Terrible Tom <SilverEightynine@aol.com> wrote:
: jon@dakota-truck.net wrote:
:> This is actually on my '01 Ram, but I guess it could have just as
:> easily been on a Dak. ;-)
:>
:> The fog lights went out on my Ram a few weeks ago, and I have just
:> recently gotten around to looking to see what the problem might be.
:> Checked the fuses, and everything was fine, looked into the lights
:> and the bulb filaments seemed OK, then I got under the truck to
:> look at the back of the lights and discovered that they were
:> aftermarket - not factory fog lights! So, I trace the wiring and
:> find the fuse (not blown), and then the relay.
: OK let me see if I got this straight...
: Fog lights no workey...
: All wires are good...
: You have power coming from your battery
: You have good grounds,
: You have working accessories and have verified the wires to them are good..
: Your switched 12volt source is good...
"Yep" to all of the above
: When you send the switched 12volts to the relay, it clicks over - but
: the accessories do not power up?
Yep, it did click over, but only when its not actually switching
anything (i.e. no connection to the 12v source pin)
: Somthing internally is fubar with that realy heh.
I'd say so. :-)
: Did the relay ever supply power to the accessory terminal at all while
: you were testing it? I think you said it did - but I honestly wasnt
: able to understand your description of your testing too well.
Well, I guess technically, no, it didn't supply power to the "output"
terminal, but when testing with an ohm meter, without power on the
"12v source" terminal, the relay did click, and connect the input to the
output.
: Probably
: confusion on the termonoligy. A standard 4 terminal relay has 4
: connections. 12volt source, 12volt switched source, ground, and
: to-accessory. Is this what your realy is like? I have seen other types
: of relays with more than 4 terminals. Those are mutated relays from
: Twin Peaks and I do not recognize them as actual relays. Those relays
: have no rights under the "You have more than 4 relay terminals you
: freaky dutch bastard!" Act of 1907.
Heh! ;-)
Yeah, this wasn't a "standard" relay like what most people would think
of, it had a slightly different form factor, but it operated the same as
a standard 4 terminal relay. Actually, there is a 5 terminal version
of the standard 4 terminal relay, its got an extra terminal, usually right
in the middle. A "standard" 4 terminal relay has the 2 terminals for the
coil (12v switched source and ground) 85 and 86, then the 2 terminals for
the switched circuit (12v source - 30) and the output to accessory (87).
The 5 pin relay ads the 87a terminal, which is connected to the
12v source (30) when the coil is *not* energized. (In the proper
electrical terminology, its a "normally closed" switch as opposed to a
"normally open" switch. 5 terminal relays with both 87 and 87a pins
are both normally open and normally closed relays, they can be used for
either one, or both at the same time (almost like 2 relays in one) :-)
I'm not sure if that is the type of relay you are referring to, but
thought I would mention it just in case. :-) They can be quite useful -
I recently finished installing an onboard air system on the '01 Ram,
and there was a surprising amount of wiring - I built a "redneck PDC"
on a pine board for the system which contains 4 relays, a few fuses,
has almost 20 inputs and outputs, and that normally closed contact
came in handy. :-) (Nice for making circuits which "fail" in the
"safe" state.)
--
-Jon-
.-- Jon Steiger ---- jon@dakota-truck.net or jon@jonsteiger.com --.
| 1970 Barracuda - 1990 Dakota 'vert - 1992 Ram 4x4 - 1996 Dakota |
| 1996 Intruder 1400 - 1996 Kolb FireFly - 2001 Ram QC 3500 CTD |
`------------------------------------ http://www.jonsteiger.com --'
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