S3 relays

[garypTVRS3]

Hi all, been advised to consider swapping out my 30 years old relays for new, for the sake of reliability. TBH I think I've only ever had to change a relay once, maybe twice in over 30 years... Although I do get the wisdom of the advice... So, are there any that are more susceptible to aging, possibly being located somewhere sensible where they're more likely to get excessively hot or wet...? Those I should prioritise!

Planning to do this over the winter, hence just getting my ducks in a row for now.

Ta much!

[garypTVRS3]

Thanks for all the replies!

I reckoned there would be two schools of thought.

My usual way of tackling a 'planned' job (i.e. not the unplanned, oh-st type jobs) is:
1) research and glean knowledge from others (e.g. this post and Steve Heath's book)
2) armed with the knowledge from 1) go look see (e.g. check physical locations - not always where expected - and pull/check as appropriate)
3) make plan to renew / refurb / replace / upgrade as appropriate
4) ensure all known parts and tools are available, then get on and do it...

...somehow things don't always go as planned...

I intend to do this over the winter, that way I have time to re-plan if things don't go as planned...

I've just got my car back on the road after a lengthy lay-off for a full body off chassis restoration (surprise, surprise), I don't want to pull anything just yet, want to enjoy the car as is for a couple of months first!

Is there a list of relays in Steve Heath's book? Pulling spares from newer German cars sounds like a reasonable idea, could do that whether I carry them as spares or use them to replace old ones...

[garypTVRS3]

GreenV8S said:

Penelope Stopit said:

These are very nice, it's just a case of wating 10 years or so for a reduction in their price

Unless you are trying to PWM something, I can't see the benefit. They cost more, are fussy about getting the polarity right on all connections, generate more heat and unlikely to be any more reliable than a mechanical relay.

Oh, I better not get to involved! However, having spent most of my working career in semiconductors including being a Reliability Engineer (back in the days when I did real work instead of directing!) in terms of reliability I'd put a solid-state relay up against a mechanical relay any day... that said, like all things, it's all a cost-benefit argument...

...and of course there's the fear of breaking into the thirty year old electrical system and having it spit the dummy...

hence I'll probably throw some spares in the boot and replace them as I need to!

[garypTVRS3]

That's why I posted in the first place... as I said, I don't necessarily want to intervene in the electrical system and cause the gremlins to appear...

On the other hand there may be e.g. water ingress which isn't visible hence there could be a problem lurking under the surface... having had all of two weeks actual use from my car in the two years of ownership it's hard to say what the risk is.

Anyway, I have a servo + master cylinder to replace (would be nice to have brakes that work properly)... then a distributor + coil + leads... then I'll maybe take a closer look at the relays... maybe I'll just pop some spares in the boot...