So a little update on my car's progress...
Because of the coronavirus I haven't been able to work in the car frequently... I made a big order with parts I needed back in April but it got canceled. Here in Costa Rica it is extremely hard to find parts for the M119 engine, include air filters which its crazy. They only thing I can find is the oil filter and the oil
So the fact that my order was canceled and that I had to stay at home meant no working on the car for a couple of weeks.
As recommended by some of you, I removed the LH module and took to a computer repair shop. I read in other threads that due to the cost of labor involved in replacing them it was probably best to just buy a used one in good conditions. However, since labor here is cheaper than in the USA I decided that it was better to just take it to the computer shop and give it a try. After a couple of days, the shop guy called me and told me opened it and found that 3 of the 6 capacitors needed replacement (black ones in the pic). He replaced them and I got the module 3 weeks ago and since then I haven't had a clicking relay which is awesome!
After it, I decided to continue working on the car and I replaced the caps and rotors using replacement parts I had ordered back in February. The old caps and rotors looked sooooo bad I have no idea how the engine keep running... I forgot to take pics but they were bad. After putting the new ones in I could tell the difference. The engine runs smoother and it cranks faster when starting the engine. I know the caps were replaced at some point because the ones I removed were Beru but I think those were in the engine at least since 2003 which is when my grandpa bought the car and he says he never replaced them.
After replacing the caps I decided to tackle the issue with the power steering system. (I talked about it in
this another thread). Basically the issue I had was that the pump was making a loud noise whenever I moved the steering wheel. I turned the wheels side to side many many many times to remove the air in the system but I had zero sucess... I really did not know what was the problem because it looked like there was no more air in the system and since the pump was covered in old oil and debri I thought it was a good time to clean it and remove all the fluid to see if that would fix the issue. I removed the cap and rotor and cleaned everything that was visible (I was able to see the pump badge that was impossible to see before). I removed the fluid reservoir to replace the hose going from the reservoir to the pump because it was leaking badly... what I found just reinforce my idea that only careless mechanics had worked on this car before... I literally found 2 screws inside that hose and they were blocking all the fluid that was going to the pump and that's why the pump was hissing... After removing them, replacing the hose, and putting everything back together the pump is as quiet(and clean) as it could be. I still need to replace some hoses that are leaking but I will tackle that in a couple of weeks.
So far everything is going well and like I mentioned, a highly-recommended mechanic came and checked the car. He used to work at the dealership were my grandpa bought the car back in 2003 and they both still remember each other... what a small world. So the socket is bad and it explains why the mechanic could not use his SDS. I checked the socket better and all the cables and pins are fine. They need to be cleaned but all the wires are fine. As for the socket, it needs replacement because some of the parts that hold the pins are broken so the pins just slide downward when plugging the SDS and that is why the scanner doesn't work. I ordered the parts yesterday and I'm hoping they don't cancel my order again.
As soon as I replace the socket and the mechanic tells me the codes, I will know the actual state of my car... As for now, I have to replace the trans fluid pan gasket since it has a small leak. I also need to install the single pump system and replace the other leaking hoses from the PS pump.
Here are some pics of my car
I'll have it detailed this upcoming week to make it somewhat presentable and the plan is to take it to the paint shop in a couple of months to have it fully resprayed.
Ps: thanks to all the admins and everyone for the help. This forum is an amazing source of information and without it, I wouldn't be able to keep fixing my car. I have been part of many forums but none like this one. Everyone is so helpful and knowledgeable
