Chewed wires : Brake actuator

Discussion in 'Prius v Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by hydtah, Jun 19, 2026 at 2:53 PM.

  1. hydtah

    hydtah Junior Member

    Joined:
    May 4, 2023
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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2006 Prius
    Model:
    Four Touring
    Hey, I just bought this Prius V with 65k miles, and noticed a weird noise when I push the brake hard to stop. I looked under the hood and found a massive rodent nest tucked under the cowl tray. When I checked the wiring harness right behind the brake fluid reservoir I found that a mouse or rat completely chewed through a black wire right at the main connector plug, leaving the copper totally frayed.

    This looks like it's directly causing the braking issues.

    Please how can I repair this wires, and what oem parts should I buy .. thank you
     

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  2. rjparker

    rjparker Tu Humilde Sirviente

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Texas Hill Country
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Three
    Replacing the harness is very difficult and labor intensive but is the dealer solution.

    Replacing the specific connector far enough back to include the chewed wires is the next option. It takes soldering skills to do it or use of soldered filled butt connectors. This can be tedious and difficult in a tight area and has more potential for a bad connection in the hands of an inexperienced diyer.

    Finally, strategic replacement of just the chewed wires using straight solder or solder butt splices sometimes is the easiest but also is the most surgical. If I did this approach I might still get a salvage yard piece of harness (cut off) and use the same wire colors for replacement.

    There is no guarantee that other module damage did not occur due to shorts to other wires. However, "most" of the time Toyota's electrical engineers have protected the electronics fairly well.

    Overall, I would recommend taking it to an auto electric specialist for this wiring repair. Then to a hybrid independent shop if the wire repair was not enough. Or a good hybrid independent for the whole job.

    In terms of wiring repair skills, I like the methods youtube's Pine Hollow Diagnostics uses for soldered wiring repairs. His videos are not specific wiring how to oriented. You will get some advice here to use only the solder butt splices but I think they are best suited for small one or two connections. You are dealing with a life safety system here.
     

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    Brian1954 likes this.