Brand new 2017 4Runner Limited with less than 20 days and under 600 miles. Some buddies wanted to go out this morning. Started the 4Runner and it was very rough. Chalked it up to a chilly morning in Seattle. Before I got around the block check engine light and trac off light. Would not idle. Dealer diagnosed it as a rodent chewed wire on an injector. Cost of repair was $516 outside of waranty.
Somewhat concerned due to the fact that this is not a story of a rarely used truck parked for a long period in a rural barn. My previous ride, a 2004 Lexus GS430, parked in the same spot for 9 years. Never an issue.
I do not know about the soy based wire insulation and whether or not it played a role. Could have just been bad luck, but my feeling is that it did play a role. I have been advised by another local Toyota dealer to place dryer sheets in the Engine compartment and the glovebox cabin filter. Seems like a less that ideal situation.
My question is where do you put these sheets, how do you fasten them, and how often do they need to be changed? How many do you use? Does the soy based insulation get baked and become less tasty to rodents over time? Does new truck soy based wire taste better and more tender? Ok I am getting silly, but was hoping that I would be talking about the joy of new ownership and the build to make this the Cascades snow going machine. Instead, my wife wants me to research lemon laws on this issue. Please note, that I am a Toyota fan and have owned for the past fourteen years a Lexus GS and the past ten years a Lexus RX.
Update #1- Now that injector wire #4 is fixed. this was the service advisors feedback- rodents like the warm engine area just under the intake. Unfortunately, to repair the wire the upper intake needs to be removed. Thus the expensive repair. The service adviser remarked that it usually is the #4 injector wire that is most often chewed, in his opinion.
The PLAN- Going to add peppermint oil to 2 magnetic GuardFather cans in the. engine compartment; Honda anti rodent tape on all accessible wires. Unfortunately, the injector wires under the intake are not accessible, so I plan to spay a small amount of paper spray on these. I plan to add peppermint oil about every 2-3month and certainly before going camping. As to the pepper spray, not sure yet.
Somewhat concerned due to the fact that this is not a story of a rarely used truck parked for a long period in a rural barn. My previous ride, a 2004 Lexus GS430, parked in the same spot for 9 years. Never an issue.
I do not know about the soy based wire insulation and whether or not it played a role. Could have just been bad luck, but my feeling is that it did play a role. I have been advised by another local Toyota dealer to place dryer sheets in the Engine compartment and the glovebox cabin filter. Seems like a less that ideal situation.
My question is where do you put these sheets, how do you fasten them, and how often do they need to be changed? How many do you use? Does the soy based insulation get baked and become less tasty to rodents over time? Does new truck soy based wire taste better and more tender? Ok I am getting silly, but was hoping that I would be talking about the joy of new ownership and the build to make this the Cascades snow going machine. Instead, my wife wants me to research lemon laws on this issue. Please note, that I am a Toyota fan and have owned for the past fourteen years a Lexus GS and the past ten years a Lexus RX.
Update #1- Now that injector wire #4 is fixed. this was the service advisors feedback- rodents like the warm engine area just under the intake. Unfortunately, to repair the wire the upper intake needs to be removed. Thus the expensive repair. The service adviser remarked that it usually is the #4 injector wire that is most often chewed, in his opinion.
The PLAN- Going to add peppermint oil to 2 magnetic GuardFather cans in the. engine compartment; Honda anti rodent tape on all accessible wires. Unfortunately, the injector wires under the intake are not accessible, so I plan to spay a small amount of paper spray on these. I plan to add peppermint oil about every 2-3month and certainly before going camping. As to the pepper spray, not sure yet.
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