Rodent damage

[wtfuzz]

Had warnings appear that my power was reduced and OK to drive.

Scheduled service immediately and brought my LR AWD into Vancouver SC today. I received a call from them that rodents have damaged some wiring, but won’t know more until Monday.

 

[PACEMD]

I smell a rat..........

 

[ShawnA]

Hi Wtfuzz,

These can be nasty...
I got a recurring "blindspot detection limited" message.
After they replaced the camera and still got the message,
further testing revealed major damage to the main wiring harness.
Not too expensive a part but 12 hours of labor to replace it...

If you don't have pets or young children poison will work...
Exterminator, traps, glue traps...

Nasty...

Good luck,

Shawn

 

[wtfuzz]

Thanks for sharing. I’m hoping it’s not too major. I haven’t had any other warnings or issues and the original power limited message went away after re-entering the vehicle. Drove a week without it popping up again.

I also complained about coolant pump noise (sounds like an electric lawnmower from the front end) and audible gushing fluid sounds. They indicated the damaged wiring is related to a cooling pump, so I’m hopeful this noise is resolved as well.

My theory is the original power limited message was due to components overheating from chewed wiring to the pump.

 

[wtfuzz]

@ShawnA do you know if that’s a coolant pump in the left of your picture?

 

[SMAlset]

Sorry you’re having to deal with this. Thanks for sharing what you’ve encountered and the alerts you’ve received.

 

[ShawnA]

Hi Wdfuzz,

Yes, I believe that is the coolant pump...
I misunderstood what I was looking at.
I removed the frunk tub and other stuff and did not see any of that stuff.
The view shown is from underneath the car with the front aero shield removed.
I bought some tape on eBay that actually is a Honda part number.
It has capsaicin in the tape - Think tear gas, red hot peppers, or other rodent annoying mixtures.
They do not like the hot stuff.
Some have said that the rodents do like the soybean oil some manufacturers use in their wire or wire lubricants.

Others have said to use old style napthalene moth balls, but I don't want my car smelling like moth balls.

Good Luck,

Shawn

 

[Lloyd]

$4000 Damage to my model S from Mice!! Insurance covered it.

 

[tren01t]

This happened to me on a 2008 MBZ CLK 350 that was garaged 95% of the time. It sent me on a road that eventually led to purchasing a Tesla (sad that they use the same soy based casings). I blame the manufacturers in using soy based electrical casings for wire harnesses, etc. That is the only reason why rats, mice etc will chew on them. Mercedes, BMW, Tesla, just to name a few. Just assume that all manufactures engages in this practice and rodent proof where your vehicle is stored.

 

[MP3Mike]

This happened to me on a 2008 MBZ CLK 350 that was garaged 95% of the time. It sent me on a road that eventually led to purchasing a Tesla (sad that they use the same soy based casings). I blame the manufacturers in using soy based electrical casings for wire harnesses, etc. That is the only reason why rats, mice etc will chew on them. Mercedes, BMW, Tesla, just to name a few. Just assume that all manufactures engages in this practice and rodent proof where your vehicle is stored.

I don't think you can 100% blame the manufacturers as I think there are regulations that they are required to use wire insulation that is biodegradable.

 

[wtfuzz]

I certainly don’t blame Tesla for this, but I hope they better protect the wiring to prevent this from happening in the future.

In the meantime my car is going to be garaged daily, and I’m going to rodent proof as much as possible. Thanks for the tip on the capsaicin tape @ShawnA

We have a ton of rabbits around our property and others have pointed out online a stationary vehicle with warm charging components are an attractive place for them to take shelter in the cold.

 

[wtfuzz]

I was notified this morning the car was repaired. Picked it up from the SC this afternoon. They found an internal fault with the superbottle and replaced it under warranty. The only damaged wires were minor and they repaired them on my dime.

They also fixed the supercharging clunk from the floor by installing some kind of vent tubes per service bulletin.

All in all I’m extremely happy with the service I received from the Vancouver SC.

 

[brkaus]

I bought some tape on eBay that actually is a Honda part number.
It has capsaicin in the tape - Think tear gas, red hot peppers, or other rodent annoying mixtures.
They do not like the hot stuff.

dont get over confident with this stuff. The knock sensor wire on my old Acura was wrapped with this stuff (from the factory) and the whole thing was chewed off. Sadly, under the intake so a nightmare to replace the $5 part.

 

[TrooperCA]

I had a small issue, rodent chewed my windshield washer fluid reservoir. $230 to replace by Tesla.

If your deductible for comprehensive is low, then this will qualify.

Funny, thing I was supercharging and I saw a mouse this weekend. Till this day I have no idea when I encountered the little guy that chewed my stuff up...oh well. They could be anywhere!