2020 Tundra SR5, recirculation button not working, possible mouse damage.

We moved into a pretty rural setting this year and something I was aware of and concerned of was mice and mouse damage. There is a forest behind us and lots of grasslands and bushes around.

I eliminate all sources of food and keep garbage locked up securely in galvanized steel containers. I have a few of those gadgets you plug in and they allegedly deter mice and pests with high pitched tones.

I recently bought a pretty expensive one that modulates its frequency every 8 hours to a slightly different one so rodents don't get used to it, only time will tell now but its probably just wishful thinking that this thing will work anyways. Traps don't make a dent.

We recently took my wife's Mazda in for service and the entire engine wiring harness needs to be replaced. They were surprised the vehicle was even still running with that amount of wiring damage. Of course I inspected my engine bay, cabin air filter, and I did notice some droppings in both (gross) which I immediately cleaned out. I could not see any damage to wiring anywhere in the engine bay and I gave it a good inspection.


Last night I noticed my recirc button seems to have stopped working. It doesn't light up when pressed, the defrost and A/C button on that same panel also work, and recirc doesn't turn on when I go "Max A/C" mode.

Does anyone have any idea what I should check first? Is it possible that I somehow caused this when I swapped my cabin air filter out, could something be stuck in there? How could I check?


Thanks for advance.

 

Couple of updates even though nobody asked. Maybe they will find this via Google, I don't know.

We had a bit of a cold snap here and I found a damned mouse nest in my center console, it had burrowed into a box of tissues. A small amount of droppings also found around the center console area. I set a live trap in the passenger foot well and caught the bastard the very next morning. (And fed him to my ducks.)

I called Toyota for an inspection for mouse damage so I could start working on an insurance claim, given my HVAC recirc stopped working I had already assumed the worst. I had them tear apart the dash as well as the wiper blade cowl area and I asked them to take pictures of what they find, I told them its insane that this is still a common issue in a 2020 truck when this has been happening to all Toyota's for the last decade at least.

I ended up paying a few hundred dollars for... not much. They said they couldn't find any damage, they showed me photo evidence, and somehow by putting the dash and blower back together the recirc button started working again. I was relieved that there was no damage found to any wiring but on the way home I noticed my dash vibrating so hard I could feel it in the pedals when I was driving home so... Back to the dealership tomorrow, and they'd better fix that issue for free this time around.

It's not all doom and gloom, they actually did the "screen mod" for the cabin air intake for me when they finished their investigating, saving me a bit of time and trouble. I thought that was nice of them, but it also points out they know that this is an issue and they know exactly how to fix it with 19 cents of hardware mesh.

To be honest I don't know if I should be happy or I should be sad about all of this, I guess happy makes the most sense but it still cost a lot of money just to get it looked at.



Today I ordered myself a borescope off Amazon for $60 so I can save a few hundred the next time I go mouse hunting.

 

Sorry this happened. The newer model vehicles have soy in the wiring, which attract rodents. One thing to help would be removing the large plastic engine cover so they cannot nest under it. I hear mint and various herbal sprays work also

 

Thanks, I did remove it. I gotta admit its one of the few plastic covers I kinda like the look of but I might just clean it up and mount it on my wall instead.

I tried mint oil previously, what I didn't realize is you need to use a lot of oil. Instead of 10 drops into a spray bottle you need to use like 40 or 50, I reapplied very liberally last night after it came back from the shop.

 

Thanks for thee update. It will help when folks search in the future.

 

Likely the final update. (At least I hope so because that would mean my mouse woes are over...)

Toyota fixed the vibration in my dash, they got me in right away and fixed it in less than an hour. They found a chewed up piece of rubber or something in there. I was not surprised and was just glad they didn't try to charge me for it.

Interestingly enough after a discussion about mice and soy wiring the service agent told me that when they replace mouse-damage wiring harnesses they now use ones with capsicum infused looms covering them. Between this and the fact that they installed an anti-mouse mesh screen for me makes it sound like Toyota is already quite aware of this issue but hasn't done anything to proactively fix or take responsibility for it. I know Tundras aren't the only vehicles with this issue.

 

Any wiring that is accessable wrap with aluminum screen it stays in place with friction by just squeezing it on or use a twist tie or two. Mice won't bother with that stuff.

 

Like window screen?

 

Yes. I'd generally give it a couple wraps to thicken it up a bit and make they didn't chew through.

 

2024 update, so far no sign in any rodents but winter is coming soon so that will be the ultimate test. For any of you with rodent issues, cover up that fresh air intake with hardware mesh!