Friggen MICE!

Welp. they got into my engine bay, and ********* up some wires. I started the vehicle, and it ran a bit rough. Was going into town. The CEL started FLASHING. To shorten the story, towed to dealer, and it was a $900 repair bill. Talked with my insurance. If i filed a claim, my rates might do up, as the insurance paid out on my JEEP COMMANDER that was totaled. They installed a "flashing diode", which the rodents do not like. it is call rid a rat https://rid-a-rat.com/ Time will tell. I installed some devices in my garage also. Time will tell.

 

Sorry man, that sucks! I had squirrels shelter in my F250 last winter parked in the backyard. Had babies and chewed a ton of wires. Cost me $1200 to fix. Hope the flashing light helps and this doesn’t happen again

 

Lucky you. My buddy's 2016 SR5 took an insurance claim of $4,300 for a fully stock brand new wiring harness. From front to all the way back.

 

Sorry to hear about your woes.

I hope you got the rats!

 

Mice suck.

Do you under coat your truck? Wool wax, fluid film, etc?

 

Sorry to read of rodent damage on your truck JBauern but thanks for posting about it, reminded me to put out traps in the shop this winter.

 

Rats and mice LOVE the soy-based wiring insulation Toyota and Honda switched to in order to placate the environmentalists.

I worked as an auto claims adjuster for USAA for a few years and am very familiar with rodent-damage claims. I have a nice low deductible for my Comp coverage and don't hesitate to use it. I saw a $10 a month increase for 3 years after making a $7500 hail damage claim. $360 is less than $7500. I suspect your wiring claim would be similar.

In any case, since you called your insurance company and discussed it, they already noted the loss. So, if your rates are going to go up due to this loss, they will no matter if you get paid or not. Might as well get reimbursed.

 

Do undercoatings help against rodent damage?! I just did mine with Blaster's Surface Shield. Probably will spray down the engine compartment and other areas of interest with peppermint, as well.

Edit. JB, sorry to hear about that. I've had rodent damage happen twice on the same vehicle.. the ol blue Trekker we had in the late 80's, early 90's. I spliced it with wires from an old wiring harness, a real shitty job.. Several days later, they struck again.

 

https://topclassactions.com/lawsuit...g-attracts-vehicle-damaging-rats-can-proceed/

I know this article is a couple years old, but I see others mentioning the lawsuit as recently as early 2022. Is this still active?

 

I posted recently (in 4Runner General Topics) about my run in with rodent damage - they seem to be fond of injector wiring. I started to fix it (given my 25+ years as a dealer tech) then my back said no so I filed a claim with USAA. They requested numerous pictures of entire vehicle including VIN label. They sent me a check less comp deductible. Toyota sells the engine harness for just south of $1300. The rodents chewed the injector wiring right down to the nub of connector (injector). Amazon sells the connectors with pigtail for $10 for a set of 4. Although my back objected, I popped the front wheels off and dropped her to her knees for easier access then made necessary repairs. I'm totally fed up with paying high insurance premiums and the fear of rate increases should I file a claim - isn't that the purpose of insurance?

 

I had squirrels on top of my Accord battery and trapped a few but did not get the culprit. Ughh thanks to the slime ball neighbors feeding them peanuts.

 

I looked at the Rid-A-Rat website and they make a good case. So, just curious, when you say "They installed" you're talking about your Toyota Dealer, right? If so, would you be willing to share which dealer and maybe which service tech you worked with? If they have a success story with this working, I'd love to know more and then install these on all my vehicles, starting with my two 4Runners. I'd also love to share this technology with people in my area. We have a significant rat issue. I've never personally had them eat my 4R wiring (yet...) but they have eaten my 4 Wheeler handle bar grips more than once.

Thanks in advance for posting this. The soy-based wiring on the 4R is one of the few things I don't love about these trucks.

