Rodents eating my wiring harness.

[RickyG]

Is there any way that I can get reimbursed for the cost of the wiring harness. It's not my fault that rodents like to eat I'm wearing harness made of soybean that Ford is aware of. If they continue to eat my wiring harness that I cannot afford I will have no choice but to return my vehicle and make payments on a vehicle that is not sitting in my driveway. This is frustrating because I on a beautiful black on black St. I don't really want to get rid of my vehicle but I don't know what to do I cannot afford this ****.

Do you have any other vehicles at your house and if so have rodents ate the wiring harnesses on those vehicles?

 

[sandsprayer]

Problem solved period.
Now you worries will be how much time it takes to drown and dispose.

 

[Shawn_Kelly]

I battled with this for many years with an RV. It mostly sits parked. Tried moth balls, predator urine, snap traps…. Only effective solution I found was specialized ”anti-rat” electrical tape available through Honda dealerships. It was expensive, but rat/mouse problem is resolved. No more chewed fuel injector wiring. I did not think it would work, but was desperate to find something that would keep the rats away. The glue traps and snap traps kill the rodents, but it is not reasonable to change these out every few days…. had to remove intake manifold several times to repair wiring.

You could easily wrap this exposed wiring areas. And rodents seemed to dislike it enough that they did not stick around to chew other wiring or exposed components. Good luck.

We had a mouse family move into our garage. Called the pest control guy who put out bait but also advised us to get sticky traps as they're the most effective. Got a huge box of 75 or so around $25. The more you catch them, the more you change them out to be honest. It'd be worth it to stop paying $3300 to repair their chewing.

 

[J_C]

I'd get some poisoned rat food and secure a tub in the engine bay, so other pets and birds can't find and eat it.

Last resort would be a homebrew hot sauce... I grow hot peppers, so would just make a sauce with no salt or vinegar/acid added, and completely strain the pulp out. I recommend something like white habaneros so there is very minimal discoloration. However I've not tried this on soy based wire insulation, don't know if it would leech in and turn the insulation to goo over time. Probably not much if used sparingly, though might still make the outside surface, slightly tacky and attract dust.

 

[Adamdavis25]

I’m in South Texas and had a similar issue, but they went after the washer fluid lines. I still have to replace the line running to the rear wiper and camera, it’s annoying to say the least. I get quarterly pest treatments and have 5 external mouse/rat bait boxes and plenty of rat snakes around and still had issues. I’m sorry you are dealing with them them chewing on the wiring harness. I’ve considered getting an electronic deterrent device, on the fence about spending $90 on something that may not work as advertised.

MouseBlocker PRO 12V Ultrasonic Under Hood Mouse and Rodent Deterrent with Dual Strobing LEDs for Your Vehicle Amazon product ASIN B01MG94UER

 

[Argentimage]

I can't see how Ford will accept any responsibility for a rodent problem on your property. We live up against an open space canyon and had some issues with rats. I called a professional who identified all the places where they could be entering the structure, closed them off, set and cleared traps for a while, and the problem was resolved. I suggest you find out where the buggers are getting into your garage. They don't need much space at all to enter. Antifreeze is toxic to humans, and a very small amount will kill pets quickly.

File a NHTSA complaint - household or industrial wiring includes a deterrent, DORF needs to set up and be responsible.

 

[TBill]

Rodents have eaten my wiring harness for the third time now, it cost me over 3,300. My vehicle is brand new yet it is not covered under warranty. The wiring harness is made out of soybean which attracts the rodents, yet the Ford is not liable for any of these problems.View attachment 426579

If you stir your vehicle outside and don’t use it every day you need to purchase a device called Rid-A-Rat

 

[peterk9]

We had a mouse family move into our garage. Called the pest control guy who put out bait but also advised us to get sticky traps as they're the most effective. Got a huge box of 75 or so around $25. The more you catch them, the more you change them out to be honest. It'd be worth it to stop paying $3300 to repair their chewing.

Why not try those little sonic plugins. Working great for me. But then I use the garage.

Peter

 

[kevtron1]

So my Ford explorer tow vehicle had that problem. Squirrels or mice chewed up the wiring for the windshield washer and air conditioner and the feed tubes along with plastic above the air conditioning . I used peppermint spray. Works great and when it heats up on the engine my suv smells minty... Google says try HOT sauce. Rodents don't like hot sauce.

 

[Mr. Alligator]

We had a mouse family move into our garage. Called the pest control guy who put out bait but also advised us to get sticky traps as they're the most effective. Got a huge box of 75 or so around $25. The more you catch them, the more you change them out to be honest. It'd be worth it to stop paying $3300 to repair their chewing.

There are lots of things you can do. But IF you park a seldom used vehicle outside, the solution is more difficult….

 

[yotaroc]

There are lots of things you can do. But IF you park a seldom used vehicle outside, the solution is more difficult….

Try spraying periodically with Tea tree oil…

 

[ugjdturner]

We had some rental cabins and had major mouse, rat problems, we had pretty good luck with Fresh Cab rodent Repellent.
Fresh Cab Botanical Rodent Repellent - Environmentally Friendly, Keeps Mice Out, 4 Scent Pouches
by EarthKind, LLC
Learn more: Amazon product ASIN B00L236OMW

 

[RickyG]

Rodents have eaten my wiring harness for the third time now, it cost me over 3,300. My vehicle is brand new yet it is not covered under warranty. The wiring harness is made out of soybean which attracts the rodents, yet the Ford is not liable for any of these problems.View attachment 426579

 

[RickyG]

Welcome to the Forum.
I had mice in the garage a few years ago and found a dead one on the passenger side floor liner. I was able to get them to fall into an empty garbage container by balancing a small plank on the edge of it with some food at the very end. When they would try to get the food, the plank would tip them into the container. I caught 3 of them that way and took them down to the park and released them there along the river bank. Came home and bought some electronic plugins at the local hardware store for some of the outlets in the garage and have never had a further issue. Now if you park outside, then that's another problem.

