Cleaning of relays

[M powers]

I'm going to be cleaning out and replacing my relays but I have a question:

Prior to cleaning the relays does the battery need to be disconnected?

Watched a few videos and reads many posts, but never any mention of disconnecting battery - so I'm assuming not.

Many thanks

 

[Stampy]

Might pay to, better to be safe

 

[2LZ]

Have to clean mine too. Not sure on the replacement though. I've read tons of conflicting info on buying different relays. Some say the stocks are fine and trouble-free, if cleaned and reset with dielectric grease. Some say definitely replace. I'd like to get a consensus on that.

 

[Eatmore Mudd]

Best practice when doing electrical maintenance is disconnect the battery ground cable. DAMHIK
"Tuition to the school of hard knocks ain't cheap"
.

 

[Alan F.]

I didn't disconnect my Battery. The ignition was off, no power to relay sockets and no worries.

 

[Cobbler]

The main reason for replacing the relays is according to Hitchcocks the new relays are a higher resistance 12v 30/40 than the RE originals. If you are going to clean the grease from the relays you should include the main earth ground connection a single connector to the left of the relays and start with this leaving it unplugged until you have clean your relays this will disconnect battery. The main problem when replacing or just cleaning the relays is not checking the connections in the relays socket these can be pushed out of the the of the socket causing a bad connection or further intermittent faults, this has been a reason for continuing problems after replacing or cleaning relays according to my dealer on the stalling and other electrical faults.

 

[Cpt.Sparkles]

Prior to cleaning the relays does the battery need to be disconnected?

Just checked the circuit diagram even though I knew it was a waste of time.
Long story short...Nope

 

[2LZ]

Ordered Bosch relays, just in case. Cheap enough. If I have to pull and clean them all, and check the connectors, I may as well swap them and keep the stockers for spares.

 

[1984shovelhead]

The only differences that can exist between a quality replacement and the Oem is the current rating of the load carrying or output side contacts the primary or low current side of the relays resistance should be irrelevant also the grease they use should also not be an issue.it’s purpose is to exclude atmosphere coming in contact with the lugs to prevent corrosion.unless the conductivity of whatever compound the grease is made of is extraordinarily high it should be of no issue especially given the fact that the highest voltage they will ever see is under 15 volts.as a matter of fact the higher the voltage present the Easier the material can become a conductor.as long as the mechanical connection between male and female components is such that it displaces the grease at point of contact all should be good.and yes I did buy Bosch relays for my girlfriends interceptor although I haven’t installed them yet.