Rabbit chewed through wiring harness on brand new Model 3

[ChrisH]

Well, we got confirmation that the AWD is working as Elon promised: if one motor fails, the other can work without it and keep the car drive able albeit at reduced power. I know this wasn’t always the case with the dual motor S cars. A little peace of mind for people with AWD cars who might worry about a drive failure, I guess.

Yeah. Sometimes I wish I would have bought AWD instead of EAP just for the piece of mind that the AWD cars have two drive units and the odds of them both failing at the same time seems really low so less likely to be stranded than a RWD

 

[Ormond]

@robgmartin Can you put up temporary fencing around your car at night? A screen between four poles? I cannot think of a product, but it would be similar to what you might see around a pool to keep children out.

 

[woodisgood]

I’ve seen people use dryer sheets around wiring harnesses in ICE cars to protect wiring/repel rodents. Not sure if it’s some kind of myth but even had Toyota service recommend it to my folks when they had mice under the hood of their Camry.

Maybe it’s just a strong scent that masks the soy/vanilla?

 

[JimVision]

Bought my new 2017 Model S in August 2017 which is currently at the SC for a chewed wire harness. This is my 3rd wire hardness! Tesla SC said they are working on a solution. At least they are paying for the 3rd wire harness. There must be a better way. This never occurred on my prior ICE cars (Volvo, VW).

I use to like rabbits.

 

[TeeEmCee]

I use to like rabbits.

I still do. They're very tasty!

 

[brkaus]

I had a harness chewed off on our Acura. They claimed the new harness had some sort of repellant or bad taste. The replacement looked exactly like the original. Some tape around it with a mouse and a circle/slash through it. I don't think rodents can read so it didn't help.

Acura wanted $900 to replace it.

 

[ToddB]

Just in case anyone else runs into this, I thought I would share my story. I have a brand new (picked up August 31st) Model 3 AWD. It has been driven almost constantly and accumulated over 4000 miles by October 8th (so it has not sat idle for any extended period of time).

I am a management consultant so I travel almost constantly for work but on most weekends I live on Seal Beach Navy Base (I am also in the Air Force Reserve). Seal Beach is near a pretty large wildlife preserve and has a huge population of rabbits that frequent the base. I don't have a garage for my Model 3 so it is always parked outside in a paved parking lot and is usually plugged in overnight.

Well - turns out there are a few things with the Model 3 that make it a little more susceptible to rodent chewing. For one - many manufacturers are switching over to soy based (vs petroleum based) insulation for wiring. Apparently the soy wiring is cheaper and more eco-friendly but it also smells faintly like vanilla when it becomes warm. This has been well documented in high volume car manufacturers (Toyota and Honda) and there have even been a few class action lawsuits brought against manufacturers for the issues. The Model 3 apparently has this same soy wiring insulation.

But - ICE cars typically run warm when the engine is running and become completely cold about an hour after shut off (which also meas those wires stop giving off that nice vanilla smell). Unfortunately your Tesla doesn't work that way. Once you stop driving your vehicle and plug it in to charge the vehicle will keep the battery and internals warm as part of the charging process. The areas around your battery and motors will provide a nice warm habitat complete with yummy food for any critters out there.

Welp, I was recently bitten (literally) by this. Temps overnight in Southern California are starting to drop now and critters are looking for warm places to hide at night. I normally start charging my Tesla with 50-70% on the battery so it only stays warm for 2-4 hours (so not past midnight when the rabbits get really active) but recently i took an extended trip and plugged in on the night of the 8th at 8PM with only 15% SOC. This meant the car would need to charge for a full 8 hours (well into the morning). I got in my car the next day to drive to San Diego and was greeted with a warning that "power is reduced". Since this is a dual motor car it did not suffer a huge reduction in performance but it was noticeably slower in acceleration.

We called Tesla and ran some diagnostics over the phone. The issue persisted. We set up a SC appointment for that Friday and I was told it was ok to drive until then. Got the car into the SC and after a significant amount of software updates, diagnostics, etc. They determined the front motor was not communicating and would need to be replaced. 5 days later they received the new motor, went to install it and found droppings and a chewed up motor wiring harness. Now we will be waiting 4 more days for a new wiring harness.

