Relais fail when cold / moist?
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2017
Posts: 17
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From: Frankfurt
Relais fail when cold / moist?
Hello,
I'm a bit in a rush so long story short:
When i got in my FD today i noticed the light around the ignition key blinking instead of being on constantly. Also there was no "beep beep, beep beep, beep beep" but rather a "beep ... beep ... beep ..." accompanied by a relais clicking somewhere where the turn light relais must be, but sounding different, bigger.
Tried starting the car, no issues. so far everything worked, except for the power windows. they were functioning only for fragments in the frequence the relais clicked. turned on the heater and when it got warm inside the timespan the relais worked increased until it stopped clicking and everything worked again normally. Had heavy rain today and the temperatures were around 8-10°C -> 46-50°F.
Does anyone have an idea what that might be? Am I going to damage stuff if I drive like that?
Thank you and have a nice day!
I'm a bit in a rush so long story short:
When i got in my FD today i noticed the light around the ignition key blinking instead of being on constantly. Also there was no "beep beep, beep beep, beep beep" but rather a "beep ... beep ... beep ..." accompanied by a relais clicking somewhere where the turn light relais must be, but sounding different, bigger.
Tried starting the car, no issues. so far everything worked, except for the power windows. they were functioning only for fragments in the frequence the relais clicked. turned on the heater and when it got warm inside the timespan the relais worked increased until it stopped clicking and everything worked again normally. Had heavy rain today and the temperatures were around 8-10°C -> 46-50°F.
Does anyone have an idea what that might be? Am I going to damage stuff if I drive like that?
Thank you and have a nice day!
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2017
Posts: 17
Likes: 0
From: Frankfurt
Hi again!
if anyone has an idea on this one, or knows somebody who could have an idea I'd highly appreciate your input.
I now think it might have something to do with cold temperatures, because this behaviour stops when the interior is heated up, AND it does not occur when the car sits in an underground garage.
So I've made this little video showing the issue. I studied the wiring diagrams but I can NOT find where the ignition illumination and the power windows come together, since these two things are the only affected ones.
Listen closely, there's a silent clicking when the door is open. and only when its open / the ignition illumination should be on.
when the key goes in, nothing happens.
turning it to acc makes the beeper turn on, but getting interrupted in the same rythm the silent clicking occursm and mentioned illumination turns off
turning it one step further makes a relay turn on, and off in the same fashion. i think this might be the one supplying power to the power windows.
Where could i start searching? All the fuses behind the kicker panel look OK and since it has that distinct rythm to it, i think it might be something like a switch or a relay.
anynone? pretty please?
if anyone has an idea on this one, or knows somebody who could have an idea I'd highly appreciate your input.
I now think it might have something to do with cold temperatures, because this behaviour stops when the interior is heated up, AND it does not occur when the car sits in an underground garage.
So I've made this little video showing the issue. I studied the wiring diagrams but I can NOT find where the ignition illumination and the power windows come together, since these two things are the only affected ones.
Listen closely, there's a silent clicking when the door is open. and only when its open / the ignition illumination should be on.
when the key goes in, nothing happens.
turning it to acc makes the beeper turn on, but getting interrupted in the same rythm the silent clicking occursm and mentioned illumination turns off
turning it one step further makes a relay turn on, and off in the same fashion. i think this might be the one supplying power to the power windows.
Where could i start searching? All the fuses behind the kicker panel look OK and since it has that distinct rythm to it, i think it might be something like a switch or a relay.
anynone? pretty please?
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 3,425
Likes: 489
From: okinawa to tampa
my car does everything you described as well. its your f100 relay under the dash. the big black box thing thats under there sideways. when cold all the things that happen in your video happen in my car. same with the window being intermittent between beeps. i also get a flashing seat belt light. when it warms up in the car, it all stops and everything goes to normal. this condition hasnt happened at all during normal temperatures. when i say cold i mean ~60F or colder. worry not, you can either live with it as a quark or replace/repair that relay. im choosing to live with it.
