Yeesh, hungry little buggers! Get a Truck Cat, its like trunk monkey but cat like for rodent hunting while you're away!

By the way that Carcoon thing is both epically awesome and ridiculous.

Actually your car insurance will cover this under vandalism. The problem here is that my deductible is $1,000. Cost to repair was $1,100... not worth the claim. I made a dumb decision to reduce my payments by increasing my deductible... I guess I am going to contact them and reduce it back down to $500.

And yes... that cost is "stealership" rates. I know I could have purchased the harness and tried to install it myself... but I been fairly busy recently and just ate the cost.


Heh, I had great plans to buy a Gobi roof rack, but I been putting my money elsewhere. Someday I will get it.


Yes, exactly what the dealership said... I want petroleum products... not soy.



Thank you every one for the replies... I hope that little rodent didn't mess up anything else or if I hurt my engine revving on 3 cylinders.

I just checked my air filter , and I found sunflower seeds on the bottom of the intake... Signs of rodents

Or baseball players

Joined this forum when I bought our 2013 4Runner. Only 13,6K miles, everything has been fine. Started it Friday to go run errands, rough idle, VCS, ABS, check engine lights. Towed to dealership thinking it was a warranty issue and learned that it is rodents. I saw a squirrel hanging around in my garage so I had my suspicions as to why problem cropped up over night.

Checking the internet, problem is a big one for many different cars and brands due to manufacturers going to soy based wiring covers. Seems to me this is basis of class action suits and recalls to fix.

That is nice, my 4r sits most of the time and does not get driven often. I have never had issues with rodents, but if these things have wiring to attract them, that will be an issue. I am in a parking garage, so maybe that will help, and I guess whether it is sitting or driving often does not seem to be a factor.

Had the same problem with my '07 FJ - mice chewed the knock sensor harness.
$800 and insurance wouldn't even consider it.
Six months later - exact same thing! (and, I have no evidence of a mouse problem where I live)
This time, the dealership put in some stainless steel wool, blocking all places they thought a mouse could get in there. (Kept my fingers crossed that this fix did not cause localized overheating of the engine)

Google "Mice ate my Honda Pilot", and you'll get an idea just how big a problem this is!
It does appear to be pretty conclusive that it IS the soy-based insulation on the new wiring. The mice are not bothering older vehicles with old-fashioned wiring.
I bet there are ample numbers to support a group action law suit?

I could build a mouse-proof car ramp in my garage ......... If I had a garage!
This would not help me when I camp in the "wilderness".

There are many other solutions posted on the internet (moth balls, oil of cloves, jasmine, etc.), but for every person who swears they work, ten others cry BS!

The electronic deterrent devices apparently are quite effective at attracting mice!

Hopefully, someone on this forum will post a quaranteed solution, before the little bastards attack my shiny new Runner!

When I visit my son in Tucson AZ. I have to park outside. He lives on a large lot in the desert with a lot of rodents etc. When I had my 2011 Avalon there several years ago the rodents started eating the hood insulation near a wiring harness and there were rat terds on the engine cover etc. I freaked out but nothing was damaged yet. I read about this How to Eliminate Rats With Bounce Fabric Softener Sheets | eHow and thought I would give it a try. I put 4 bounce sheets around the engine compartment and did not notice any more terds over the next several visits. May just be luck but it is cheap to try.

Mice and rodents have been chewing wiring before mfgs switched to soy insulation, although, I don't think that is helping.

$1100 Jeez. Why not just take that wiring harness apart and repair it yourself for 50 cents? Id imagine that Toyota is waning to either replace the entire wire harness which is expensive or they are replacing whatever was plugged into that with the wires attached.

Because the OP couldn't diagnose it themselves. There's probably 2-3hrs of diag. Then it looks like you'll have to pull the upper intake assembly. Somehow find the factory connector for what appears to be the fuel injector harness. Which you'll never get from the dealer unless there's already a repair kit designed for the harness, which I seriously doubt. So now you'll have to rummage through some junk yards to try and find said connector. And believe me, junk yards know what they're working with. They understand the value of that connector. So now you'll have to talk them into letting you have just that one piece instead of buying the whole harness.

I've had the same issue with all my vehicles (2 old Hondas) and now my 2014 4Runner - just rat crap so far - no chewing. My neighbor feeds the squirrels (actually rats at night and squirrels during the day!) with trays of bird seed. Only thing that worked for me was parking the truck at least 10ft away from the side of the house (its always outside) as apparently rats don't like open areas and will always follow around walls & bushes etc. I did the whole bounce sheets, moth balls, cayenne pepper, ultrasonic plug in's - none of that stuff worked for me - open space did! The Odyessey had crank sensor wire chewed ($275), the CRV 3&4th gear solenoids wires chewed ($0 to splice back ) and the 4Runner just lots of crap & piss on the engine cover plate!

I wish you wouldn't have posted this. I am going back to Tucson soon and was going to rely on the bounce again. Now I will not sleep good at night wondering if anything is eating my 4runner. Maybe I will try parking a little farther form the house. I will still put the bounce in anyways. Only problem with parking farther away is there are more of the cactus there that the rodents love.

Comprehensive coverage should cover rodent damage.

Find out if your dealership sublets the wiring to an auto electronics shop. In DFW a lot of shops sublet wiring work and the companies will often come out to you.

In 2007, I ordered a new '07 Tacoma Sport AC 4WD, loaded. Took 7 weeks to get it. It had to stay outside, as my wifes ride, and my toy took the garage space. It had only 1125 miles on it. Got in one morning, left for a 10 mile trip down Rt 1 south. Six miles from the house, steam coming out of the hood. This can't be, I said to myself. I pulled off, and sure enough, steam everywhere, overheated. I called the dealer, they had a roll off up to get it.
I have to back up here. Six months before this, two lizards were copulating on the PC board in our pool heater. Burned the board up, fried the lizards, and after much talk, Hartford Insurance paid for a new heater, as it could not be fixed, parts not available anymore for that model, less the deductible, and they quickly canceled our homeowners policy with them.

OK. The Tacoma gets to the service department, I wait. An hour later, the SM comes out, shows me the bypass hose, I guess in the plenum, used for cooling, it is chewed in half, lengthwise. Rats. He told me to call my insurance company. I did, the local rep came out, said if the engine or major repair is needed, they would pay it, less the deductible.
They put a new hose in, checked everything, no damage, and a $144.57 bill, which I gladly paid. They told me it happens all the time. If you live in a cold climate, watch for cats that climb up into the wheel well, right after you park it and the engine is still warm.
Long read, but lesson learned.
LS