Mice

DAMNIT! Had all my lights flashing on dash (4lo, brake, etc). And found a mouse nest in the cabin air filter.

I’m not an electrical guy. Where do I start?

 

Electrical isn't my thing but I'd guess take a volt meter to the fuse box and see if anything is getting intermittent power. That should give you a starting point.

 

Deep scan for codes which will require a dealer visit. You could look around for damage such as under the intake manifold like what happened to mine.

 

Remove the engine cover and look at all the exposed wiring. You'll probably find chewed up loom and some chewed wires. My father's Camry had been dinner for a mouse, and he had the dealer fix it... For 500 bucks! They spliced wires back together, wrapped the splices in electric tape, and did nothing to the loom. Butt connectors and heat shrink tubing will work well if you can find the damage.

 

Found this. Anyone know what this wire is?

 

Fuel injector wiring. Mine was damaged in the same place before the 2 year mark. Insurance covered the repair to the tune of $9K because Toyota would only do a full engine harness replacement because of the vehicle age.

 

are you kidding me??

 

It can be repaired but the since my Runner was so new at the time, they didn't want to simply repair. Comprehensive insurance will cover it though.

I'll find pics of mine.

 

well fuck. Taking to local shop now. What did you do to keep mice away?

 

I removed the engine cover and spray Grandpa Gus's peppermint oil after washing the engine. I haven't had issues again. (knocks on head dad joke)

Someone competent can simply replace the injector pigtails.

What I saw:



Dealer pics:

 

Nasty mfers. I found a plastic package of brake pad pins, a rubber glove, and other random shit they brought into cabin air.
Thanks for the help. Crossing fingers it’s not an expensive fix.

 

This is what I use. Since it say " Rodent Repellent Spray for Vehicle Engines and Interiors ", I thought it's much safer than home made stuff. Just in case I spray when the engine is cold and won't start for few hours, pretty much wait overnight.
https://amzn.to/3xJrrYs

You might have seen my video on few other points. Maybe dumb but that's what I do.

 

Looks like it's going to the fuel injector. Easy repair with a $10 pigtail and a couple of crimp & seal butt connectors: https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=7988068&cc=3307198&pt=2577&jsn=417

You should take a closer look to see if any other wires under the intake manifold have been chewed. The knock sensor is a favorite item for mice and happens to use the same connector.

 

The real screwed up part about this is, car manufacturers have switched to using soy based wire sheathing instead of petroleum, presumably for environmental reasons. There should be a class action lawsuit given the number of expensive rodent related issues that have occured. It is rediculous that one's 50k dollar investment can be so easily damaged.

 

great, another thing for me to worry about
We do get mice in our garage from time to time

 

That's an urban legend. Mice chew on stuff to maintain their teeth, otherwise their teeth keep growing like a cat's nails. Mice don't care if they're chewing through PVC, polyolefin, silicone, whatever. Hell, before they even reach the wire insulation, they chew through the split loom, which is most definitely plastic. This also means mice will chew on airplane wiring. Keep that in mind the next time you go on vacation.

 

I’m pretty sure mice are on the protected species list here in Calif. so be careful.

 

Was it a "Deer Mouse" cause those are so freakin cute.
Seriously i would soder not use crimps.

 

I think the kangaroo mice are adorable.

 

Ill just put a bag on snake poop in the engine compartment?

 

Lay the skins, I get those every couple months.

 

I have this https://mouseblocker.com/ and some of these and no mice.

 

I use to think that way but there are really nice crimps now with a heat shrinkable jacket which seals them up very nice and avoids the flex/embrittlement that solder can do.
I was in the trenches in the R&D field for almost 35yrs and I resisted doing crimps and usually soldered/shrinked but the shrinkable style crimps are really nice. The shrink kinda acts like a strain relief as well.

 

Repel All from Home Depot. Spray the hell out of the engine bay.

 

How does it smell?

 

Like crap.

 

So here’s a little update:

the wire I found chewed was not throwing a code, but the wheel sensor was. This was recommended to be the issue with the codes I had on the dash, but finding the wire under the hood I didn’t bother looking at it.

the weird part is, I don’t see how a rat would have made such a clean cut on this wire, but who knows.

 

I had a mouse nest under my hood insulation blanket....had to remove the blanket. Little m'fkers chewed a hole in the blanket and jumped up into it. Now I spray "mighty mint" all over the engine bay every few weeks as a little mouse insurance. It seems to work

 

I use peppermint oil applied to a PSA felt pad, placed on the battery. Easy, clean, and hopefully effective. The whole engine compartment smells like a candy cane lol.

 

Man, this shit is getting old.
Wife calls me to tell me she was pulling out of garage to find a CEL, traction light, and something else on. I’m at work so can’t look at it.

I’ve continued to find droppings in my cabin filter, but only after driving so figured it was residual. peppermint oil spraying on the regular. Haven’t seen a rat in probably 2wks.

Nervous to look at it when I get home tomorrow. This is becoming an expensive headache.