General Technical & Electrical General technical and electrical discussion for the Ford Ranger that does not fit in any other sub-forum.

Burnt Relay

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Old 02-24-2010
FULLSCALE's Avatar
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Burnt Relay

This is not on my truck, but on my '02 Focus ZX5...

A while back (not knowing what damage they can do) I put in higher wattage headlight bulbs in the Focus. A while later we had some issues with them flickering on and off so I investigated and found a burnt headlight relay as well as melted headlight connectors and even some of the plastic around the relay on the fuse panel was melted also.
So I put some stock wattage bulbs back in, and soldered new connectors for the bulbs and at the same time I put in a new relay.
My fiance called me today at work to tell me her car had no headlights, then they flickered on and all was well.
I got home from work, and sure enough that same relay is burnt again. It's probably been close to a year since I changed the last one.
Could there still be some issue still in there, or does a relay short out when it's done and turn a burnt colour on the sides/melt a bit at the base?
For now I just pulled the fog light relay and put it into the headlight spot so she has lights to go to work tomorrow morning while I get a new relay at work (and a second for the glovebox spare!)
 
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Old 02-24-2010
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sounds like a wire is shorting out somewhere. trace the wires and look for any spot where the insulation chaffed off and could be grounding out.
 
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Old 02-24-2010
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I'll take a look but man everything is tough to get to on this car... I can see like 2" of wire at the top and then another 2" where it goes to the headlight! lol
 
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