I'm out of $27 and stuck with a crap NAPA proformer relay!

[OilPatch197]

The relays that are under the NAPA Proformer line are garbage. I got a '92 car, about two years ago fuel pump died, we replaced the grey relay($10) along with other stuff.

So now every now and then I would go to my car and my battery would be very low or drained dead, did this once every six months, I've hit three deer with this car and was worried I had a drain somewhere, shorted wire, BUT I COULD NEVER FIND IT!

Now last Thrusday my battery was damn low, I had to leave for work so I jumped it. I decided I would disconnect it while parked at work and see if my battery would drain down(shorted battery?) after work it still had a charge.

Now as I hooked it up after work, getting ready to go home, and heard a HISSS HISS HISSSSSSS sound from my fuel pressure regulator, I'm like WTF is this? So I went to the back of the car and my fuel pump was running!

I had no keys in the ignition, so I thought either my made in china relay was sticking or my oil pressure switch was sticking.

Relay was easier to get, So I get a duralast relay(($17)at AutoZone and vola!

I shook the grey NAPA relay, and the dang thing rattled! Opened it up and a loose wad of solder was loose in there,shorting out the relay.

I can't get my 10 bucks back because I lost my receipt, and it is electronic.

 

[Mark_88]

It appears that your signature foretold of this event...lol...

Good to hear you got it corrected though...

 

[Road Angels]

Napa is Crapa all of the auto shops in my town now order there parts from O'Reily's, witch is 15 miles away and they wait for the delivery in stead of using the Napa in town the parts are that bad, I have had 2 major parts on my merc. that failed, the warranty was 30 day, they only lasted 60 days

 

[Andy D]

This is my experience with what I think are mini-relays. No experience with the Ranger, but the EFI is close enough to my 88 528e to be Bosch. It has one inch cubes with 4 or 5 prongs. Ive had only 2 or 3 of these fail in the several cars I've had over 18 yrs. They are mostly Bosch and some are 30 yrs old. I will say that the last failure was also the last relay I bought. I managed to repair it, but that is just screwing around. I save the relays from every one I scrap. Relays are like bearings they are made to standard specs. Kinda sorta, BMW has a few proprietary ones. I'm sure Ford plays that game to an extant as well. Go to junk yard and start grabbing every removable fuse and relay from the same car you drive. The blades on the relay are numbered to a table of functions .30 is constant 12 volts and 87 is the device. for instance. Some blades have diodes, etc. 85 and something are the switch and 30 and 87 are pulled closed. Anyway, make sure the contacts are clean and tight in the socket, then find the right relay.

 

[97RangerXLT]

another thing to consider...if you had a ball of solder in the relay, it could be the relay was fine but got hot and melted some of the solder. You said you hit 3 deer (damn, I know of hunter's that have not been that lucky ) with this car, you might have a short that is causing the relay or wiring to the relay to get hot. Keep an eye on it...

AJ

 

[OilPatch197]

another thing to consider...if you had a ball of solder in the relay, it could be the relay was fine but got hot and melted some of the solder. You said you hit 3 deer (damn, I know of hunter's that have not been that lucky ) with this car, you might have a short that is causing the relay or wiring to the relay to get hot. Keep an eye on it...

AJ

Come to think of it, the relay *could* have been damaged by the last deer I hit. I find it hard to believe this.

1st deer- head on took out grill, dented hood and wiped out pass. side headlamp.

2nd deer took out pass. side headlamp and fractured bumper slightly

3rd deer took out pass side headlamp and dented pass side fender.

The relay bank is on the pass side fender, and all the other relays are HELLA(made in USA) brand except for the one that failed, which was the one I replaced with the China no name relay.

So perhaps the relay isn't as crappy as I thought, but it goes to show that it failed, probably fractured the solder in it with the 3rd collision(cold solder joint), and broke loose, was not built as good as the other relays which are just fine. But yeah I will check the amp draw of the fuel pump with an ammeter, see if anything is out of spec.

 

[doorgunner]

The relays that feel light in your hand compared to a good old heavy relay don't last long......been there. The heavy relays have quality stuff inside the case and are sealed better against under-hood water.....been there.

A decent relay last decades unless there is a loose connection /bare wire/bad electric part drawing too much amps/ or gremlins.

(Gremlins: little demons first recognized in World War II.....then in the Viet Nam War------they mess with everything---especially electric stuff---normally you'll never see one of em---

unless your a doorgunner....I glimpsed a couple of them out of the corner of my eye---they are less than a foot tall/humanoid features/red or green snake-like skin/ smirks on their little faces/very fast like rats/eyes are re or green or yellow but never the same color as their skin.)

Hope that helps.