Rodents chewed up engine harness!

Damn mice ate through wire loom along passenger side of the engine. They attacked my wife's 4runner's engine harness for the second time in 3 months and its disabled . They built nests and created a cozy bed room. She's pissed and said she's done with Toyota. Doesn't every manufacturer make there electrical wiring out of soy?

 

Not sure if it helps but we had this problem in AZ as well. I open my hood every night to prevent them from having a warm place to set up. I also installed an Amazon rodent underhood kit ($15 i think) that's wired to the battery. I was told from my shop that having the engine steamed / detailed is a way to get rid of the scent they leave when set up shop...hope that helps.

 

Thanks, I'll definitely steam clean the engine. I'm soldering her engine harness wires since insurance took two months to fix it last time. I was also spraying peppermint oil in the engine bay and front wheel wells. Pic of her damage to the engine harness which cost about 2K not including labor.

 

So, we had it real bad in Mrs Arc's subaru - they got in and stayed pretty bad two years ago. As in living in the headliner, spare area, etc. We'd actually hear them running around, and it massively stained the headliner. She took it out and spent days enzyme treating to get rid of the ugliness.

With that said, we both park outside next to each other. Had gen1 up to 2013, gen2 2013 to 2023, and now gen 3. I've never had an issue except an errant chipmunk I can see running in and out once in a great while, but no mice. The only difference I can see is that I massively treat the Tacos with fluid film often. I think I did her car once early on (also around 2013) but not since. So I assume most of the ff is gone fro the suby.

I think I saw someone else also suggesting that maybe ff helps. It may be worth a try to spray around on the suspension, frame, and engine areas a good bit for this problem, as well as just generic rust prevention. We tried the pepermint and dryer sheets with hers, and even have huge bags of mothballs under her car to try to ward off. They have had minimal effect. Something about the ff they don't like? It does have a "unique" odor.....

 

I have mouse traps in my garage in hopes to prevent this. A friend of mine who doesn’t have a garage had extensive squirrel damage to his Tundra so he added a motion triggered deterrent device. I’ve seen some on Amazon.

 

Maybe Orkin Terminex could help , I know a power sports dealer that almost died from the dropping, not something you want to mess with.
Good Luck

 

Had it as well over at my parents house. Dads 4Runner wiring harness, moms Outback hardness and a bunch of other stuff, plus they nested on top of her gas tank, then when I left my truck there they got some coolant hoses. Only difference is these were rats.
Once we found where the little shits were living, out back under a chair cover they put on the patio furniture for winter, they seem to have split. Knock on wood. I probably trapped a dozen of them before that as well.
During the debacle I found these on Amazon and they actually had an effect. You just have to remember them every night and morning.

$41 Angveirt Under Hood Rodent Repeller Ultrasonic Mouse Repellent Battery Operated Pest Repeller Rat Mice Deterrent Rodent Repellent for Car Engine Garage RV Basement Attic 2 Pack Humane

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08L6B87Z5?ie=UTF8

I wish you luck. It isn't fun.

 

Like you, my truck is Fluid Filmed simply because of where I live, and at least for rats, they didn't care. We tried the mothballs under the car as well with no results, same with putting them in a mesh bag under the hood. They're super frustrating little things.

@Max5150 I'd also suggest a couple traps. I put one at each tire, figuring that's how they were getting up and in. The tunnel style ones worked well for me.

 

Honda makes hot pepper tape for this purpose
Don’t know if it works or not
Worth a try

https://www.collegehillshonda.com/product/4019-2317.html

 

The f'ing squirrels were regularly -- almost daily -- crawling around the engine compartment of my frequently-parked Gen 2. These are the same little bastards that ate the wiring on my 1988 XJ 20+ years ago and my Lexus RX 12+ years ago.

So I was not happy. I tried an ultrasonic repeller with flashing bright white LEDs from Amazon, and amazingly, after a year there have only been footprints on the engine cover one time. I had one of my Arlo cameras set up in front of the truck early on and one could see the f'ing squirrels run under the truck, look up at the engine, and keep on going.

I'm kinda surprised, and I don't have a lot of data (although I did get one of those ultrasonic repellers for my Gen 1 too, and so far-so good), but I'm leaning toward the conclusion that these things work.

The ones I got were indoor use only, but I figured underhood is thisclose to indoor anyway. I have them on the 120V same extension cord as my CTEK battery maintainers, although I see there are similar 12V repellers available.

Here's mine. These come and go on Amazon, but there are almost certainly many similar versions. I place mine on the power steering reservoir when the truck's parked for several weeks or a month.


And, BTW, although it's a very popular thing to blame the couple-% by weight of epoxidized soybean oil in some PVC insulation for attracting rodents, my experience and the technical literature discount this. Gravid squirrels and other rodents have been chewing things like wiring for DECADES.
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c05868

 

That’s what I used for all my repairs.
I used a LOT…

 

Do you know if it has a shelf life as far as potency? (I didn't know about this when we had our issues.)

 

The capsaicin is encapsulated in the top layer of the tape, so it should be quite durable. I don’t recall a best-by date on the rolls I have or in the technical literature. I’ll check and update this post if there’s new and useful info.

 

Nice, thank you. I'll have to snag some to keep handy.

 

It’s pricey stuff! Not the kind of thing to buy just for fun.

Check online/eBay, etc. vs the dealer — I found some (that I’m pretty sure isn’t counterfeit…) online that was half the price or less compared to the parts counter at my local Honda dealership.

 

Had this issue wife's iM. We found 4 condos in the car. Ended up trading car in and installed these on her car and my Gen3 . They are battery operated. But has motion sensors that turn it off while car is moving.

Loraffe Under Hood Rodent...

$54 Loraffe Under Hood Rodent Repeller Battery Operated Ultrasonic Car Rat Repellent Mice Deterrent Keep Animal Away from Car with Ultrasound and LED Flashlights Rodent Defense Vehicle Protection, 2 Pack

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07N6JZ2J4?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

 

Just saw $45 a roll, not cheap, but if it works its worth it. Way cheaper than replacing wiring and hoses.

 

A friend in Santa Fe was having a real problem with mice nesting in his RAV4’s engine compartment. He shrouded most of the underhood wiring with braided oversleeving. It looked OEM and solved his problems.

 

It does work,but its a little expensive..

 

Thanks for all the suggestions. May try wrapping existing wiring loom with the Honda tape. I also purchased some flexible non metallic conduit which is way thicker than OEM loom.I will wrap them with black electrical tape or Honda tape so they look better. I do have four traps around both vehicles and have not caught anything.