My wife works away for a week at a time and he car doesn't get used during the week. Last week she came to come home and the battery was flat so the AA had to be called out. So I treated her car to a new battery and found the old one was dated 11/04 so it hadn't done bad. I also decided to treat mine to a new one too. It hasn't given any problems but it is 5 years old and as the one on the SE was completely knackered I figured I could put the old one on that.

Went out today to swap the battery but didn't want to disconnect the power. I don't mind setting the windows but retuning the radio with allk the FM and DAB stations as well as setting the 9 band graphic for each input takes forever. So a couple of bits of wire with croc clips and the battery I'd just taken off the missus's car could power it while I changed the main battery. I connected the positive to the big stud inside the fusebox so had the lid off. While there I noticed something that didn't look quite right. At some time someone (probably me actually) had fitted a cheap generic relay in the RL7 position.

I think it had got a bit warm......

Isn't RL7 one of the blower relays? That gets a bit of a beasting when the demister is on...

It is, it's the one for the LH blower. It's one of the ones that people have said can burn out if your pollen filters are clogged making the fan work harder which has always seemed complete bollocks to me. The fan might be drawing slightly more current but there shouldn't be any resistance in the relay to cause it to get hot anyway, although it obviously did..... No sign of any damage to the fusebox though.

If I felt inclined I could Do Science by sticking my multimeter across the switched contacts and trying it with the current (fairly) clean pollen filter, no pollen filter and a cardboard blanking plate.

If I felt inclined.

Having had the mis-shapen relay sitting on my coffee table looking at me since yesterday, a few minutes ago I decided to prise the cover off. The relay contacts, despite looking like they should be up to passing the 30A they are rated at, I just measured 1.1 Ohms across the closed contacts.

If it was a bit warmer outside, I'd do some tests but I went outside this morning to do a couple of little jobs, stepped out of the door, turned round and came back in again. It was bloody freezing!

Also worth checking inside the RH kick panel as the main +ve wires for the blower motors go through a connector there in the midst of corrosion city.. I can imagine that with a bit of corrosion on the contacts, it would increase the resistance and could cause it to draw more current over a period of time anyways.

Always seems to be a load of confusion over RL6 and RL7 aswell - I've noticed on the 'other' site a few times people saying that they are the high speed relays - when they are not - they are just the main power switch for the blowers. The actual speed control is all done in the blower motors themselves, and there is a separate relay in with the transistors which clicks them over to high speed.

I personally think that whilst the blocked pollen filter theory may have some credit (effectively like blocking the hose on a vacuum cleaner, and you hear how the motor in that changes pitch/works harder... although a P38 blower isn't under as much strain to start with - it could have an effect I guess... I also think that it possibly comes down to the brushes on the blower motors wearing over the years. I've has some of the locking motors from latches where they basically become near enough a dead short if they stop in the wrong place. Usually the superlocking motors aswell.

I'd be interested in the results of a clean/dirty pollen filter and blocked off test to see what difference there is in current draw too...

If it gets a bit warmer by the weekend, I'll get out there and do some tests and I'll see what I can sort out with the bonnet catch switch too. However, if I don't get it done by Sunday evening then it won't get done for a while as I've got a toy arriving that needs to be got ready for an IVA test to get it registered in the UK. 12 cylinders, 626 bhp and a top speed of 206 mph. I don't think I'll be confirming the top speed but I suspect the claimed 0-100 mph figure of 9 seconds will get tested.......

Let me see- a Bentley Continental GT Speed by any chance?

Absolutely spot on that man. A 2015 model (October 2014 build), Russian spec, Bentley Continental GT Speed. Biggest headache is going to be swapping the headlights for RHD ones so it can go through an IVA test (and then swapping them back as it is destined for France anyway). Bentley themselves quote 6 hours labour to change a headlight, I reckon it's going to take me a couple of days and the weather isn't really conducive to working outside even if it will be in a garage. It looks like the front grille and both front wings have to come off, all without damaging anything on a car that only has 5,000 kms from new......