Mouse chews hybrid wiring harness and causes $1166.79 damage

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tochatihu @ Oct 1 2006, 05:19 PM) [snapback]326572[/snapback]</div>

Mothballs can deter rodents. You'd need to figure out where to put them.

 

You can strap a few cats to the wiring harnesses.

 

Hi Tochitahu,

In Europe most electrical and electronics goods have to be lead free (except for metals, like free-machining brass), now. And previously, all the wiring needed to be halogen free. I imagine that Toyota is not using PVC, as it has Clorine, and common flexibliziers for PVC have lead in them.

A common insulation in Europe is Cross-Linked Poly-ethylene (PEX). Most likely chemically cross-linked in car wiring, but possibly by iradiation as well. My experience with rodents, squirrels actually, is that they love to eat Poly-Ethylene. I have seen 1/2 inch PVC jacketed coaxial cable stripped, and the copper braid nibbled away, so that the squirrel could get to the soft white Poly-Ethylene inside. And this was at the top of a 40 foot tower, that had an equipment enclosure on it, that the squirrel could get into.

As the Prius is being sold in Europe, I imagine it conforms to those rules and is using a non-PVC wire insulation. And the insulation might be something like cross-linked PE, which rodents might find tasty. Even if this is not the case, the car in the sun would be an inviting enviorment to get out of the wind, and huddle in overnight. The wires might be mistaken for roots.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(IsrAmeriPrius @ Sep 30 2006, 05:50 PM) [snapback]326191[/snapback]</div>

What he said. Where we used to live I had problems all the time with mice and squirrels if any vehicle was left outside for very long. I used to let my neighbors squirrel hunt all the time. A couple of times the problem was minor enough I could fix it myself but one time the damage was both under the hood and under the rear of the car and I didn't want to mess with it. I was insured by State Farm at the time and called my insurance agent. I suggested it would be covered under the comprehensive, he didn't know but after checking with the home office they covered it, about $800. They even suggested I take it to the dealer so it would be done right.

I don't agree with most that think you should not have been charged for any time other than what was spent on the wiring problem once it was found. This was not a normal falure that diagnostic testing would find other than by luck. If you had had damage to wiring under the hood due to rodents then should Toyota have sealed the entire engine area? I've had air cleaners packed with dog food, chewed wiring by the distributor, wiring chewed through at the fuel pump by the gas tank, wires chewed through by the battery, etc, etc, and have always felt it was due to where I live and what animals due naturally. And I've done the same as you, make grills to cover air cleaner intakes, hang moth balls (in old pantyhose feet) by batteries and other wiring, set out rat poison, etc. Hopefully you can find solutions to your particular circumstances that will work.

 

Frank Hudon quote "anytime that you get the Battery exclamination mark and the PS light"

Are you refering to the triangle with an exclamation that he mentioned? That is the master warning light and you look for another indicator light (which he had several) or a msg on the MFD. It doesn't necessarily mean a battery problem. What is the PS light?

What I was trying to say is that when a diagnostic program is designed, in this case to generate DTC's for the tech to use, it usually looks for opens and shorts, or a wrong signal from a sensor. So normally the tech should have been directed to the correct area to look for the problem. But, and this is a big BUT, most all diagnostic programs cannot detect situations that weren't planned as a possibility of happening. There are multiple buses in the "mutlplex comm bus" and with shorted or open wires, DTCs probably can be thrown out that are misleading, invalid, etc. As Frank said, without knowing any DTCs, it would be hard to say why it took so long to figure it out. The OP should ask for a RO with the DTCs on it to see they were showing the correct area. If the DTCs were misleading, I wouldn't trust the average tech to find it very quickly. In this type of problem I would guess that over 90% of the repair time would be in diagnostics.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tochatihu @ Oct 1 2006, 05:19 PM) [snapback]326572[/snapback]</div>

Unfortunately, i don't think you could find something that universally works. There are several products out there designed to keep dogs from chewing on stuff when they're teething (specifically, it's usually s gel or a spray on that makes it taste bad). We had to use it for one of my mom's puppies a few years ago, as she was eating the legs to the chair infront of the computer (the puppy, ot my mom :lol. When we did, she went over, and imediately licked the stuff off and started chewing again! Needless to say, we kept the chair until she stopped chewing, then bought a new one...

And for the OP: I'd definately ask for the part/proof and an itemized bill. Maybe even ask them to show you where the harness is (even if only on a diagram). so you can make sure you know what was replaced. Something sounds shaddy here, and while they did do a lot of work (what with the computers and such), it was a wild goose chase.

