DME Failure - Again!!
 

Greetings,

Almost one year ago, to the day, my DME relay went while driving down the road. After about 15 minutes of searching around for the problem, I recalled numerous posts regarding the DME relay. Fortunately, I had a new spare DME, the after-market brand Kaehler, which I purchased from our host. I installed the new DME relay in about 10 minutes and was on my way. This morning, I was driving along and the same thing happened, the engine stopped and an rolled into a parking lot. This time being a bit more wise, I went right to the DME relay. Again, fortunately for me, I had just received a replacement DME relay last week. I installed it within 5 minutes and was on my way.

My question is, is this the normal lifespan of a DME relay, one year? Could I have received a defective DME relay last year? Is there something else causing the DME relay to expire?

Any help is appreciated.
Thanks.

subscribed and you may have just come across a new faulty relay, I recall reading re. of a cause for these to fail early

Longer than a year......

Much longer than a year. I bought my 911 5 years ago and am still running on the DME relay it came with. I do have a spare in the glove box tho.

Yep, you got hold of a bad one, who knows, may have been bounced around; may have been bad right from the outset. The brand you mentioned is rated at 30 amps (I believe), so should last a good long time, assuming it was put together on other than a early Monday morning.....hopefully the third time is a charm and you are good to go for ten years or more.

whatever you do, DO NOT purchase the "Uro" replacement.

I've had bad luck with those, too. Bad right out of the box.

Made in Hungary don't gimme warm fuzzies either.....

Can live with "Made in Brazil"... but Hungary :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

What is next, some Porsche made in Finland :D:):D

I bought two from Pelican, made in Germany. Fuch Brazilian.....

Sounds like the "awesome" power window switches which seem to last about 20 uses...literally, maybe less if the last two I bought are any indication.

Do you use your factory OEM alarm? When I first got my baby I used it allot then my DME went out. Stopped using the alarm and it never reared it's ugly head going on 5 years now.

+1 stay away from URO brand, they are POS.

My DME went yesterday after 5 years. Took the backup out of the glove box popped it in and on my way. Ordering another backup today. Mine are from our host.
Tom

Interesting that your first replacement went bad after about exactly one year; warranty is 12 months! You have a snug female connection for the module under there? I'm thinking maybe stress from "wobbling" around might be messing with the integrity of the pins.
You might try (as was suggested elsewhere in this forum) adding a little support under the relay; chunk of foam rubber, some electrical tape to hold everything still....

My DME failed about 5 years ago but I went out slowly...intermitent power loss and then was normal. I didn't wait until it failed completely. Have had no problems with the factory part. Maybe I should get a spare.

No doubt about it, if you drive a 3.2, you absolutely must have a spare DME relay.

I think that this is one of those parts where you shouldn't skimp....spend the extra $$ to get a quality unit.

+100

I think it was on my first order from PP. Put it in at the same time that I put a SW chip in.

The "old" one is in my glove box along a full set of spare fuse and a fuel pump relay (not sure why since the DME does do the gas pump function... but the Red spare relay can replace a black one).

check out this webste about dme repairs.... I've done this to mine and have never had a failure

911Chips.com - DME Relay

Greetings again,

Thanks for the responses. It doesn't sound like the DME relay failure is attributed to anything other than a known faulty relay issue, such as a cracked solder or excessive heat or possibly the relay was manufactured on a Monday....

Anyway, I've ordered two relays, just to have in the glove box, along with my extra fuel pump relay and fuses. Today, when i replaced my clutch and brake pedal covers (the rubber cover), I took one of the old ones and nestled it under the DME relay, thus making a nice rubber cradle which will hopefully absorb some of the shock.

Thanks.

bigsid-
Thanx for that link. It's very interesting.