Rats! Ate my soy-based wiring - again!

^Before the mid-'90s, did you have 45,000 people you regularly talked about vehicle problems while sitting on the shitter? 450 people? Nowhere near the exposure to information like you have now.

 

You must have a really big bathroom.

 

Has anybody talked to an exterminator, or had them come out to eliminate the rodents? We have this exterminator that come out for $60.00 mo. The poison they use must be potent, because if a mouse nibbles on this stuff they don't make it 5ft. from the bait station.

 

Are you sure the wiring is soy based?

 

Interesting article

https://carfromjapan.com/article/which-cars-do-not-have-soy-based-wiring/

 

About 44,950 of those people don't have first-hand experience, but know someone that had a friend whose cousin worked with someone who knew a guy....

You have much more exposure to mis-information than you once did, with everyone, especially those with nothing more than an opinion, chiming in.

 

The difference is now you have pictures. In case you missed it, 45,000 is the member count of 4Runners.com. Someone starts a thread and posts pictures of chewed injector or knock sensor wiring from across the country, it isn't misinformation. Going by word of mouth before the mid-'90s is more likely to have misinformation.

 

Don’t feel alone

Squirrels ate upper and lower wiring harness!

I checked under hood almost daily. Got nailed, or better yet: chewed, on trip to Florida.

USAA insurance cried when they got repair estimate from Toyota. Argued and argued.

Then dealer had to locate both of the harnesses. Took about two months locate and repair. This was right after Covid lockdown.

dealer showed me lot full of Toyota’s waiting to be fixed….all had wires chewed up!

They gave me priority cause was stranded out of state.

man those rodents love Toyota and other vehicles with that good tasting wire covering….or is it that soy based wires for sure??

seems to be more prevalent in Florida.

I no longer park anywhere close to bushes, trees , etc.
They are lazy to travel mid parking lot to chew.

time I got chewed was parked next to bushes overnight.

 

1) I never understood why people would set bait around their 4Runners. Aren't you just attracting rodents to the area? Stop doing that.

2) Here's an article that explains the soy-based wiring myth. Short and to the point. No, it isn't a study but it talks about scientific research on the matter.

https://www.torquenews.com/1083/car...s-are-eating-your-car-s-wires#google_vignette

 

Rats feel they are being wrongfully signaled out as the culprits.

Per the rat chat:

“could be squirrels, mice, mad dogs, revengeful ex, who knows. We are always the first ones they blame.”

 

I take it USAA covered it??? If so under what coverage???

I tried to find out from them several years ago if I was covered and never got a definitive answer from either the policy or claims section. I did not have rodent damage to claim; was just trying to see if I was covered. Basically came away thinking I would have to file a claim to get the answer.

 

I’ll have to look it up. This happened at Eglin AFB few years ago.

USAA adjuster was a royal pain . She gave the service adviser at Ft Walton Beach Toyota hell.

 

A picture of wiring doesn't mean it's soy-based, or that rats didn't chew wiring before. I'm not sure what the picture proves that personal experience in the 90s didn't.

 

You're getting the debates mixed up. Go argue with Captain Spalding:

 

Maybe the new administration should deport the rodents... the 4 legged ones.

 

I used the black boxes you see around restaurants and warehouses with just one bite ii poison bars. Got rid of them.

I didn’t think I’d win the battle at first, to be honest.

 

In other forums, some swear that Irish Spring soap works to repell rodents.

 

lol and so do moth balls!

yeah right. Rats are smart as hell.

 

Just go Chemical Ali on them.

 

I’ve tried all of it in my boat and shed. The soap smells fresh but the mice eat it. I’ve spread dryer sheets all over and they use it as bedding. Used the peppermint sawdust bag things and they chewed them up and got sawdust all over. Nothing works except for death by either traps or poison.

 

Oh my!
After munching on that bar of Irish Spring that rat better find a porta-potty fast

 

My garage have no trash,bird food or any kind of food. I hope grass seeds and fertilizer don't attract mice. But so far the mouse trap has caught about 5 mouse. Very tiny ones about 3-4inches.


My garage also have those rodent repellent devices and have night lights.




I also spray this



I pray that these mice don't start eating the wires of my vehicles...

 

@SVMTRCSR - Just looked at the other thread and that's probably the best plan for keeping mice out of the HVAC intake. But the electronic device you mentioned (Mouse Blocker) and one that @nimby mentioned (Loraffe) aim to keep the mice away in the first place. I like that approach best. Right now, I have mousetraps in key places and hope to catch the little twerp(s), then keep them away from my beloved 4Runner from now on - somehow.

Question - if - in fact - the mice are entering HVAC system in that gaping fresh air intake hole in the firewall covered by the plastic cover under the windshield wipers (image from the other thread copied-in below), where would be the best place to mount the Mouse Blocker or the Loraffe? If it was mounted in the engine compartment and the hood was down, it would be fairly hidden from the mice when they enter the below the windshield wiper cover. In that situation, they wouldn't see the LEDs and the audio would be lower due to the firewall.

Thoughts?

 

I have mine mounted up high in the engine bay a short distance from the battery. It lights up the most of the engine bay when it's dark outside.

I always assumed a rodent would jump up onto the suspension components and make their way up to the engine that way, but I'm not sure. To your point, you do see a fair number of nests in the cabin filter area. I wonder if that's where most peoples wiring gets chewed?

 

I have a bunch of cats cruising by and peeing on the 4R. Good to see and the smell goes away after a good rain.

 

Get some steel mesh and close that off.

 

Honda Rodent Tape up your wiring.

 

will that work?

just my luck wrap everywhere.
Then they found the last one inch I couldn’t see ‍‍

 

Use this stuff, no smell and taste absolutely horrible. My 40 lb dog hates it.