 

You don't need to go to the dealer - here's a device I installed based on positive reviews from members here and Amazon:

$30 Loraffe Under Hood Rodent Repeller Ultrasonic Rat Repellent Mice Deterrent with Ultrasonic Wave and LED Flashlight, Pest Control for 12V 24V Vehicle Auto Truck RV, Keep Animal from Chewing Car Wiring

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07JG4V1ZP?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

 

Get some of these things

Make them a home in the garage and they will kill anything that moves, I have no rodent issues anymore.

 

When I fIrst moved into my house with my wife and new baby there was a rat problem. My wife was against using poison. We didn’t have a cat at the time but my Dad recommended putting cat food out. It took about two weeks for the neighborhood cats to find it, and then - no more rats.

 

Sorry to hear. They hit me to for $9K (insurance paid) in damages when my Runner was less than 2 years old. I ditched the engine cover and I use Grandpa Gus peppermint spray.

 

How is this working out for you so far? Does it drain the battery a lot?

 

Hasn’t been on long enough for me to evaluate but seems to have minimal effect on the battery although I have it hooked to my 2nd battery which is maintained by a 100 watt solar panel. Maybe others will chime in on its effectiveness and/or battery drain issues but for me so far so good and it’s super simple to install.

 

Not sure where you live, but if you live anywhere in the south like I do, skunks and racoons will find outdoor cat food faster than cats will. Cats will find it too, but will end up getting sprayed by skunks. Hey, do whatever works for you - but around here, that's just not a good option (unfortunately...).

 

Snake poop?

 

I found mouse foot prints in my engine bay and I fluid film/woolwax and spray peppermint around the car but it has rained. Luckily I didn't notice any visible wiring damage but I have sprayed peppermint in my engine bay. This was this past weekend. What's crazy is my friend to moved to Texas texted me today saying rats chewed up his 4runner wiring harness and it had to get towed to the stealership. They're quoting him 8k but his insurance is footing the cost

 

This trap has to be the best thing invented. I don't know why but it works all the time.

$42 Victor M241 Indoor Electronic Humane Rat and Mouse Trap - No Touch, No See Electric Rat and Mouse Trap

https://www.amazon.com/Victor-M241-Touch-Upgraded-Electronic/dp/B074XXNC9G?th=1

Once in a while we get mice attacking the dog food outside. I put couple pieces of dog food in it and guarantee I'll have a mice in there in the morning. Works better than the sticky traps and old school snapping ones.

 

I think we all know what the answer is? You need a Cat!

 

But don’t get a male they pee on everything.

 

Interesting, I wonder if it actually works. My neighbor tried a similar device in his backyard to keep the rodents out of his yard, but I had to plead with him to get rid of it. The noise was very annoying.

 

My Mom had such a device on her back deck - I unplugged it during visits. If this device makes a noise I can’t hear it (and I ain’t deaf yet). The LEDs blink but I hear nothing.

 

I've had this device on for a year now.

Not sure if it works or not, but I haven't had any wires chewed with it on.

It stays on until the battery hits a certain level. Once the battery reaches that level, the device shuts off so it doesn't drain the battery. I'm not sure exactly what that level is, but it says in the instructions.

Also, can we please stop perpetuating the silly myth that "mice are attracted to soy-based wiring"?

Mice have been chewing on wires since the invention of wires. They chew on a lot of stuff because their teeth are continuously growing.

https://www.torquenews.com/1083/car-talk-helps-bust-myth-soy-why-rodents-are-eating-your-car-s-wires

 

Does anyone know of a device that works that you can simply plug in an electric outlet in your garage? For someone myself that would work easier especially during winter storage.

At the moment I have 500 sheets of bounce underneath engine, and mouse poison in garage and a few traps.

 

That's interesting and makes sense to me as I started my automotive tech career in 1965 and had many encounters with rodent nests under car hoods, including lots of damage to vacuum hoses and wiring harnesses.[/QUOTE]

 

They have the same kind of device that makes a series of clicks and blinking lights that plugs into a regular outlet. We have one in our shed and one in the garage.

The one's that click are annoying if they are within earshot of your living space or if you spend a lot of time in the garage.

However, I think there are some where you can turn the sound off and just have the flashing lights.