Does the Lambda relay always get hot?

[AugustneverEnds]

My D has been the recipient of a lot of electrical repairs in the past couple of days. Went out driving this morning and decided to stop and have a look around the relay compartment. The lambda relay was noticeably hot, hot to the touch not enough to burn my finger but hot nonetheless. Is this normal function?

(Some background: replaced the alternator last week because the PO installed the last one incorrectly and caused the positive terminal to break. Replaced all of the changeover relays with DMCH's kit. Running a new lamp delay module. The car didn't seem to like the new RPM relay so still using the old one. Also want to give a shout out to DMCMW for their sterling advice which saved me a considerable amount of money

[sdg3205]

Is the FV buzzing? I noticed the same on my new project car, but the FV is not buzzing. I haven't dug into that system yet. It got hot within about 20 seconds.

[Bitsyncmaster]

Yes it is normal for the Lambda relay to get hot. It's just that the coil current is higher than the other relays (except the RPM relay which is even higher). That was the second relay I made solid state because like you, I felt around for hot components.

[AugustneverEnds]

Yes it is normal for the Lambda relay to get hot. It's just that the coil current is higher than the other relays (except the RPM relay which is even higher). That was the second relay I made solid state because like you, I felt around for hot components.

Ohhh I see, thank you Mr. Dave. I might buy one of yours then since I'd like to keep the relay compartment as cool as possible.

[AugustneverEnds]

Is the FV buzzing? I noticed the same on my new project car, but the FV is not buzzing. I haven't dug into that system yet. It got hot within about 20 seconds.

Yep, FV is buzzing.

[Bitsyncmaster]

Ohhh I see, thank you Mr. Dave. I might buy one of yours then since I'd like to keep the relay compartment as cool as possible.

You can move one wire and use the standard relay in the Lambda location. I don't sell a solid state relay built for the stock wiring of the lambda socket.

[JohnZ]

Probably this question has been already put around here, but... are there some tips to actually cool down the entire relay compartment?

Maybe some different solution mixed together... replace wooden cover for example?

[Bitsyncmaster]

Probably this question has been already put around here, but... are there some tips to actually cool down the entire relay compartment?

Maybe some different solution mixed together... replace wooden cover for example?

There were a few people that were trying a fan about 7 years ago but I have not heard much about it since.

[dn010]

There were a few people that were trying a fan about 7 years ago but I have not heard much about it since.

I am running fans in my relay compartment; I put 2 small size computer fans in the compartment 8-10 years ago just to move the air around and I don't seem to have any heat issues. Prior to this, I had a melted headlight fuse but that could have been from the PO.

[DMC-81]

Resurrecting this thread to ask questions:

After I installed Bitsyncmaster's fused fan fail unit and the solid state cooling fan relay I went to a car show today and was monitoring the relay compartment throughout the day to make sure everything was good, as I always do after I make a change to the car.

The relays and wires underneath were great, being only warm after running the AC and sitting through Florida's 4-5 minute red lights on this gorgeous 85 degree day:



However I noticed (probably for the first time) that the lambda relay was hot. Like described above, not hot enough to burn my fingers, but hot. This is a 3 year old NOS lambda relay.

On the drive home, I had two thoughts:

1) I wonder if Bitsy makes an improved Lambda relay?

2) I thought of making a second wooden relay cover and replacing most of the inner area with wire mesh and installing 1-3 quiet computer fans in it to optionally use the cover to add more cooling to the relay compartment while driving, especially in the summer months.

I came home and looked here and lo and behold, both topics are discussed in the same thread. Apparently that's normal operation for the original lambda relay. So my questions:

1) Dave, do you still offer the solid state Lambda relay? Does it still require the wiring change?

2) Dan, can you post a picture of the fan solution that you made? Did it help in the temperature area?

I drive my car on most weekends and I'm trying to mitigate/ prevent any future problems.

Thanks,