Squirrel Wrecked My Baby. Seeking Wire Harness Knowledge and Help.

Hey Tacoma World Community!
Hey 1st Gen Tacoma Afficionados!

I was recommended to this group to seek help for an event that occurred a couple weeks ago.

To start - I began by noticing a few electrical malfunctions in my Tacoma. First thing I noticed was my AC power going out, followed by some dash indicators disappearing. I chalked it up to a fuse or relay issue, despite it being in random locations and hard to map. 2 days later, the truck wouldn't start. As I went to open my hood to investigate, no joke, a squirrel jumped out of my engine and ran off.

After the shock and laughs wore off, I later found this.


The fuse box sits right behind. I've been doing all kinds of research and scheduled a service with my local Toyota dealership (unfortunately a month wait, two weeks out now). Obviously very nervous about the quote but it's worth it regardless. In the meantime, my co-worker mentioned it might be possible to find the right part and replace myself. I've downloaded every diagram and looked at every possible wiring component to the best of my knowledge and feel it's a job way beyond my capabilities. What do you guys think?

Just so you guys have a general idea of my ride. I have no other issues the truck has ran perfectly for me for years and is currently at 160k miles.



Additionally, in a month once the work is done despite how we get there, any recommendations to prevent this happening in the future?

Thank you all so much.

-Adrian

 

Welcome to TacomaWorld. My condolences, that looks like an absolute nightmare. I'd invest in one or two of these, they work very well.

$55 Forestry Suppliers Tube Trap Squirrel Trap (Rust-Resistant)

https://www.amazon.com/Tube-Trap-Squirrel-Rust-Resistant/dp/B00K6JKVLS

For mice these are pretty effective as well:

$15 The Original Rolling Log Mouse Trap Exact Trap from YouTube - Perfect Kill or No Kill Trap for Mice, Rats, other Pests and Rodents - Humane, Non Poison - Caught 11 Mice in 1 Night

https://www.amazon.com/Rolling-Log-Mouse-Trap-Original/dp/B071ZF2VZJ/

 

OUCH! From the looks of that. You may be better off getting a used wiring harness from a Junkyard or donor truck.
Or possibly a new wiring harness from Toyota or aftermarket.

 

Thanks for all the help so far! I am definitely going to begin trapping these punks.

Thank you! I might go that route but first I am curious if it's a plug and play type system or will I need some electrical knowledge first?

 

Wow! Your squirrel damage is probably the worst I've seen.

That's all repairable, but it's going to be a ton -- thousands -- at the dealer. Will your comprehensive insurance cover it?

I've had those f'ing tree-dwelling rats damage wiring on my old XJ Cherokee and on my Lexus RX, but so far they've left my two Tacomas alone.

It probably helped that for other reasons my neighbors and I took out the two trees close to our driveways, so now the trucks are a bit more isolated from their normal runs.



I have friends in New Mexico and in the Sierras of California who put a string of holiday/Christmas lights under their collector cars or their Airstream trailer to keep out rodents as the vehicles sit for extended periods. No experience with that personally, and I'm doubtful, but they say it works.

 

Dude .. Just buy yourself a Ryobi electric soldering iron (or whatever brand electric power tools you own - I like those more than the butane powered ones), some heat shrink, some extra wire and start matching color for color. A new wiring harness will cost you your first born child and most, if not all, of your soul.

 

this what you need?
This is entire wiring harness from firewall forward to interior fuse box.
Send me a PM if you think this is correct and we can work something out to help you get back on road

Here is pic of where yours was chewed through

 

Like most everyone else said, the only solution the dealer will offer you is to replace the entire wiring harness section. The part alone will be $1000+

Get a portable soldering iron, heat shrink tubing (marine grade), and start reconnecting wires. It won’t be fast, but this is not something to speed through. Be methodical, make clean strong connections. Look up the wiring connectors that are chewed off at the plug and replace them or get “repair wire” from the dealer. These will have the pins already crimped on.

Where are you located? Maybe there’s someone in your area that has knowledge of wiring. I’d help if you’re near me.

 

I would really look for a used harness unless your real lucky none of the dealer techs have ever seen a truck as old as yours. I hate to see you pay for a hour labor and be told the parts are obsolete sorry.

Dealer New Parts List price plus labor.

Last new engine harness I bought was $400.00 Have you checked by your Vin if the engine harness is still available. When I last checked the harness for my 2000 was obsolete.

If you decide to tackle this yourself at least source the Toyota Electrical Wiring Diagrams for your truck . Yes it can be done a very slow tedious procedure one mistake your back to starting over.

It is the soy based wiring insulation seems to be quite tasty .

Good luck If I was close I would be glad to help.

I find Squirrels taste good fried in Bacon fat

 

I'm glad to see this approach suggested. This is what I would do first and in all likelihood if done well you'll be squared away. It will take some time but it looks repairable to me. Cut off any damaged areas and work forward from clean undamaged wire. It takes the time it takes, regardless to who does it.