Squirrel - Not a Christmas Vacation Thread

Hey guys,

Looks like the squirrels got into my 2017 Toyota Tacoma. Looking for any help on what these switches, sensors do and the wiring diagram, part numbers, etc...

I'm a work from home person and don't use my truck that often. Popping the hood today I noticed a huge nest on the drivers side area. Cleaning it out I found the wires chewed to what looks like the brake booster and master cylinder reservoir. Looks like 4 wires to me (one completely separated) and another with one still connected. I did start the truck and no warning/idiot (that's me for sure) lights.

I'm pretty decent at soldering can splice some wires, waterproof but at first glance it looks like 2 wires but then there is a small set of wires not connected which makes me think there are 4 -wires coming from that master loom? It's small gauge wiring, like 22awg.

Any thoughts or help would be much appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

 

Disconnect the battery negative before you do any soldering. Double check the cabin air filter too!

 

Step #1
kill that F'n squirrel

Step #2
hang his body in effigy for the rest of the squirrel kingdom to see the results of his ways

step #3
find someone that knows more about electrical circuits than me,,,, shouldn't be hard at all.
@caribe makaira is the guru, he has electrical super powers and the willingness to help

 

OK, thanks for the info.... ;o)

 

Will do.

Yeah, I have to bring it into the warmer than 30 outside garage, disco the battery and perform surgery. Then check other areas. The truck does start and run but it could be just the tip of the iceberg for me! Ugggh....

 

Just before I traded my Accord to buy my Tacoma, a squirrel did $1600 worth of damage to my Accord's evap system. I got one of these. It works.

 

Squirrels don't normally do that...its mice that do. Those little bastards will chew wires.

 

Squirrels chew everything. Insulation, asphalt shingles, wiring. You name it and the devil rats will destroy it.

 

You've got some hungry squirrels. I've seen them use bits of building insulation thats been discarded to line their nests with, but never saw the squirrels here chew wires. Just gotta ask what type of squirrels? We've got grays mostly here with some reds, and flying squirrels. Their mostly nut, and seed eaters.

 

Looks like brake. Id get wire diagram then peel back wires see what color matches

 

Ordered one of those traps. Cheap insurance. Grrrrr

 

Yeah, we have a bunch of grey, some red and now a few black squirrels. Whatever they are???

No mouse droppings just a nice nest of like hayish material. Hmm maybe it was birds but not sure they chew wires?

 

Thats what I think. Both sets of 2 wires goes to the brake boost and one to the master cylinder resevoir. Ill be repairing tomorrow, will take a few picks and just do a color to color fix.

 

We have some black squirrels to but not many. They seem to be confined to certain areas. Their actually a grey squirrel that has a gene their born with that gives the black fur. I guess black squirrels matter to.

 

I'm lucky enough not to have them where I live. No trees near me.

My friend has trees and he has to cull his local population, though. He had a neighbor that liked to feed them, and I think she used to toss the bread up on his garage for them. He showed her the damaged wires and shingles and asked her to stop. She didn't. She just tried to be sneaky, but he saw her feeding them. He shot several, peeled the skin off the bodies (left the heads and tails so you knew what they were), and hung them on the outer edge of his garage facing her place. She stopped feeding them on his garage.

 

Update: From the Service manual. At least I have the function, now on to wiring diagrams? Maybe

1. Vacuum Warning Switch


2. Brake Fluid Level Warning Switch

 

Nothing a 20ga shotgun can’t fix..seriously that sucks OP. Hope you get it squared away soon.

 

Updated: for reference for anyone else....

I repaired the "whatever ate my wires" today. The method I used was the solder technique instead of butt connectors. Heat shrink, water proofed, wrapped in electrical tape and then a wire loom.

Both the brake switch and brake sensor wiring was green (common) and a white w/black stripe. My one sensor was still connected by one wire so I new which pair went to which. Otherwise I would have had to trace it to the connector and pins.

...now on to hunting them rascally wabb...squirrels!!!

Wiring:


Repair Completed:

 

The grey squirrels are like pets in my yard...they'll come right up to you begging for a peanut. I got one that will come right inside the house if i leave a door or window open. We've got a large hickory tree in the yard, when the tree is full of hickory nuts, i swear i have over a dozen squirrels at any given time in that tree till they clean every nut from it.
Back in the day we hunted them with .22's. You'd be surprised how tasty those critters are.