Ants in the Starter Relay

harleyvolvo · Post by **harleyvolvo** » 14 Jul 2011, 20:40

I thought I should share this with everybody...I think this applies to people that live in the south. I went on vacation for a week and then came back home....my 98 volvo s70 did not start at all...so my dad and I tore the car down trying to figure out what was going on...we changed the starter, neutral safety switch, and just about everything that had something to do with the starter....come to find out....I took the cap off of the starter relay switch...and there was DEAD ANTS all up in it!!! Cleaned them out...pluged the relay back up...and the car started right up!!!

Post by **vjaneczko** » 14 Jul 2011, 20:49

Wow, and I thought mice nesting on the block was nasty!

Post by **jimmy57** » 14 Jul 2011, 21:47

I have found them in relays before and ants are notorious for putting your water well offline when they crawl into the pressure switch and get between contacts.
Insecticide cattle ear tags fix it on wells. I'm not sure what takes care of it on cars but spilled food usually draws them in and they end up in the relays subsequently.
I read somewhere that ozone is the attractant in electrical devices.

Post by **cn90** » 15 Jul 2011, 10:02

Another trick is preventive maintenance.
I spray a bit of WD-40 in the fuse box every few years to expel moisture and ants.
Ants hate WD-40 with passion!

pablosvolvohaus · Post by **pablosvolvohaus** » 18 Jul 2011, 13:46

I had a similar situation with the AC relays on a full sized Ford Van. Took the boys to scout camp and stayed the week with them. Got in the car to drive home and the AC blower fan would not come on, but I could here the compressor cycle and feel cold air come out the vents when I put the AC in fresh air mode. When I got home I determined that the blower motor relays were bad and bought tow and AC work great again. Out of curiosity as to why two failed at exactly the same time, I took the covers off and found them packed with ants. Cleaned out the ants and re-installed them in the van and they worked again. Must be a southern thing?

Post by **jimmy57** » 18 Jul 2011, 17:00

Hybrid ants. Run on scavenged food or electricity.