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

I did this last week, took about 8 hours but I took my time and did some PM work while I was there….

added two altoids cans with moth balls! Mounted on fender wells.

 

Bringing this thread back ! I am looking at a p0333 code. it was there after the truck sat in the driveway for 2 days so take preventative measures if you can.

 

Sorry to hear that slossboss. FWIW I do quite a bit of camping and parking at remote trailhead and I keep a box of laundry linen sheets in my bed and I put 4 of them in my hood at each corners when I'm camping or hiking. Been successful at keeping those critters at bay

 

need to do this. Happened again to me about a month ago also. Filed an insurance claim and took about a week for me to get my truck back. Keep your head up Sloss.

 

I appreciate the sympathy. I have wiring harness and rodent repellent on the way and I’m ready to dive in!

Used a cheap borescope. Check out the photos !




Gross ! Hope this is the correct harness.

 

Try This


Not only does it deter rats/rodents it also keeps them from squeaking
https://pestcontrolweekly.com/does-wd-40-kill-rats/?expand_article=1

The lady that owned our family desert house used ivory soap bars in the car but I did see turds in the car she gave us but not many and considering there are so many rodents out there the poop was minimal. Please don't ask me to define minimal poop.

P.S. my buddy would always spray his engine compartment to keep it looking good with WD-40.

 

You have to catch them before they get to your engine. A good mouser cat that lives in your garage is good, but the better solution is a drown pail. If you don't know about these just look on U-Tube,it takes less than an hour to build and it works 24/7 with little maintenance. We catch dozens of mice every year with one.

 

Okay!



I was able to complete the repair this weekend by replacing the damaged wire. I’ve replaced my brake calipers, but this was my first time tackling something like this and I’m super glad I did. Code has vanished and truck is driving normally again.

I spent $50 on the replacement harness. And about $45 on a set of replacement manifold gaskets.
I then spent about $150 on essential tools, but you know I had to get good lighting and gold plated ratchets for Black Friday!

some thoughts:
Have a variety of ratchets and extensions. There is a very difficult to reach 10mm bolt in a recessed bracket on the rear of the plenum. I was able to use a 1/4” flex head with a wobble extension.
A shop vac with appropriate attachments really helped me clean around the air intakes to remove debris
Start early and you can be done in a day assuming you are prepared. Which was not the case for me.
There is nothing overly technical if you are fortunate enough to connect a new plug . If this was not possible for me, I very likely would’ve had to proceed with cutting the coolant pipe and all that.
Big thanks to everyone who has left wisdom here in these threads because it made this possible for me !

 

Thanks for this! Completed the job this morning, after driving the truck around for a few weeks with the code and avoiding going highway speeds. Took about 5 hours. I soldered the existing wires to the new harness plug because I couldn’t get the rest of the harness out without removing the pipes. Most difficult part was unclipping and clipping the plug and soldering without much room to move/pull on wires.

I put a bunch of peppermint oil down in the valley by the wires, hopefully that’s enough to stop future issues.

This thread was extremely helpful!

 

Well its my turn - gonna attempt this myself I think if I don't have to remove the cylinder head. Not clear on those that did it with just removing the manifold if we have same car - I have a 2006 4wd 4.0L tacoma - I can't tell if the 4wd would make this different or not. Thanks guys

 

how did you get the pipe off mine wont turn because of the bolt is on the bracket i already took out the nut and i cant pull it uo because the pipe is hitting the connector at the front

 

The pipe I think you’re referring to is the hard coolant pipe. It’s not removable without cutting or taking off the heads…. Should be discussed here in this thread. Basically you need to work around it or cut it. I was able to work around, I don’t know any advice about cutting it but I would be very cautious and prepared before attempting.

 

I have not experienced the dreaded code, or had the wires chewed. I did, however, find signs that something was moving into my engine bay; the padding under the black plastic vanity cover was pulled apart, and I had a bunch of acorns in the crevices under the hood.

I addressed this by installing a fine mesh screen over the HVAC intake (Toyota obviously planned to install one there, as there are holes in the sheet metal for mounting fasteners), and most importantly REMOVE THE DAMN VANITY COVER!

The vanity cover provides a snug plastic roof for Mr Rodent to hide under, and has white fabric that he can build a comfortable nest with. It does nothing for the engine. Throw it away, or store it until you sell your truck.

 

So it was quite challenging to work around that pipe which indeed does stay. Here's what is did/needed. I went to Ace hardware and looked for tools like hand picks etc - the regular hand picks didnt work but I found this odd tool that looked a it like a screw driver - I think its an O ring/seal puller. I cannot find it online but I am adding a pic of the tip - that pic comes from something on Amazon that has a T handle which is not it but if you go to Ace and imagine that tip with a black screwdriver handle it is the one. That tool was essential!

You will also want a small flat screwdriver or pointy awl (the one that comes with the four pack of picks at Ace does the trick - little orange handle).

Get a good light!

Next Id recommend you use genuine toyota replacement harness so you dont fiight more than needed.

There are 2 plugs under the pipe for each side and one all the way in the back. The one on the right when facing the engine is easy enough, use the pointy pick to slide into the tab to spread the tap open. You can then push the plug off with your fingers.

The left side... oh boy. Same concept but you cant get your fingers in there to push the thing off once the tab is spread so that O ring tool was super essential as it has curves that let you get in there.

Once that is off you can then pull the harness out back and disconnect - there are about 3/4 plastic clips along the way that are clipped in a metal tab if I recall - I think I had to break one way in the back but was able to undo the others without too much of a hassle.

Then to put the new one back. I used electrical tape to wrap around parts of harness to help it in the right shape and direction as you wont be able to do so once its in there. You essentially want the harness to "stand" just like it would be once clipped. Use some small 6-8" length of thin wire to wrap between the electrical wires near each plug - you will use that to create a "handle" to pull the plugs onto their respective counterparts once they are positioned - if you use the tape correctly you will have the harness plugs pointing up in the correct angle/direction so that its relatively easy to get them started on the plugs just by moving the harness as a whole. Use the wire puller you added to then pull until it clicks - the o ring puller us super helpful there too.

It took me 3 hours to undo and redo the harness. But a lot of it was, besides drying my tears, figuring out the tricks. Knowing the above I can probably take the harness on and off those front plugs in 30 min. So pay heed and good luck. And I cannot over stress the importance of that o ring puller and the tape to maintain the shape. I dont think I could have done it without those two tricks

 

https://north40.com/earth-kind-fresh-cab-rodent-repellent-wood-scent Another option?