Time to throw in the towel? Never

Might be time to give up. Fixed a chewed 4wd front actuator wiring. When I did that I looked under everything for more damage and found none visible. That was 3 months ago. Today no 4wd again. Decided to check connections and then the fuse box under the hood. Bad news. I can see quite a few wires chewed under the box. And those are the ones I can see. What are my options other than pulling harnesses and inspecting each one and repairing as I go? I am handy enough to do it but two small kids and two jobs makes time a premium anymore. I've never had issues like this before. I thought the soy jacketed wiring lawsuit was a stretch but there must be some merit to it. Anyone know the cost to get this done? I love this truck but rodents and wiring damage like that lowers trust that something else won't crip up. 99k miles on 2011. Other than a small weep of the oil from the cam tower, zero issues.

 

If I’m not mistaken won't insurance cover that?

 

Throwing in the towel so soon...cmon.. tis' but a scratch...

 

This^^^ If you have comprehensive, rodent damage should be covered.

 

1. Did not know comprehensive covered that +1 for the tip.

2. I know I could fix it but it would take loads of time to pull and trace each harness. Any one have this fixed with a complete new harness before? Wonder cost and time without truck that would be. I mean I guess I did just drive it 75 miles the other day. Probably not as bad as I make it out to be. I do spray my interior with peppermint oil a lot and all the foamy bits of the engine bay. Of course any vapor in the bay probably dissipates pretty rapidly.

Rally me folks. I've got all the wire, solder, and heat shrink I'd need as I am doing a rebuild on my project VW. It just feels like Toyota is begging me to order a 23 DC TRD but I like my simple V-8 and alarm clock level graphics radio.

 

File a claim and let the dealership replace the harness. Then get a cat or two.

 

Seconds on the cats. And don’t turn them into pets. My aunt got some barn cats and was still having rodent problems. Called the exterminator who saw how fat the cats were. Turns out when you feed them a lot twice a day they loose motivation. Like me.

 

peppermint oil deters rodents, there is also a special tape that i think honda sells that is essentially coated in hot sauce that you wrap around your wiring. Also, if you are parking where its dark, put some flood lights up, they dont like the light.

 

Yeah shed cat time likely. Also high likelihood the vw needs to come outside for a while with it petroleum based wiring and solid stench of gear oil and axle grease on the interior, should be enough of a deterrent. Curiosity got me and the reassurance of you good Tundra folk. The hunt is on. I will probably take the seats out too because I can see a trail to a tunnel where a wire loom crossing is on the floor. That cable tray under the sill is like a little highway for mice.

 

Yesterday afternoon fo. Took out the wiper assembly and ready to clean it down thoroughly. Made a screen for the hvac intake. Today I will screen the outer openings for added insurance. Tomorrow will be wire adventure time.

 

Well fed cats actually hunt more because they can risk the energy expenditure of a failed hunt. Overfeeding is a different story.

 

Always concerned about this on our small farm even with outdoor cats. If we are gone for a week or more I always try to remember to put rat poison up in the engine bay. In my wife's corolla the mice keep building a nest under the plastic engine cover so I took that off. Just a few days ago I saw a 3' black snake hunting in the area. Definitely let him go so maybe he will fix the problem too.

 

Disassembled the fuse box. Took all the holders out. Time to clean and splice. At an hour a day I can afford this fixing.

 

I spray a mixture of essential oils, (peppermint, eucalyptus, and rosemary, I think) which may help (it's hard to prove a negative). I also have the Honda anti-rodent electrical tape which I will warn doesn't stick much at all. But at least it's expensive ($40-$50 per roll).

 

That mixture seems pretty solid. I'm not a fan of the tape either but it's an option I guess. Imo the lighting works the best.

 

Yeah I use peppermint oil. Probably why the critters didn't free roam the interior too much. Seems to be concentrated activity at the foot well driver side. I'll give the mixture a try. Nothing like broad-spectrum approo.

Fun thing I did learn the other day soaking my engine cover in peppermint oil, it makes wasps high. A wasp got on it and was almost immediately reduced to very slow, stumbly movement. Crushing it was insane easy while in that state

 

Try pine sol soaked rags and a few bars of pink Dove soap in the engine bay, seems to be working well here.

 

That's a new one. How did you come up with that?

 

Mother of god.

 

I catch them fairly often. They love the area around the battery/fuse box and then the passenger rear corner of the engine bay.

 

Two cats works for me. They catch and partially devour mice a couple times a year.

 

Just memory from some previous reading. The soap bars will begin to melt just a very little bit from the heat exposure. I just have them kinda wedged in where other components secure them around the outer perimeter away from heat sources for obvious reasons. Similar placement strategy with the Pinesol soaked rags. Seems to be getting the job done, and no I don't smell any perfume or pine oil in the cab. If the shoe fits......

 

Damn, no way could I accept knowing that they are getting so close. Hopefully you have the air intakes for the HVAC screened really well. Mice in the vents nearly killed a member here.

 

I use one of these under the hood of my wife's car when it's in storage. Would be easy to wire it either be always on or on a 24 hr timer if you didn't want to potentially drain the battery.

$30 Under Hood Rodent Repellent for Car Engines, Dual Action Ultrasonic & LED Strobe Lights for High-Efficiency Rat and Mouse Deterrent, Pest Control for 12V 24V Vehicles, Cars, Trucks, RVs

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07LCKBGY8?ie=UTF8

We don't have a lot of rodent problems, but it's worked well for the past year being stored 3 months at a time.

 

If you have full coverage your insurance will cover this. I just went through this nightmare about three months ago. All total it was close to $8k for the entire repair. Thank God for insurance.

Mine was destroyed by squirrels building a condominium under my hood.

 

Excellent...

 

I was told that putting mothballs somewhere under the hood keeps critters away. Something I may try.

 

Holy freaking shirtballs. That’s some expensive copper.