My headlamp relay wasn't working it was only a few years old, it was kaput so ordered a new one fitted it still had a problem, this made me then think I've got a wiring problem so I replaced a few connectors, cleaned up, spent quite a bit of time over the last few days messing around. In the back of my mind I was thinking it's the new one duff. Tried again still duff no dip just sticking on high beam. Takes the new one apart and yep it was a duff un. It wasn't clicking on the dip cam just high beam. Bit of tweaking it works now works, even now managed to get me old one to work now. Why is it most modern repro stuff is crap.. Problem is I can't send it back cos I took it apart can I Big Rich. :-* May mate who's a mechanic in the post office reckons the amount of stuff they get that is duff is unbleavilable.
Apperently the quality of the modern relays available is schocking Big rich was telling me he had a batch that was so poor he wasent willing to sell them Theres 5 genuine ones left in the vw main dealership parts supply but they want fourty odd quid plus vat for one
I sympathise...it makes a simple job take 10 times longer. Just yesterday I was fitting an exhaust and swearing at the crappy nuts and bolts that come with the clamps....terrible quality :-( They wont even torque up before they strip...you end up throwing the new ones away and use the old ones!
I take the view that a relay is a relay. As long as it is a headlamp relay rated for the corect voltage it will be OK. I Have several replacement electrical parts in my bus sourced from my favourite auto maker Mazda. Their parts just never fail as they are made not to. I've never had any part fail in a Mazda, my current one has done 72K and everything still works like new. Repro parts are so poor I wonder anyone buys them but I'm a mug like everyone else. I just spent an afternoon making two heat exchangers from VWH work properly (just a bit of applied metalwork). They leaked like sieves. The VWH response was not helpful.
I have noticed that the quality of most modern things have gone down hill.. In the plumbing trade, the amount of metal , usually brass, in taps and fittings is wafer thin ! Yet they cost twice as much as 5 yrs ago New boilers these days nly have a life expectanc of 10 yrs, whereas there are still 20yr old boiler working strong..
