PSA: Rodent proof your engine before it's too late! (P0333 - DIY Knock sensor harness repair)

There are two things that work. One is dryer sheets rolled up and stuffed into a screen tea ball. These can be purchased off of Ebay or Amazon cheap. Putting the dryer sheet in the ball keeps it smelling much longer. It's sort of a timed release. Use 4 balls, one in each corner of the engine bay. Replace them on a regular schedule to keep them fresh. If you don't replace them they will not work.

I also use these: https://www.amazon.com/VENSMILE-Rep...=UTF8&qid=1544287038&sr=8-8&keywords=vensmile

Put one on each side of the engine compartment. An off switch is nice though. When I'm working under the hood, these give me a headache. I can barely hear them, but they get into your head! I live in a rat and mouse hell. Any car left unprotected becomes a target immediately. I have no rodent issues with these measures.

 

I did this as well to keep stuff out of there. Anyone know when Toyota changed the looks from petroleum to soy? Is it all 2nd gens?

 

Rats got me as well. Christmas tree on the dash as described. Don’t know the total bill, insurance took over. Wasn’t pretty.

Spotted makings of a nest on top of my air fielder yesterday. Hoping to prevent round 2.

 

GEICO considered it an "Act of God." Had full coverage since it was financed. They didn't even blink.

 

Yeah filed under a natural disaster basically haha

Same as if a tree had fallen on the truck.

 

Mine was $4500

 

I didn't have to say anything magical to get mine covered. I just repeated what the dealer or insurance told me to tell the other one. Straightforward. Mine was estimated ~$1900 or so. Mostly labor to get at it.

 

Squirrels are my problem. Neighbor spent $3500 on his Chevy. I spent $400 on my Taco. Chewed the wires coming out of the gas tank. Now he baits them and picks them off with a pellet gun. I'm getting him something nice for Christmas.

 

we are having the same discussion on a Motorcycle forum I belong to, here are a couple of my responses I posted there and will be appropriate here

Well, I'll be the first to admit it, I suffer from some form of "Musophobia" although I am not afraid of rodents, the thought of having them around bothers the "H" out of me, my advice would be to clear the area of all un-necessary items, (junk, not implying you have any, just saying) make sure there is no source of food stuffs, dog, cat food etc:, I am a big believer of bait stations, the larger ones can be a little spendy but well worth the $'s, a station on each side of building, check and refresh when necessary. believe it or not they like fresh food, The simple victor traps work well, although outdoors they will take a beating, I also have used bait bars, I would put them in areas where dogs or cats couldn't get to them. I never used the smelly stuff moth balls etc: because I don't want to detour them, I want to kill them. outside can be a little different, but I had great success (at least no mice) getting them before they got into the sheds. it takes perseverance, the major drawback is if a dying one makes it into a building they do put out quit an odor!! although I have never had a problem with that, good luck, (No I never had a mouse problem, I don't think there is a mouse within a mile of me! (jk)

Just my opinion but Dryer sheets, moth balls, Irish spring, storage shed, etc, doesn't do much to solve the problem, ya got to kill the little "B's T's" imop traps are the best as you can see the rewards of your labor, in larger areas/buildings poison is your friend! I go a little overboard when it comes to rodents, 1) I have sort of a phobia, 2) as with all of you I have money invested in MC's & vehicles that I don't want destroyed. I think with a little perseverance and continued vigilance anyone can rid their property of rodents, Here are a couple of photos of my Rodent Arsenal, as we all know Vermin can come in either the two legged or four legged variety, Therefor the 00Buck.



n the desert I have put some of the electronic gadgets on (don't bother to commit I know it could be "snake oil" but hay!)

 

Were does the harness from the 2 sensors exit to...the rear of the manifold? Are any of the aftermarket harnesses made from petroleum based insulation so they are not so attractive as a food source? If I have a harness in hand, wouldn't it make sense to replace rather than repair?

 

The harness for the knock sensors is pretty short, plugs into the main harness at the back of the intake manifold.

Replacing is a tad harder than fixing the OE harness. just because of how hard it is to reach everything else under those coolant hard lines. Not aware of any aftermarket ones.

 

Had to get my bank 2 knock sensor replaced for $2400 as well, wasn’t squirrels though I decided to send it into a mud pit and I hit a massive rock, very much regret doing that lol

 

I Place a few moth balls under the hood or you could put them underneath the engine compartment where stored.

 

Would love to know if any of these 2500+ repairs actually removed the heads for the quoted repair.

My master tech normally charges around 5 hours for repairing these wires. Around 700 parts and labor.

 

fuuuuuu just got this code today. looks like i have a fun weekend ahead of me

 

Well that was a pain in the ass never want to do that again in my life haha. Thread was a huge help though

Only comment I have is that I ended up pulling the injectors out of the fuel rail and zip tieing the fuel rail to the washer fluid line on the hood. made getting the intake manifold in/out much easier. Used some engine oil on the o rings to pop them back into the rail

 

I discovered a nest there once so I took the black engine cover off the 4.0 and kept it off. The engine doesn't look as nice now, but I think the cover creates a nice nest environment for them. I also sprayed Raid/roach killer into that area and refresh it every few monts. So far, no rats.

 

My airbag light came on right when I started getting notifications for my first maintenance in my 2018 Tacoma and turns out this was the problem. Only 4600 miles in and I already have a $5100 repair bill that isn't covered by my warranty OR the expensive Toyota Care extended service contract that I paid for when I bought the vehicle only 6 months ago.

30 years of Nissans living at the same house and camping at the same places and never had to worry about this before. WTF Toyota??

 

This needs to be considered a design defect, group together and form a class action lawsuit

 

Damn.....wish I had read this and paid attention. Stupid squirrels built a nest under the intake manifold on my 2015, and ate the wires to the knock sensor resulting in the dreaded P0333 code. The truck is at a buddy's shop and hopefully he will take care of me (He owes me a few favors).

Update....Got the truck back today...No charge (now I owe him a huge favor, and an expensive dinner). He says he sees this a lot , especially on corvettes, which he specializes in. He was able to solder the wires, wrap them in Honda rodent tape, and then black tape them, without removing the heads or hard coolant lines.
Thank god for buddies, and Poo on Toyota. My stealerships wonderful lifetime warranty aint worth the paper it is printed on. Has anyone ever made a successful claim on these BS warranties?