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

You should be fine although you may notice reduced performance as the PCM retards ignition timing when a knock sensor code is set.

 

Thank you! I appreciate your response. I’ll just take back roads and not go over 25mph until I can get into the shop next week.

I just changed my oil last week and saw rodent prints so I’m pretty sure I know what the issue is

 

I drove mine for a few days and didn’t go past 60. It wasn’t a big issue. Had a local mom and pop that I trust fix my issue after purchasing a harness from the dealer. They hooked me up at $250 for the repair. The harness and gaskets costs me around $120.

 

This post was a godsend. Such great direction. Got that chewed up wire out in about 3 hrs! I don't have tiny hands, but some long fingers do the trick as well, haha. THANK YOU!!!

 

Any of you guys experience bad gas mileage after this? Should I check my plugs? Seems like since this happened and we fixed it, my gas mileage is horrible.

 

Some years back, Tom and Ray Magliozzi, the "Car Talk" guys passed along the advice they received from a pest control specialist: Mint. Soak a cotton ball in mint oil, a baking ingredient, place it in a perforated metal container and secure it in the engine compartment or someplace near the affected area. The aroma of mint passing through the cabin air filter I doubt would be that offensive to humans.

 

I've read this entire thread and I don't think anybody has addressed this yet, how do you get around those two coolant pipes to reach the sensors and plugs?

 

Reminds me of my answer to the US Customs agent in southern BC when I was moving to Idaho after retiring from Alaska in 2011. His eyes got as big as he was wide as I opened the roll-up door on the 26' UHaul and he asked, "How did you get that airplane in there?" "Very carefully." Go slow and don't rush. As the previous poster wrote, "this work took six hours..."

 

For me, I got lucky. where it was chewed I had a long pig tail on the sensor. I was able to reach in pull it up and splice the wire without having to mess with the coolant pipe.

 

It's not really caused by soy. Rodents don't eat the wiring. They have been chewing on wiring since the beginning of time. It's because all rodents have to constantly chew to keep their incisors from over growing. Materials that are not too hard or not to soft is what they prefer. An automobile provides a plethora of things to choose from. A warm engine bay on a cold night with endless amounts of material to chew on makes for a convenient and tempting hotel.

 

Before I had a garage, all our cars/trucks lived outside, including ones that were seldom driven.
I found evidence of rats having been in all of them at one point or another.
Not a single wire chewed except on the later model Toyota/Lexus vehicles.

I repaired a (soldered) a few damaged wires in my truck and covered the repair with heat shrink, Honda rodent tape, real duct tape (aluminum tape) and new split loom. They blew through all of that to munch on the same wires a second time.
Meanwhile a 30+ year old Toyota and a 60+ year old GM car were parked right next to it and remained unchewed.

 

Gotcha MF’er

 

new fear unlocked..

 

Gotta keep those incisors worn down... Fortunately, I recycled some cotton stuffing from new bottles, found peppermint oil at Fred Meyer, added some mint flakes from the baking aisle. and will velcro the Altoids container in a good spot somewhere in the engine compartment. (Plan to drill several tiny holes in the lid for a bit of ventilation...)

 

Great thread. Thank you for the info.

Did a buddy's 2006 yesterday and found the driver side sensor wires chewed all the way through. He had a new harness (PN:82219-0C010) but unclipping the old harness, getting it out, threading the new one in and plugging it in around the coolant pipes took 3 hours with me bear hugging the engine from the top, coat hanger tools made and chop sticks (no joke) used to plug in to the sensors around everything. But just wanted to say it's possible to use a new harness after I did it.

I also took the opportunity to install new valve cover gaskets, PCV valve, spark plugs and to clean the TB and MAF. He says it runs like it was when it was new. That bastard owes me big time!!

 

Unfortunately stripped one of the 10 Torx bolts on the lower manifold while in the middle of fixing/replacing the block sensor harness, and in need of a part number on my 2013 Tacoma. Can someone hook me up? Thx in advance.

BTW, peppermint spray seems to have kept the varmints away. Requires periodic application however.

 

Two nice videos on this job. The first one says he did the job in less than 3 hours. The second one is more step by step and says 4 hours. Im sure it will take me a minimum of 8. Im most worried about stripping bolts on the intake. My dealer quoted me 20 hours on this job.

Guy says 2 hours.
https://youtu.be/pRwMXzAH19w

This one from TRQ is really good step by step. He says more like 4 hours.

https://youtu.be/hwVcU7mkap4

As far as getting around the coolant pipes, both these videos drain the coolant from the engine, cut the connecting bands on the two coolant pipes, disconnect the water pump from the large pipe, and pull it out to get to the knock sensors. If you can just splice the wiring harness back together, maybe you can skip this step.

 

I know this is an old thread but wanted to give my 2 cents.

Had this issue and couldn't take care of it myself. I brought this in to few dealerships/shops and they all quoted me $3-5k. As frustrated I was I brought it to one more local toyota specialized shop and they ended up doing it for only $580 by not tearing down the entire engine.

If anyone in the future is reading this and having p0333 issue that they can't do theirselves - bring it to a yota shop and save $$$$$

 

My local quoted $1300, which is way better than the dealer. He may charge less, depending on how it goes.

 

Did you remove the water pump?