 

your own insurance should have covered that, unless you have a deductable over 1 k.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mootsman @ Sep 30 2006, 05:10 PM) [snapback]326184[/snapback]</div>

I agree

LOL! Why on the green earth would you expect Toyota to pay for damage caused by a rodent? Thats hilarious. Whats next, should they pay to repair cars that trees fall on? What about flooded cars? Toyota has about the control over those events as they do rodents chewing things up. Rodents have been chewing up cars since cars have been around, this is soley the owners responsibility and nobody else's.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(SW03ES @ Oct 2 2006, 04:33 PM) [snapback]327136[/snapback]</div>

I agree that rodent damage isn't necissarily toyota's responsibility to repair, however when a situation like this comes in, i'd say they have a responsibility to look into how the rodent got there and what they could do to protect future customers

 

well... chewed harnesses can cause a ton of things to happen. they can set codes, not set codes, set codes that mysteriously disappear seconds later, set unrelated codes, cause systems to stop talking to each other, cause strange things to be interconnected...

for example, there was a camry harness problem that caused the reverse indicator on the dash to light up when you step on the brake.

basically, diagnosing a chewed harness is a real b!tch. given the fact that there are several miles of wiring in the prius... visually inspecting all those harnesses anytime the slightest thing went wrong is pretty much prohibitive and might lead to more problems (screws being left loose, rattles in the interior, etc)

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(galaxee @ Oct 4 2006, 07:24 PM) [snapback]328258[/snapback]</div>

galaxee makes a good point regarding what we in the aerospace field call collateral damage. (damaging something else while trying to fix something).

In large aircraft, where wire runs go hunderds of feet, electricians often use a device called a time domain reflectometer. This sends a pulse down the wire, then watches for a return signal. It can tell you how many feet down a wire that there is either an open circuit, a short to another wire, or a short to ground. Perhaps with increasing complexity of automotive systems, auto mechanics should look into this tool. Of course, another phenomenon is taking place in the automotive industory that mirrors aerospace. With advances and standardization of bus type designs (e.g. CANbus), there will be less and less of a need for wire bundles. Eventually, we should just see a power line and a canbus wire going to each accessory. Much easier to troubleshoot with that few wires. Just a few random thoughts here. No real point to be made.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Godiva @ Oct 1 2006, 05:14 PM) [snapback]326617[/snapback]</div>

No need to do that. If you liberally coat all of the intake points of the car with cat poo, problem solved.

 

We had a pet rabbit one time chew thru our phone cords and someone suggested Duct tape. It worked. They don't like the taste of Duct tape and it won't hurt the wiring.
Great idea about the Comprehensive. We claimed that once on our new Subaru Forester and cat scratches on our leather seats. They paid for a replacment cover and did NOT cancel us. We are still with them-Travelers/Aetna.

 

Here is more info on mouse problems.

http://priusonline.com/viewtopic.php?t=603...c4168339454b09a

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(tochatihu @ Oct 1 2006, 06:19 PM) [snapback]326572[/snapback]</div>

I saw a discovery channel style segment once about the posability of adding some sort of chili extract to paints and construction materials that kept animals from eating or attaching to them. Aparently there was some chemical in the chilis that emmulated the sensation of dying to animals. I cannot remember any more details.

 

I just did my 2006 prius rear mouse proofing.
used 1/2 inch self tapping hex screws and tie wraps.
there is about 1" of space between the innerwall and the outside bumper
so 1/2" self tapping screws work fine.

I also show a drill angle adapter so you can fit in the tight space to install the self tapping screws.

 

Re: Mouse chews hybrid wiring harness and causes $1166.79 damage

I too have a mouse problem in my 2007 Prius. I cannot find anyone (local dealers) who will acknowledge this car has a problem with mice being able to enter it. They deny ever hearing this before. Toyota will do nothing about it either. I have never had mice in any car I have ever owed. We have two cars and a travel trailer. They only go in the Prius. I do not eat in my car. There is nothing in it. My sister lives in Houston and also has a Prius - mice ate through her wiring harness and she lives in town, not in the country like I do. She spent over $1500 on hers. The manager of Downtown Toyota in Spokane, WA laughed when I told him about the problem I have. And I really did not appreciate it after I spent $26,000 purchasing a brand new Prius from that dealership and over $1500 for a 120K mile warranty. My car has less than 7K miles on it and the mice are coming inside and there is mouse droppings all over the floor (driver's side and passenger side). I keep examining the filters (engine and cabin) but there is still an odor. (I have looked under the seat and don't see anything like a nest) The odor seems to be coming from the engine area but I look under the hood and I don't see anything.