The SC is being super cool about it and working with me to get the car back on the road but this is definitely concerning given how much more susceptible our cars can be to chewing and intrusion due to the soy wiring and being kept constantly warm during charging.I am really starting to reconsider my initial excitement over owning a Tesla.

TLDR: your vehicle stays warm all the time and has wires that smell like vanilla. It is far more enticing to critters chewing on wires than your previous cars (especially if you park outside).

 

[ToddB]

I have a solution. Get a male indoor/outdoor cat. We have two Tesla Model 3's. And one gray 4-yearold male tabby cat. Our cat has hunted and killed 27 rabbits since we got the two Tesla's (there is a community vegetable garden nearby - not sure if its the garden or the vanilla scented power wires on our Tesla's that attracts the rabbits). So far, no damage to our Tesla's which have been consistently parked outside our unfinished barn/garage. And BONUS: the neighborhood gardeners appreciate the reduction in critters that were also eating their vegetables.

 

[OK_3AWD]

We had a similar problem with a 2012 Toyota a few year ago, in our case a squirrel was eating wires and depositing acorns throughout the engine bay every night. Woke up every morning and got to splice a few more connections. We ended up using capsaicin (substance that makes hot peppers hot) spray and tape the Honda parts department offers to resolve exactly this kind of problem.

If you have access to a lift, it should be fairly easy to wrap or spray the most accessible wires underneath. With the smell of the capsaicin or a few painful bites, perhaps they venture no further. After reading your story, I know what I'll be doing this weekend...

 

[CharleyBC]

My parents used to have a pet rabbit that wandered freely around the house. It had a hobby of chewing wires to lamps, stereo, appliances--anything in reach. And I suspect most if not all of that was not vanilla-scented soy insulation. Just the old-fashioned stuff. Apparently electrocution was an insufficient deterrent. I mean, she must have gotten zapped a few times. My folks ultimately solved the problem by buying this longitudinally slit tubing that snaps around the wires and is less chewable. Perhaps such a cheap product could wrap the Tesla harnesses.

Biology trivia: rabbits are lagomorphs, not rodents.

 

[FurryOne]

I had chipmunks getting into my BMW just behind the right headlight and chewing on a few of the wires. I got rid of them by spraying the area and wires with Cosmoline. It's an oily concoction that becomes a waxy coating to protect against salt & water. (The US used it to coat all the munitions going into the Pacific theater to protect the metal in WW2.) Good Stuff! It has a pungent oily smell (Sorry, I never tasted it!).

 

[StellarRat]

I should have bought the EAP (Enhanced Avian Predator) upgrade after all.

 

[Cyberax]

TLDR: your vehicle stays warm all the time and has wires that smell like vanilla. It is far more enticing to critters chewing on wires than your previous cars (especially if you park outside).

I'm surprised they are not using capsaicin-impregnated wires. It solved the rodent problems for phone cabling.

 

[brkaus]

I'm surprised they are not using capsaicin-impregnated wires. It solved the rodent problems for phone cabling.

Acura uses it - didn’t stop the mouse from doing lots of damage to an inaccessible wire.

 

[1FASTROD]

Don't know if this is an old wives tale but I've used it when storing my sports cars. I've read that rodents hate the smell of Old Spice soap (green one). I carve off several pieces of a bar for winter storage and put pieces under the hood and bottom of my cars.

May have to do this for the Tesla as well.

 

[1FASTROD]

Sorry, correction, not old spice, I meant Irish Spring soap bars. Not only scares away rodents but my wife as well

 

[quinney]

That's no ordinary rabbit.

 

[StellarRat]

That's no ordinary rabbit.

That's the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent you ever set eyes on!

 

[dmd2005]

You can wire up a mouse blocker that is suppose to emit a frequency the rodents don’t like. I’m not sure if it works for rabbits though.

https://www.amazon.com/MouseBlocker...uPWNsaWNrUmVkaXJlY3QmZG9Ob3RMb2dDbGljaz10cnVl

I had mice chew up the soy-based wires on my Toyota Tundra wiring harness a few years back. Cost $900 to take the manifold off and for a new harness. Insurance paid for it but cost me $300 for my deductible.

 

[NoMoGas]

This is why I keep my bunny inside