Main Engine Wiring Harness - $5,400 replacement

Yeah you've never done a harness before I assume. It's a pain the ass. I'm amazed it's not more money to be honest.
You'd gladly pay $3000 for it after you started it yourself.

 

Heavy line technician here. That IS NOT rodent damage. If it was mine i would just cut and splice new wires before i pull out $5k

 

Electrical gremlins are the absolute worst. I like to try to fix things myself but I'm never going to try a main wiring harness. I'd be troubleshooting it until I sold the vehicle. Honestly $5,400 is cheaper than I've seen for fancier cars (Infinti sedan was $11,500). Hope this is able to be warrantied and if not comprehensive should cover it. Good luck

 

I just looked at mine and the black stuff is a sealer that they use to seal around the wires in the sleeve to seal the engine bay from the cab . I agree with the tech that the wires are getting hot and then it's melting the sealant . Mine does not look all messy like that but I couldn't get a good picture . Why are the wires getting hot IDK , I would want him to show me the chewed wires . This could be a warranty job .

 

OP if it helps, below is a picture of the same wiring on my truck. Agree with the prior post, that black stuff is a factory sealant.

 

You would definitely see rodent prints all over your engine bay. That pic doesn't look like something's been chewing on it. My dad's knock sensor wire got chewed on his 4.0 2nd Gen and it was a pain in the rear to get to it. At the time of repair, I also wondered how you could deter it from further happening. No problems since *knock on wood.*

 

Rodents did not do that,looks like a bad wire burned the other wires ,your truck is under warranty,Toyota has to fix it period,no buts or maybe's.

 

Before you allow them to deflect blame away from Toyota and seek higher shop hour payment rate compensation through access to your insurance policy you should check your insurance policy. Many exclude damage due to "vermin". Even if it doesn't, the insurance adjuster would ask the service writer to show him the chewed wires and without evidence would deny your claim. This dealership insults your intelligence. But then, most do...

 

I've had to do it twice at work, once under warranty and once for auto insurance. Thank god there's not a warranty time so they paid me the actual time. F150 EcoBoost 3.5, took two full days 7am till 6pm. Sadly not the hardest wiring harness I've even done, had a Escape fuse box melt cause the customer put the wrong fuse for the blower motor, had to take out the abs module, hard brake lines, front bumper, something with the intake, and the dash cause that motherfucker goes everywhere, that job was more then two days, the customers auto insurance covered it though.

 

I'm sure not all vermin are created equal, but around these parts rodents chuckle when they nest up nest to your peppermint extract soaked sponges and they use cayenne to sprinkle over their acorns at dinner time.

If you park outside, they'll be back. Especially come winter.
Everyone in my neighborhood has been hit. Repeatedly. Like almost everyone else, we all started out with "deterrents' and we all paid for it with our wallets.
As with the peppermint extract and cayenne, so goes the ultrasonic repellents, no matter the price-point. The rodents in my neighborhood have debunked it all.

 

Incompletely agree. That is a very strange spot. The rodent would literally have to stick his head inside the boot to get to those or chew thru the boot or be inside the truck which i would think there would be signs of. Very odd.

 

100% NOT Rodent, they would have chewed through the rubber boots before getting into the wires. Tiny teeth marks and rat droppings are tell tell signs of rodent damage.

Have they actually confirm the problem is in that photo, I would have them show me a broken wire before jumping into conclusion.

 

did the other rodents lift up the rubber cover while another ate the wires? seems unlikely it's rodents in that area.

 

Are the even any bare wires? From the pic that just looks like slightly damaged insulation.

 

I took my truck in for a warranty issue on the weekend and unfortunately they only had workers there to do oil changes and i had to leave my truck for a couple days. They called me a couple days later and told me the check engine light was on (wasn't on when i dropped off). They checked it out and said rodents chewed some wires and I should contact my insurance to have them pay to fix because it will cost several thousand dollars. I spoke to the manager and told him I saw bait boxes for rodents on your property, so I believe this happened while my truck sat for 2 days on the dealer premises. They said, "we can't confirm or deny that"! So they paid for it under warranty. The rodents got under the engine cover and pulled some of the cotton looking crap to build a nest. There were a couple foot prints and the wires you could tell were slightly chewed on. As most everyone else has said, yours doesn't look like rodents did anything except maybe pissed on your wires. Good luck!

 

Years ago, I started feeding a stray cat just enough to keep him coming around. He checks out the truck during his daily rounds. He'll sit behind the front tire, or on the front tire in the winter to get warm from the engine. No mouse problems since. I've heard that a mouse will climb a front tire to gain access to the engine bay when it's warm, makes sense.

 

So here is my guess on this. Warranty pays lets say 10 hours to replace a harness, customer pay/insurance pays 20 hours to replace the harness. Both tech and service writer stand to make alot more money if "rodents" did the damage, and since insurance would be paying, the customer is more likely to say yes to it. Its a project the tech doesnt want to do unless they can make good money on it, so they are twisting the truth.

Source - 6 years working in a dealership telling techs to cut the shit. (I was paid hourly, had zero incentive to lie to get more hours, techs did not like me)

 

The lack of damage to the rubber boot concerns me about it being rodent damage honestly. Usually they’ll go for easy to chew stuff and if that were a place they would have started with the boot it’s self