Peter

Peter, if the OP vehicle is parked outside I don’t think anything is going to prevent rodents and rats from getting inside if it was inside a garage you may have a fighting chance after a period of time

 

[KCCornDog]

Rodents have eaten my wiring harness for the third time now, it cost me over 3,300. My vehicle is brand new yet it is not covered under warranty. The wiring harness is made out of soybean which attracts the rodents, yet the Ford is not liable for any of these problems.View attachment 426579

Why don't you keep some mouse poison in there?

 

[LoneStarLizzard]

I've had that mouse problem a couple of times. As an earlier poster noted, the comprehensive general liability portion of your auto insurance policy should cover the repair (but only one time, I suspect). I park my 2018 Sport outside. There are bushes nearby. I noticed that the chewing problem occurred during cold weather, when the mice sought out my under-hood for a warm place, and to bring food to eat. Then they discovered the tasty wiring.

Solutions that failed: all of the cat urine, smelly, chase-them-off-but-don't-kill-them ideas. Complete waste of my time.

First solution that kinda worked: I bought rat poison (the green blocks) from Home Depot - they are sold either by themselves or with a black-box bait trap - crushed the poison blocks into smaller chunks, then placed some of those chunks on sticky tape (or in cupcake paper baking cups, if you prefer) then taped/velcro'd the bait in 4 or 5 locations under the hood (they particularly liked the battery well). That seemed to work, BUT I had to remove the poison and clean the under-hood area each time I had anyone look under the hood. Not good - had to wear rubber gloves when installing/removing the poison for my personal protection.

So...place the bait under your Explorer's hood if you wish, but be prepared for frequent, messy removal/cleanup sessions.

So... second time, I trimmed back the bushes nearest to where I park my Explorer - I cleared away a 6" gap between the ground and the bottom bush limbs. Then I placed poison-baited rat stations under the bushes that were close by my Explorer. [These bait stations require the rodent to crawl into the bait station - this prevents cats, small dogs, etc. from getting to the bait.] BINGO.

So, my summary observation is this: find the place where these rodents normally nest, then find a way to terminate them in their own home, not yours. I haven't had rodent problems in 2 years, including the coldest winters in recent history.

 

[RickyG]

All this talk about rats reminds me of the 1972 movie Ben some of your older guys will remember that movie I was 13 years old when that movie came out … Michael Jackson wrote a hit song for it entitled Ben

 

[Doraemon0825]

Rodents have eaten my wiring harness for the third time now, it cost me over 3,300. My vehicle is brand new yet it is not covered under warranty. The wiring harness is made out of soybean which attracts the rodents, yet the Ford is not liable for any of these problems.View attachment 426579

if you have birds or seeds anywhere near you park, get rid of them asap. had mine with same issue and almost replace my whole wiring harness.

 

[Olds67]

I've had that mouse problem a couple of times. As an earlier poster noted, the comprehensive general liability portion of your auto insurance policy should cover the repair (but only one time, I suspect). I park my 2018 Sport outside. There are bushes nearby. I noticed that the chewing problem occurred during cold weather, when the mice sought out my under-hood for a warm place, and to bring food to eat. Then they discovered the tasty wiring.

Solutions that failed: all of the cat urine, smelly, chase-them-off-but-don't-kill-them ideas. Complete waste of my time.

First solution that kinda worked: I bought rat poison (the green blocks) from Home Depot - they are sold either by themselves or with a black-box bait trap - crushed the poison blocks into smaller chunks, then placed some of those chunks on sticky tape (or in cupcake paper baking cups, if you prefer) then taped/velcro'd the bait in 4 or 5 locations under the hood (they particularly liked the battery well). That seemed to work, BUT I had to remove the poison and clean the under-hood area each time I had anyone look under the hood. Not good - had to wear rubber gloves when installing/removing the poison for my personal protection.

So...place the bait under your Explorer's hood if you wish, but be prepared for frequent, messy removal/cleanup sessions.

So... second time, I trimmed back the bushes nearest to where I park my Explorer - I cleared away a 6" gap between the ground and the bottom bush limbs. Then I placed poison-baited rat stations under the bushes that were close by my Explorer. [These bait stations require the rodent to crawl into the bait station - this prevents cats, small dogs, etc. from getting to the bait.] BINGO.

So, my summary observation is this: find the place where these rodents normally nest, then find a way to terminate them in their own home, not yours. I haven't had rodent problems in 2 years, including the coldest winters in recent history.

Yeah, never place the poison under ther hood, on your car etc. nothing more disgusting than dead rats/mice with exploded lungs in tight corners of your engine bay. You might miss one and have a bbq while driving around.
Just an idea: on the long run, why not change the type of harness protectors that got chewed on with another type?
Goodday

 

[drbenz]

There have been several good suggestions posted and I will offer one more. Thinking of very bad tasting liquids that could be put on the wiring you might consider the stuff that is sold to put on a childs thumb to stop them from sucking it. I am not sure what it tastes like but our daughter only needed one "taste test" to decide to leave that thumb alone! It might work on mice as well.