Starter Relays, I recommend them on all cars now |
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Starter Relays, I recommend them on all cars now |
McMark |
Nov 10 2013, 03:16 PM
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#1
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914 Freak! Group: Retired Admin Posts: 20,179 Joined: 13-March 03 From: Grand Rapids, MI Member No.: 419 Region Association: None |
I've been meaning to post this for awhile and Andyrew's recent starter thread inspired me. I used to recommend against a relay at the starter because it was always known as a 'hot start' relay, and hot start issues can be a sign of a wearing starter. So I considered the relay to be a baind-aid to avoid have to really fix the problem - a bad starter.
Jamie (JRust) was having some ignition switch issues and I started to rethink my position on the starter relay. I realized that the crappy reproduction ignition switches that are available now are prone to failure from having too much current pushed through them. They simply aren't built with enough focus on quality to stand up to the way Porsche/VW designed the starting system. So now I recommend a starter relay on all cars in order to avoid undue stress on either old, tired factory ignition switches or crappy reproduction switches. This can be any 30A or larger relay and Bosch sells a starer relay kit, but I didn't like some of the choices they made, especially because it's sold as a universal kit, which means it doesn't fit nicely on anything. So I put together my own kit designed specifically for our cars. I also found a relay that has a fuse built in, rather than a separate unit. A starter relay can be made with pieces available from your FLAPS, but for those of you who don't feel like going that route, I've made a few of my setup available for sale. This thread is more about sharing information though, so I'll exclude the details here. Attached image(s) |
John |
Nov 12 2013, 03:29 PM
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member? what's a member? Group: Members Posts: 3,393 Joined: 30-January 04 From: Evansville, IN (SIRPCA) Member No.: 1,615 Region Association: None |
This thread is real interesting. I have never had an issue other than with a bad starter or starter solenoid. Once we went through several ignition switches with the DE car until we got a good one, but that was it. Never put a relay on the starter solenoid.
I have always been under the impression that the starter solenoid WAS a giant relay that took all the major current of the starter. I have replaced starter solenoids, but the last one I replaced was years ago. The solenoid throws the sprag out into the flywheel teeth and once fully out, the primary contact closes which powers the starter directly fed from the battery. How many amps does the starter solenoid draw? I wouldn't imagine it is too much for a switch. Not trying to start anything (no pun intended), and I have read about this "fix" in the past, but never resorted to it. I do know that Porsche in it's infinite wisdom has taxed electrical switches in several instances (headlight switch comes to mind), so I wouldn't put it past them to have a large draw on a set of switch contacts being the root cause of switch failure (ever seen the high beam switch contacts in a 911?). Porsche certainly wasn't fond of over design of their electrical systems. They did at least follow a common color scheme that has proven beneficial on these old air cooled cars, and in many instances, they did run ground wires in a lot of places where other manufacturers simply scrape paint off with a screw in order to ground a circuit. I suppose the starter solenoid relay fix is a lot more common than I ever had thought. I still say clean your connections and grounds, but I suppose as a last course of action, I do like the clean look of the small relay either tucked into the eng. comp. relay board or directly attached to the solenoid. |
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