio shack...the same one thats burning out with me.


one quick thing, im using a thin gauge wire for all my connections, could that be contributing to the problem?

Apeiron

Thicker is better, but if it was a problem the wires would probably be burning up instead of the relay.

89Kicker_IROC-Z

im gonna try a 10 or 30 amp relay, with some nice gauge wires to match...soder everything on and tape it all and hope for the best

z92maroman

This relay worked for over a yr, rite? and now even a new 1 smokes immediately? The relay isn't the prob! you have another issue here. Somewhere one of these wires is shorted or something. Going to a higher relay may work, but all u r doing is making the wires take a higher load than they should. thats why the 5A relay to begin with, to protect the circuits! A bigger relay is playin w/fire, LITERALLY!!!!!fire

Apeiron

I prefer to use fuses to protect my circuits, rather than relays.