Rats in the harness

[Bigbjorn]

A friend was driving his near new Mazda 6 on the Bruce Highway near Nambour last week when it lost drive. Wouldn't select a gear. Racq towed it to the nearest dealership where they found much of the under car wiring harnesses had the insulation chewed off by animals probably rats. He lives on the Gold Coast and his back boundary is against a bushland reserve and there is a rat problem with the little demons living in the bush and foraging in suburbia. Dealership told him it could cost up to $4000 depending how much damage was done and how many of the wiring harnesses had to be replaced. Top of the line model with all the unnecessary but nice to have electronic selling tools. They come in sections, are expensive, and, of course, none in stock. The resident sparkie managed to cut and shut the damaged sections and it only cost $400. Lucky him. To replace some of these sections of wiring means dismantling half the car.

Aren't they wonderful, these all electronic singing and dancing cars.

[scarry]

Yes I know someone this happened to with a corolla,still under warranty.

Six weeks wait for parts,thousands to fix,and they thought it was a warranty issue[bigwhistle]

FWIW,Toyota have no road side assist on any of their vehicles.

[disco 300]

I have heard rats can't stand the smell of the lubricant "Inox". Spray it all over your wiring to deter them.

[trout1105]

Inox is lanolin and Rats Love to hang about shearing sheds [bigwhistle]

[PhilipA]

They love BMW wiring for some reason. They made a nest on the rocker cover of my M3 and ate some of the wiring.
They were ex rats when I placed some baits, but came home after hols to a terrible stink until finally found them dead in a box of spares.
In Europe they have a big problem with Pine Martins doing the same.
Once I got rid of the cat food and sealed all the entries to the garage there was no more problem.

Regards Philip A

[DoubleChevron]

They love all wiring .. upholstry ... anything .... I bait the hell out of the sheds here.... It doesn't matter if it's a 1953 french made wiring harness or 2016 model car.... they love getting in there and chomping on the wiring harnesses :( Not to mention, the carpets, seats, insulation ..... etc...

seeya,
Shane L.

[scanfor]

Antechinus are little buggers too when it comes to machinery in sheds.

[cuppabillytea]

No rats around here. Lots of Cats though and Fruit Bats.

[disco 300]

The tip I was given about the Inox spray on the wiring came from two independent sources. One had trouble with rats chewing the wiring in the roof cavity of the ceiling of their house and the other was with rats chewing the wiring under the bonnet of their car.
Could be worth a shot.

[scarry]

Antechinus are little buggers too when it comes to machinery in sheds.

They are very aggressive viscous things,don't go near one.

Worse than a cornered wild cat or rat.

[scanfor]

They are very aggressive viscous things,don't go near one.

Worse than a cornered wild cat or rat.

Yep, I have first hand experience of that.

[Wraithe]

My old ute is down the paddock, under the trees, bonnet open... Only way to stop them eating the wiring...

My friend does the same every time he gets home and he has been beating them at there own game for the last 15 years...

Air rifle, traps and a teenager works the best, they brag about how many they get in one night then try to do better the next... Keeps them off the streets too...

[DeeJay]

I went 4wd'ing with a mate who brought his 200 series cruiser. He had not used it for a couple of months, being interstate for that time. We got half way up a long spur & he "bailed" out of the car as smoke & a foul smell happened when it got a bit hot.
Turned out the rats had nested around the manifold - & also feasted on the wiring harness - as I understand newer cars are using soy based insulation wrapping.
Anyhow, we figured it couldn't be too bad or the whole car would have burnt, so we kept going.
He took it back to Toyota & they quoted 7k to replace harness or 3.5k to repair, or 10k difference to replace the whole car with the newer model- which he did,
So the moral of the story is to do a pre trip check!!
Whilst rats & mice do eat anything they have a preference for newer cars insulation. Just Google "Soy based wiring"

Here is one of many articles.

Rats in the ranks - GoAutoNews Premium (http://premium.goauto.com.au/rats-in-the-ranks/)

David