Mike W

iTrader: (1)

The following applies to the 2008- to current EVO X and 2009 to current RalliArt.

I had a 2010 X come in for a tune last week. The car had basic mods just installed so it should have been good for a “before” pull on the dyno. After the before pull I’ll put in a boost pill and do the blue relay swap at the same time. Before the full pull I tipped into the throttle at 3500 rpm to check boost and AFR. It was super lean almost 12:1 afr. For a drop in filter and cat back exhaust it should have been high 10s or low 11s at least.

So I went straight for the fuel relay and swapped it with the blue one. AFR went right back to where it should. Bad black relay caught red-handed. So I figured cut it open to see what exactly is going on in there.

Cut open relay:




Lever assy that the coil pulls sideways and pushes down on the contacts:




I can only guess someone had the bright idea to make a low profile relay by laying the coil on its side. When energized it pulls a lever sideways that pushes down on the contacts.




Maybe the little lever idea don’t quite make enough pressure on the contacts to keep a good connection? And/or the contact material is just not up to the job.

Here are both sides of the contacts of the dead relay:






Pics of the contacts from a “working” realy from a 2010 EVO X:






Already showing signs of impending death  Here are pics from a 2011 EVO X black relay with about 4k miles on it. Already not looking pretty:






Just for reference, we are talking about this relay in the fuse box under the hood:




This dead relay did not make a noise when shook. I can only imagine how dead for how long it would have to go before the contact actually burned off and rattled around inside. Do not rely on the salt shaker test to see if you have a dead relay. Also these pics show that it slowly degrades over time. It isn’t just working fine and then dies.

I see many threads with people speculating that at some point or date that EVO Xs or RalliArts get the better relay. I have yet to see a car come in the shop with an upgraded relay off the showroom floor.

Mention of some TSB and MMSA that some freezing and condensation as the culprit for the black relay failure. I am calling BS on this. They are all dying regardless of freezing. All the above pics are from Sunny California. We put on parkas when it dips into the 60s the one day a year here.

Bottom line, it is just a crappy cheap relay that has no business doing an important job. Every time you are in and out of boost it is clicking on and off. That makes a little arc that slowly degrades the surface. The worse it gets, the more resistance you have and the more arc it makes. Every black relay is slowly eating its self. Either buy any upgraded one or at least do a shell game of swapping it with another less used black relay. By default every EVO X we tune gets a blue relay installed. Maybe 1 out of 10 Xs that come in already have an upgraded relay already installed. All Xs should have a blue or green relay installed ASAP. Stock or tuned. Especially if modded and not tuned!

I searched around for an appropriate thread to tack this onto and they are all 30 pages of “what about the green one?” and “my dealer never heard of this”. So if anyone with the ability to post this into the beginning of a good already stickied thread where the newbs can find it - go for it.

Mike W

occxlr8ed

where to get aforementioned relay?

tephra

iTrader: (6)

nice work...

so basically its not changing the relay to a "better" on, its just changing it that does the trick.

obviously the constant flipping (and probably the arcing everytime it does flip) is damaging the contact..

I wish Mitsu would do something about it...

Mike W

iTrader: (1)

They come from your local dealership or online EVO store or dealership.

8627A011 is the part number for the more expensive green one.

8627A024 is the part number for the ~$11 blue one.

Google "EVO X Fuel Pump Relay" for endless speculation on what is better green or blue. I am cheap so I like blue.

Mike W

tephra

iTrader: (6)

I just swapped my Black FP with the FogLight (or was it intercooler spray) which is green.

meh whatever

Mike W

iTrader: (1)

I got curious and just popped the lid off a blue one. Looks like a proper relay inside. In the black relay the contact points look like a melted on blob of something. In the blue relay they are thicker, more substantial looking. The magnetic action is direct so it may mean a higher clamping force for a better connection.









Mike W

tephra

iTrader: (6)

nice..

that top photo is like a product shot

fostytou

iTrader: (15)

Common DSM problem is a similar looking contact point on the window switch. Every single one of them fails over time due to the same arcing and pitting. The solution is to sand it down to remove the insulating pits and smooth the surface, then apply dielectric grease (or Vasalene) to prevent the arcing in the future.

I went with green since it is supposed to be able to flip slightly faster and is rated slightly better. Hopefully it does not have that handicapped 90* armiture.


You should probably mark that with a sharpie or something. I'm not 100% sure but I thought the blue ones were factory vacuum sealed, that is how they prevent the freeze-out in the cold. Maybe that helps prevent the arcing also? I'm not sure what the level of vacuum is and if that would make it easier or harder for the electricity to arc (air is an insulator, but if there is no medium I assume the electricity can still jump).

Also, you may have less ones with the TSB done because it is for starting in the cold (as you mentioned) below -10* or -20*.... you'll never see that in socal so it would be hard to justify the warranty work.

Oh, and thanks for slicing it up and sharing!

----

Here is one of the main discussion threads for reference:
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/ev...-page-4-a.html

Golden

iTrader: (1)

Nice info.

migs647

iTrader: (19)

Stickied.

Thanks for the research. This helps out big time.

RevLimiter

iTrader: (6)

I need to do this asap, i just checked and I still have the crappy black one. I wonder if i call the dealership they can give me the blue one for free?? I doubt it but it cant hurt to try.

fostytou

iTrader: (15)

Since you are a Chicagoan say that you were having trouble starting last winter when it got really cold last year and you just found something that referenced a TSB about it on the internet. Couldn't hurt to have the TSB #.

Matter of fact, just read the other threads please.

Mike W

iTrader: (1)

Opened up a green one. It also pops open. Only the black ones are sealed. Blue and Green have no apparent provisions for being sealed.

All relays side by side:




The blue one has noticeably the beefiest coil. The green relay has a sideways coil with direct action (no lever). But since it sits sideways it has to sacrifice some windings.








The green relay has nice looking contacts but they are buried too much to get a decent pic. I’ll stick with the blue thank you.

Mike W

Spec-Ops1

iTrader: (38)

I like the blue one due to its beefier winding...

occxlr8ed

Got my dealer to order the Green one in, they hadn't heard of the code for the Blue one here in Australia.