[MrSweet1991]

Hi All,

cars been off the road for 15 months and finally it's going back on the road next month and I have a list of things I'd like to do. I've removed the Intake Manifold again and I was going to open the glow plug relay as I've heard there's an aluminium wire that fails and can be replaced with a copper one, whether or not this is salvageable I don't know but I was wondering if anyone else has ventured into fixing one of their relays?

cheers.

[charliewaqs]

I'd just replace the thing to be fair.

[MrSweet1991]

Originally Posted by charliewaqs

I'd just replace the thing to be fair.

Haha, I see where you're coming from but if this really is a case of an aluminium wire that needs replacing I think that would be an amazingly cheap fix for a part that can cost in the region of £80 - £100 and would be nice to see 6 fewer faults stored on the ECU. I'm about to go outside and remove it and see if I can crack it open and I'll get some pictures.

[Andrew Barker]

I did see a youtube vid on the controller being repaired once might be worth a search.

It involved cutting it open. I went hmmmm and bought a new one.

[mt10argyll]

I cut mine open with a Dremel , had a look inside it is full of a sort
of silicon gel, started to take it out, then thought feck it and binned it

[Mayorie]

Originally Posted by mt10argyll

I cut mine open with a Dremel , had a look inside it is full of a sort
of silicon gel, started to take it out, then thought feck it and binned it

+1

[MrSweet1991]

Damn, well I have to say I'm having the opposite experience. Took the glow plug controller out, used a hammer and screwdriver to snap off the controller "cover" if that's what you'd call it and immediately could se the common "aluminium wire" fault I've read about. Used a flat head to pry both ends of the aluminium wire out of the gel and I'll be re-joining them tomorrow. If that's all it takes I'll be very happy!

[rasa bmw]

looks like an insect trapped in amber ha ha,,,is the controller 1 million years old ha ah

[MrSweet1991]

Originally Posted by rasa bmw

looks like an insect trapped in amber ha ha,,,is the controller 1 million years old ha ah

Lmao it is odd for sure, it still baffles me how they used aluminium wire which is a bad idea yet they put a lot of effort protecting the insides. I'd like to know what the gell is so I can resurface it again before gluing the cover on.

Once that's all done it's back to disassembling more.. With the Manifold, EGR and Belt off I realllly want to remove the head and replace the valve stem seals and clean the valves to reseat them but a head gasket is near £100 and it would make sense replacing the timing chain but it's all ££££ lol

[nick46]

Originally Posted by MrSweet1991

Lmao it is odd for sure, it still baffles me how they used aluminium wire which is a bad idea yet they put a lot of effort protecting the insides. I'd like to know what the gell is so I can resurface it again before gluing the cover on.

Its probably a bit like silicone sealant, so that's what I'd use, and then just glue the lid back on.

[MrSweet1991]

Originally Posted by nick46

Its probably a bit like silicone sealant, so that's what I'd use, and then just glue the lid back on.

Yeah, that's the one mate. cars in bits at the moment and still going to strip more off..

I lose a bit of coolant from somewhere as well but I've never noticed any drips so I thought maybe the EGR Cooler cracked, so to check I made this awesome contraption with my shower hose!



Not a drop of water ended up inside though so it's definitely not there

[MrSweet1991]

View post on imgur.com

What a neat and professional looking repair.

[david5041]

Originally Posted by MrSweet1991

What a neat and professional looking repair.

An advice:

You just took an hour or so to open this relay / controller / control unit,
then why you just don't replace all wires?
Other wires than B+ wires tend to brake connection too.

Use grinder to clean the solder points, and use FLUX.
With flux soldering is so much easier.
Solder "drops" must be shiny, not foggy, foggy ones are "cold-solder" joint and it will not last long.

A "neater" one:



This is relay from my 2007 E92 330d, took me an hour or so to repair it,
it works like new(or even better?)

I wrote down a kind of scheme schematic for this relay,
so you can scrape out that silicone crap with no worries which wire goes where.

White numbers are just 1-12 order, and red are connector pin numbers.
P.S. I used copper wire core from cheap coaxial RG6 cable.

Pins 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 and 8 are for glow plugs, 5, 6 and 12 are for can bus communication.

Hope this helps.

[MrSweet1991]

Originally Posted by david5041

An advice:

You just took an hour or so to open this relay / controller / control unit,
then why you just don't replace all wires?
Other wires than B+ wires tend to brake connection too.

Use grinder to clean the solder points, and use FLUX.
With flux soldering is so much easier.
Solder "drops" must be shiny, not foggy, foggy ones are "cold-solder" joint and it will not last long.

A "neater" one:



This is relay from my 2007 E92 330d, took me an hour or so to repair it,
it works like new(or even better?)

I wrote down a kind of scheme schematic for this relay,
so you can scrape out that silicone crap with no worries which wire goes where.

White numbers are just 1-12 order, and red are connector pin numbers.
P.S. I used copper wire core from cheap coaxial RG6 cable.

Pins 1, 2, 3, 4, 7 and 8 are for glow plugs, 5, 6 and 12 are for can bus communication.

Hope this helps.

Dude, you do know I was joking with my caption on the neat and professional looking job? Shit, I used that wire from an old dryer and no flux 😂

But, I love the job you did! Sod buying a new relay with the same flawed aluminium wires that will 100% fail, I'll definitely copy your idea as I have so much Coax from old Virgin Media installations haha. To this day the glow plugs still don't work, still starts on icy mornings like a champ though!