# Electrical issues, relay fail hours after installation

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/electrical-issues-relay-fail-hours-after-installation/157864>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** focus, ford\
**Created:** [February 3, 2020, 8:39pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/electrical-issues-relay-fail-hours-after-installation/157864 "2020-02-03T20:39:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ofergreenbergil\_162917](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a5b964/32.png) [@ofergreenbergil\_162917](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ofergreenbergil_162917)\
**Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 8:39pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/electrical-issues-relay-fail-hours-after-installation/157864/1 "2020-02-03T20:39:29Z")

</div>

I been having some electrical issues over the years, they seemed unrelated at first, but I don’t know anymore. Two relays that are placed next to each other both failed (AC clutch compressor and low beam headlights). I got brand new relay installed for the low beam, it worked for a few hours, but then failed. Additionally, they are extremely hard to pull out, which I understand is not normal; or is it?

I can’t find useful information online, no one goes beyond the point of replacing the relay…

The wiring looks fine, though I didn’t remove the fuse box or looked inside it too much.

Is it possible voltages are spiking? Where should I look for that? Alternator? Voltage regulator?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Tester](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/tester/32/15976_2.png) [@Tester](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Tester)\
**Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 8:46pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/electrical-issues-relay-fail-hours-after-installation/157864/2 "2020-02-03T20:46:56Z")

</div>

What side of the relays is failing?

Primary or secondary side?

Tester

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ofergreenbergil\_162917](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a5b964/32.png) [@ofergreenbergil\_162917](https://community.cartalk.com/u/ofergreenbergil_162917)\
**Post date:** [February 3, 2020, 10:49pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/electrical-issues-relay-fail-hours-after-installation/157864/3 "2020-02-03T22:49:26Z")

</div>

Thanks for answering,

On the one hand, I can’t hear the relay click (though it’s so small, not sure how loud it could actually be). Using a multimeter though, there’s low resistance for the primary side, around 84. I can try to energize the primary and then test the secondary with the multimeter, though I don’t have equipment to do that right now.