p0wp0w

Hi,
Well just a few days ago my DME relay (I suppose) gave out and the car would crank forever and not start at school. Luckily my friend brought me home and I brought up the article on Clark's Garage which teaches you how to make a DME jumpstart thing out of 3 wires (very useful). So I rigged one of those up and went to school, plugged it in and bamn started the car and drove home to sit in the garage. I ordered a new DME Relay from Paragon (only took 2 days to get here with ground shipping, thank goodness I live in Texas) and plugged it in and started up! Woohoo fine right?

So today I decided to detail the engine bay so I cleaned and stuff and started the car after the cleaning, started up fine. Turned her off and started to do some interior cleaning. Well finished and wanted to go for a spin and cranked it up but no start!! Boy was I furious, crank forever and no start. So I got the emergency jumper thing and plugged it in and bamn started up on the first try. So what's the deal??

Brand new DME Relay and after a few days its blown? On the Paragon sight when I search for DME relay's it only shows DME Relays with part# starting with 993 whereas my original DME started with 944. BUT in the description it says it will work on all 944's and it did work, until 2 days after.

What could be my problem?? Am I cursed for life with DME problems? It works fine if I use the emergency DME jumper...

Thanks in advance!

Danno

If you take apart a DME relay, you'll see that the quality of construction is not all that great... I think Beab951's got a solid-state replacement in the works??? No mechanical parts to wear out. Any news???

Bri Bro

After two of these relay failures, one in a Volvo and another in a 951, I have had my eyes open for a replacement that is bullet proof. The DME relay controls power to both the DME computer and the fuel pump... if it goes dead the car is a paper weight. The DME relay uses really simple (would like to use another word here) relays in the DME that will fail in time. I carry a spare in the 951, but I wasn't expecting this failure in the Volvo. Ask me how long it took to get out of WV with a broke relay in a Volvo. All my AAA costs were recovered with this one tow.

I have found a solid state replacement circuit, no mechanical part and has protection from over current, volt and temperature. The proto circuit worked as expected, no issues to date.

Any interest in this??

p0wp0w

YES very interested!

How much or whatever? I'm sick of failed DME Relays.

Cyrus951

If you wait a couple hours for the relay to cool, it'll work again.
That is how mine worked anyway..

edit: the old relay # that started with 944 was superseded (is that how you spell it? ) to a new # that starts with 993. They're the same relay, and unfortunatley, same bad design.

p0wp0w

Thanks Cyrus I was wondering about the 993 number.

Bump, wanna know more details about beab951's thing!

eclou

Something in your DME may be causing the relay to overheat. May want to replace the DME

washington951

powpow - start your car - then go around to the passenger side, open the door and get down on your knees - with your knees on the ground. reach into the passenger side footwell and give the floorboard area - the slanted part - a few REALLY GOOD wacks with the bottom of your fist - nearly as hard as you can. if your car stumbles or dies - you have discovered that you have a bad DME (or possibly a bad KLR)

let us know what you find on this front and we'll proceed from there....

eclou

Wait Powpow, aren't you the one who shorted your DME harness wiring? I would look there first.

p0wp0w

waited one whole day and it still doesn't start. Now it won't start with the emergency jumper...I would try your way Washington951 but the car won't even start right now. Just cranks and cranks...

p0wp0w

yeah, I'm checking that tonight thanks!

adrial

Try whacking the DME to see if that gets it to start.

Cyrus951

Can you pop the clutch and make it start?
That's what I had to do whenever my relay died.

If your car does start after wacking the DME, then take your DME to a TV repair shop, and ask them to resolder all the cracked solder joints.

If the car was working fine prior to you cutting that wire when you were installing your a/f gauge, then I'd look there.

p0wp0w

hahah thanks for all the suggestions.

Cyrus: Pop the clutch? Don't really understand...

but...

After whacking the DME box a few times it still wouldn't start...
Dad gives me an idea that maybe it won't start because battery is loosing its juice and won't have enough energy to spark? Well hooked up the jumper cables and started but it wouldnt work. After about 4 times the car comes back to life!!! JEEZ what a roller coaster ride. Don't really know if the battery is at fault or not though because it took like 4 tries until it started up though. But we're replacing the battery tomorrow...

So do you guys think it is the battery?

Thanks for all the help!!

Cyrus951

Popping the clutch is when you have someone push the car on a level surface, or downhill, and while they're pushing the car, you crank the engine, and put it in gear while cranking, the car will start.

Did you crank the engine to the point of you draining the battery?
No, I doubt it's your battery. If your battery is decharged, hook it up to another car and jump it, or take it to Autozone, and have them charge it for free.