Main/Fuel Pump relays

[ShiftBMW]

Do you guys replace these as preventative maintenance items? Or at least keep spares in your car? It seems that a lot of them go bad after a while.

[BeastPower]

It is all about how much you want to spend. On a 20 year old car, most components could do with a refreshing. On my list of priorities, these relays are probably half way down the list, unless they are faulty.

Cheers, Daniel.

[D///M3]

Absolutely.... After getting my car "ready" for a 2600 mile trek to Texas for O'Fest- these were on the list of "PM parts" to be replaced as mine were originals.

The new relays are in-expensive & well worth the "extra" piece of mind. I keep the old relays in the car "just in case".

[ShiftBMW]

Inexpensive!?! I got quoted 40 bucks each! :(

I would have figured 10 bucks or less per relay. Am I looking in the wrong place?

Also, does anyone have part #'s on these? I was unable to determine which relays they were from RealOEM.

[D///M3]

Relay's Behind Coolant Expansion Tank:

Relay Location/ Use-Function/ Part #/ List Price:

• Passengers Side (Evaporative Purge Valve Relay) 13-90-1-311-772 $38.85
• Middle (Main Relay) 12-63-1-279-004 $22.55
• Drivers Side (Fuel Pump Relay) 61-36-1-378-238 {superceded to: 61-36-8-373-700} $10.20

[Crank]

Relay's Behind Coolant Expansion Tank:

Relay Location/ Use-Function/ Part #/ List Price:

• Passengers Side (Evaporative Purge Valve Relay) 13-90-1-311-772 $38.85
• Middle (Main Relay) 12-63-1-279-004 $22.55
• Drivers Side (Fuel Pump Relay) 61-36-1-378-238 {superceded to: 61-36-8-373-700} $10.20

Can anyone post a definitive set of modern part #’s for these three relays?

For example, the part # for the passengers side relay in this post does not come up when I Google it.

I pulled the old blue relay (passenger side) out of my car, turns out it has a manufacturing date of 6/86 on it....... !!!!!

And, that part number is NLA - 61311373916.

Then I pulled the orange driver’s side relay out of the car (manufactured 18/87), and that part number is NLA too - 61311375474.



So what I want to do is buy 3 brand new relays, and replace them.

Would appreciate the 3 correct modern part #’s, if anyone can share them.

[mwagner10702]

Pelican shows 61361378238 as available

https://www.pelicanparts.com/More_In...-1-378-238-M14

I was also able to find the following on eBay.

61311373916
61311375474

[Crank]

Pelican shows 61361378238 as available

https://www.pelicanparts.com/More_In...-1-378-238-M14

I was also able to find the following on eBay.

61311373916
61311375474

Sure, I can dig around on eBay for NOS or used ones. But I’m hoping there are some modern part #’s that I can use to buy brand new stuff.

[mwagner10702]

Doubtful you will find any. Here is an example - post #5 explains it.

https://s14net.vbulletin.net/forum/s...ge-valve-relay

Granted it is just one example but many of these relays were application specific. Some were used in BMW's motorcycle line, but like the automotive examples are NLA.

I think your best bet at this point is NOS.

[Crank]

Doubtful you will find any. Here is an example - post #5 explains it.

https://s14net.vbulletin.net/forum/s...ge-valve-relay

Granted it is just one example but many of these relays were application specific. Some were used in BMW's motorcycle line, but like the automotive examples are NLA.

I think your best bet at this point is NOS.

Fair enough. I appreciate the effort, thank you!!!

[Chris W]

There's nothing special about the fuel pump relay or the main relay. When buying a relay just compare the electrical diagram on the side of the relay and match the circuit and the pin orientation. You can actually use a 5 pin relay for the fuel pump, and you can also use a spare main relay for the fuel pump. The socket has a slot for the 5th pin. There just isn't a wire connected to it so that circuit simply isn't used.

Pelican has several that will work. https://www.pelicanparts.com/catalog...pg5.htm#item21 I bought the Vemo multi-purpose 5-prong relay and it fit for both the fuel pump and main relays.

The evaporator purge valve relay on the other hand was a bit unique. The original relay that came with the car was purple, and it wasn't anything special. However, it also caused my car to diesel when I tried to turn off the engine. Years ago when the car was still a supported used car BMW issued a service bulletin for an updated relay to solve the problem. That relay also has a square base like the other relays, but is taller and black. As I understand it, it keeps the purge valve closed for a few seconds after switching off to make sure fuel vapor from the canister isn't drawn into the engine as it switches off causing the dieseling problem.

[mwagner10702]

This whole relay thing has me confused, but here is what is in my car (1990).


From a previous post:

Relays Behind Coolant Expansion Tank:

Relay Location/ Use-Function/ Part #/ List Price:
Passengers Side (Evaporative Purge Valve Relay) 13-90-1-311-772
Middle (Main Relay) 12-63-1-279-004
Drivers Side (Fuel Pump Relay) 61-36-1-378-238 (superseded to: 61-36-8-373-700)

I can confirm the Evap Purge Valve Relay P/N as correct. We know this relay to be NLA.

If in fact the center relay is the MAIN RELAY my car shows a different relay P/N (0332014135) which is still available. My car runs perfectly so I am assuming this is a correct main relay P/N. The P/N listed in the previous post (12-63-1-279-004) is still available. I am hesitant to pull my relay to compare as I don't want to "F" anything up.

Which brings us to the Orange Fuel Pump Relay (61-36-1-378-238). I have a spare one as well as the part that supposedly supersedes it (61-36-8-373-700). They are slightly different both in color and number of prongs. The picture below will illustrate. The orange relay (on the right) has 4 prongs while the green relay on the left has 5 prongs. The extra (middle) prong is lshown as 87 on the side of the relay.



I consulted my Bentley manual but it was useless. Use this information as you may. I will put all these in a box and keep them in my car. Hopefully I'll never have to use them!

[Split_S]

I changed these a few years ago and when you order from BMW you will get the green relay. You can break off the middle prong if you want - doesn’t matter cause it works either way.

[Crank]

I was able to dig up a new old stock blue relay, and then bought a new orange and a new white (replacement for silver) one. Swapped right in, and the car fired right up.

I noticed my old blue one had a lot of corrosion on it, around the bases of the pins. I did previously have a slight battery drain, so I wonder if that was part of it.

Anyway... great thread! Thank you!