Mice

I can’t imagine mice having any interest in going near a moist oil based undercoated treated vehicle. Another benefit of getting them done.

 

Actually I believe there is some merit to what @qcTRDct posted above. Many manufacturers have switched to using soy materials and oils in the production of plastic and rubber automotive parts and many animals (rodents in particular) are very much drawn to it. My buddy's Toyota Camry had its wiring harness eaten by chipmunks 3 separate times within the same year (it was replaced 3 separate times...once on insurance's dime; the other 2 times on his dime). The car even resided inside his garage, whereas his wife old Jeep sat outside and never had it's wiring munched because it pre-dated the use of this process. That's not to say that plain 'ol plastic sheathed wires will never get chewed on by a mouse, but the issue is a lot more common in specific vehicles than others. I'm betting other members who've run across this problem with their 4R likely have at least 1 other non-Toyota vehicle at home that was spared.

On a similar note, my 90-year old neighbor actually had 2015'ish Corvette which he left parked outside (I'm not a huge fan of that generation, but it killed me to see it covered in leaves and tree droppings). Anyway, there was and the flock of ~35 Black Vultures and Gray Vultures which roosted in the trees between our houses....these giant birds would sit all over his car and tear out the door/window weather stripping which I understand incorporated fish oils into its manufacturing process....also for environmental reasons. In fact the weather stripping actually smelled mildly fishy which I found was also the case with some of our pool toys the damn birds liked to peck at and puncture.

So much for being environmentally friendly, huh?

TimG

 

Guys, I bought this months ago and so far (knocks on wood) I have not seen a mouse. I was leaving the hood open, spraying, even setting traps, nothing worked. So far it’s great.

Loraffe Rodent Repellent... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VKBHH15?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

 

I bought this hoping it lasts longer than a spray. Basically a peppermint type wax snuff sized can you sticky tape in engine.

Peppermint Oil to Repel Mice and Rats, 4 Pack for Car Engines, Mouse Repellent Keeping Rodents Out of House Garages, Human Pet Dog Plant Safe

$22 Peppermint Oil to Repel Mice and Rats, 4 Pack for Car Engines, Mouse Repellent Keeping Rodents Out of House Garages, Human Pet Dog Plant Safe

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09WDDGKVD

 

Do you have any enemies, or people that would like your brakes to quit working suddenly? Have you made any recent significant financial decisions that might have a positive financial impact on people you know, if your brakes quit working suddenly? Are you recently divorced? Yeah, doesn't look like mice

 

I appreciate the post. Some arguments I just don't feel like making

 

The wires are chewed by their proximity to preferred nesting locations. The 4Runner and Tacoma attract rodents because the V6 has a warm sheltered area under the intake manifold between the cylinder banks. The plastic beauty cover provides additional shelter. Inline engines are less attractive to nesting, so the 6th gen will probably see fewer cases of chewed wires.

 

See above. Mice don't chew wires in such exposed locations. (Your fuel pump wires above the tank are more vulnerable )

Looks like the wire broke at the wheel speed sensor connector? It probably caught on a stick or branch and broke. Happened to two guys in my off-road club. The wire at the connector, being a weak point with stripped insulation, will break if pulled elsewhere.

 

Well, I’ll tell you guys peppermint oil didn’t do jack shit.

I had taped up the chewed wire outer coating since it wasn’t the problem. And sprayed everything down.

fucker made a visit again and now I have cylinder 4 misfire.

 

Honda sells a pepper tape insulation that you can apply to any wire.
Google it.
Maybe get a cat..

 

@whippersnapper02 did you have the same damage as above and it was still an entire replacement harness?
I’m trying to figure out if this is going to be an insurance issue or if a shop will be able to fix the wires.

 

If a mouse did that again, it's probably made a home somewhere in the vehicle. I would set a mouse trap with peanut butter and cheese on the passenger floor board and one in the engine compartment. Unless it's a subharness thats easy to replace or an airbag harness, I always repair the damaged wires.

 

I sure hope there isn’t one living inside. It’s not in the cabin filter/blower motor. Since laying eyes on them, I can confirm it’s rats.

 

Oh, damn. Well, I did use a big trap to catch a rat inside the cabin of a vehicle before. I had to upsize the trap after realizing it was a pack rat..

 

Yeah it was just an injector pigtail that was damaged. Insurance suggested I go to my local dealer and per Toyota, they will only replace the harness since it was less than two years old.

 

well sheet. Guess I gotta make the call on going local vs dealership.

 

I just ordered the rodent repellant. I haven't had any issues but we did have a dead mouse just inside the garage door a while back. Have bunch of tree rats due to our Red Oak out by the shed. I mice build nest in wood pile too, I think the squirrels are in too I find acorns when I bring wood to the hose during fireplace season. We do have a monthly exterminator spraying around the house for ants & I told them about the mice possibly. Have couple sticky box traps they put inside the garage door. Not sure if that's poison & that's what killed that 1 mouse.

 

The nest is probably under the intake manifold. Inspect with mirror and flashlight or a borescope.

If that's the case, order new intake manifold gaskets, remove the manifold, clean out the nest, and check for any other damage (e.g. knock sensor wires).

The fuel injector pigtail is $9 on Rock Auto, use crimp & seal connectors: https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=7988068&cc=3307198&pt=2577&jsn=420

 

thanks for the info. I’ll check underneath.
I wonder if that connector is good for both of them

 

Oh!! Not good, I've gone serial!!

 

Fuel injectors and knock sensors use the same connector P/N.

The knock sensors have a convenient connector not far upstream, so you can alternatively buy an inexpensive short plug-and-play harness either on Rock Auto or at the dealer. Unfortunately the fuel injector harnesses lack an equivalent.

 

Right on. So, here’s my concern with DIY:

Say i try to fix them and for whatever reason it doesn’t work, or the chewing is too close to the harness and I cut these chewed connectors off…I don’t know that insurance will accept a claim at that point.

 

Just here to throw out an idea that have worked for me around my house.
Tape a rodent glue trap with a few peanuts on it under your hood. Something like this:

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/tomcat-mouse-glue-board-pack-of-4

 

The code you read is for cyl 4 misfire? If you find damaged wiring to the cyl 4 injector then it's pretty obvious.

The physical wire repair with pigtails(s) is pretty simple. Plenty of YouTube videos showing how to use crimp & seal connectors. If you don't feel confident about it, take it to an indie shop who can do it for a few hundred bucks in labor, probably less than your insurance deductible and way less invasive than a full harness replacement.

 

That's a valid concern, and not because of your ability to repair the wires. The last 5th generation 4Runner that I fixed had 3 chewed injector pigtails which were shorted bad enough that it fried the driver in the ECM. After the repair, one cylinder was still misfiring and I had to wait about a week for the new ECM.

 

thanks for validating my thoughts. I’ve got towing covered so I’m just going to send it to the shop and let them deal with it.

Are you at a Toyota dealership?

 

Not anymore, got tired of that shit show long ago. I work at an independent shop.

 

I was going to ask your opinion on dealership vs independent for this issue. I’m sure dealer will want to replace entire harness.

 

Hard to say without knowing the dealership, there are likely some good people there, but you roll the dice. The comment above about only replacing harness because it was only 2 years old might be standard policy or bs. Call yours and ask what they will do, if you really like them. Personally, I would find a good local shop that's competent and trustworthy. You have a better chance of getting to know who is fixing your rig.