relay problems

[jorge]

hello,
I need help. I have a 2000 mitsubishi eclipse v6.
Like 1 year ago my MFI relay went bad. The car intermitenlty stalls when i was driving. I replaced that relay after dealing with this problem for months, because it was a pain in the a*s to find the problem.
So I replaced that relay and the car workd fine for 6 months. Then again the same relay went bad! .So i replaced that MFI relay again and it’s working fine.
What could be the cause of those relays going bad in that circuit?

That MFI circuit appears to supply power to the crankshaft position sensor,iac valve,egr vacuum solenoid and distributor. When the relay fails the car stalls immediatly. I had to turn off the switch and then try to start the car,it was an intermittent failure. It randomly happends.
So im on my second relay on that circuit.

Also i noticed that when the relay fails. it was supplying only 3 volts instead of 12v.

HELP.

Topic

[college man]

when the relay fails. is it the coil that fryes
or the contact side. are you using an OE relay?
If the contact side is going bad.you may have something
drawing to much power (going bad)frying the contacts.

[jorge]

Yes. I’m using an OEM one,i picked 3 of those relays from the junk yard.

Is there any way to find who is drawing alot of power?… As i said im on the second OEM relay now, and this one may fail at any moment. I dont feel my car safe.

thanks

[college man]

you may need to put an amp meter on the wires.
Check the amp draw of the fuel pump.

[EricTheCarGuy]

I’m wondering if your salvage yard parts are the cause. Stuff like that that sits out in the elements can go bad just from sitting. You may want to try a new part instead of salvage parts. That said, a voltage drop test can help determine if a component is drawing too much current. An ammeter will measure this directly but it can be a trickier test to perform.

[Author]

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