Brand New Truck has Check Engine Light and Transmission is super clunky

Lawsuit

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.au...7/lawsuit-toyota-soy-wiring-attracts-rodents/

 

Been there. They WILL COME BACK if you park in the same spot.

Had them living in the in-cab filter of my DD Camry and using the airbox a a food cache. I keep a clean car, and didn't even know they were there until they got into a bag of beef jerky. No physical damage to the vehicle. Nearby was my F-350, also in an outdoor carport. While they didn't move in, they went buck wild under the hood. Mostly vacuum lines, but took out some wiring coming off the turbo.

I can second the fact that peppermint oil has ZERO effect in deterring the vermin. After the peppermint fiasco I went strait to guns with the poison. (very risky, being as you don't know where they're going to drop) worked out for me as the two that died in the vehicle were accessible. I continue to catch them in traps under and around the vehicles and carports.

They'll be coming back in force this fall for the warmth of the engines in the evening, and I'll be ready.
Live in the woods, it's par for the course.

 

I'm a little worried about this because my stupid neighbors fancy themselves "urban farmers" and put a chicken coop about 15' from my driveway. There's been a rat problem ever since. The "farmers" are renters and their landlord is super passive-aggressive, doesn't want to rock the boat. It's extremely frustrating, but that's Portland for you: who cares about quality-of-life issues as long as nobody's feelings get hurt.

Hopefully the rats will be content to steal the chicken feed and leave my truck alone but I don't want to chance it.

Does this stuff work?

$22 Exterminators Choice - 32 oz Rodent Defense Spray for Cars and Trucks - Non-Toxic Deterrent for Pest Control - Repels Mice and Rats - Vehicle Protection - Safe for Kids and Pets

https://www.amazon.com/Protection-Exterminators-Choice-Mice-Repellent-Chewing-All/dp/B01DTBOV06

 

I don't know if it works or not, but I wouldn't bet a wiring harness on it. In my case the mice brought the food TO THE truck and car, stored and ate it there, while enjoying the nigh time warmth of the slowly cooling engine bays.

 

My father actually had something similar happen back in the day when I was growing up. Some kind of rodent was stealing dog kibble and eating it on the engine. Helped him clean it up once and it never came back... no damage that I recall. That was thousands of miles from here in the frigid midwest.

 

How long does it usually take to chew through a wire?

 

Oh I am sure it doesnt take long to chew through a wire, but do rodents really bum rush every vehicle that pulls into their vicinity? From my experience living in the sticks Mice generally take a while to get comfortable enough to start doing serious damage. They usually chew wires because they've built a nest, and that takes some time.

 

Apparently the problem (at least the one referenced in the lawsuit) is that the wire insulation is soy-based and it smells like food to rodents. Doesn't seem like nibbling would require much nesting. Being attracted to the engine because it's warm seems like a different problem, and one not unique to our trucks.

 

Just dealt with this in my parents Highlander. Just a nest in the cabin filter though. Drove it on Tuesday fine. By Saturday it smelled like shit in there. Handfuls of nesting stuff in there. Oh and this was in the garage the whole time. Little fuckers.

 

Only took the severance of one wire come off the MAP sensor to shut down the turbo in my F350. Looked like the damage was likely done in a few seconds.

In my case, they had not yet built a nest in this particular vehicle.

 

Nixed: http://www.autonews.com/article/20180705/OEM01/180709830/toyota-rodent-damage-lawsuit-soy-wiring

 

I live and camp where there are a lot of desert wood rats and deer mice that have been in my engine compartment, and use cayenne pepper to ward them off. Simply wet down your engine bay and sprinkle a generous amount of cayenne pepper over the wires (don’t cover them, just a good dusting). When it dries, the cayenne sticks but also comes off whenever you wash it with water. It loses its potency after a few weeks, so wash it off with water and resprinkle monthly.

 

I'll try the cayenne. I think it's because the truck was so new and reeking of fresh plastic inside and out. Bill is $50 parts and $1100 Labor
the little shits chewed quite a bit

 

Wow that really sucks to see that damage, my cat just brought me another mouse a couple days ago.

 

there are several cats prowling the area. the other car in the carport hasn't had a problem. but the truck was fine and four days of being parked later it was immediately not good on startup

hopefully after a few thousand miles the wires won't "smell" as good to the critters

 

I had two pet rats a year or so ago...they can chew through literally anything in a matter of minutes if their heart desires it. I'm sorry to hear they got to your wires

 

Oh man, if that happened at your regular parking spot I’d do more than just cayenne- there are thin little wires all over and under our trucks that would be hard to protect. You may also want to invest in some rat and mouse bait stations and put them around your parking area - we put one of these near our vegetable garden due to rats eating the tomatoes and haven’t had any issues afterwards. Do both, bait and cayenne. Be sure to put the blocks in a station box (scroll down in the link - they are refillable) so other animals like birds and cats, and rain dont get them.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=tomcat+bait+blocks&crid=1DK0Y8YEDAKNH&sprefix=tomcat+&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_7

 

Get one or two of these. Put a peanut inside...They will die.

 

That sucks, sorry it happened.

I hope the guys wearing tinfoil hats that posted in this thread learned a lesson. Probably not though

 

x2^

And in regards to the mice being attracted to the new wiring..
They like it all. Old, new, and anything in between.

When I got hit, they were nesting in my new Camry, leaving it unscathed, while having a field day with the vacuum lines and wiring in my older Ford a few yards away.