Wire harness damage from squirrel

I have had nothing but bad luck with squirrels over the years. They have damaged so many things but this takes the cake. Truck would turn over but not start and when I opened the hood, I immediately noticed that the pile of leaves looked out of place. I knew I was going to find some wire damage under them, but I was not expecting it to look as bad as it does.

So I am looking for advice. Does anyone know what the harness does once it gets inside the cabin and if it would just be easiest to replace it? I can probably repair it, but I am not looking forward to doing it. I am a pretty big guy and working in that cramped area is going to suck a lot.

 

Bruh..... I'd take a trip to a junk yard and find me a large thick piece of Toyota wire harness and take it home. Solder those chunks in based on length.. You will have so much extra if it happens again.

 

As much as it sucks, a new harness will be the best solution for the damage that you posted. The harness is pricey, but if you can do it yourself, you can save cash. Good luck.

 

Oh noo, not another one! I just lived through it few months back! My repair was done at dealer and cost a little over 7k. Harness was about 5k and labor about 2k.

If you can't do it yourself and have comprehensive coverage, insurance should be able to help you out.

Here's what mine looked like:

Spoiler

https://youtu.be/OTGei1YnQzM

 

I hate squirrels! They can be so destructive. They got my 4WD harness in the fender well 2 months ago. Luckily I was able to fix it pretty easy. I would definitely check on the comprehensive insurance if that’s an option. If you have to fix it yourself you can splice in some new wires for the missing pieces. It wouldn’t be fun but it would be doable. Probably easiest if you had a topside creeper so you could lay over the fender to do the work. Personally, if I didn’t have insurance to cover it I would try the splicing before I replaced the harness.

 

What the fuck!?? That is awful! ...that video!!!

 

I took yesterday off and got started on it myself...removed the airbox and disassembled the junction box to have better access to the wiring. removed the damaged electrical tape and enough to expose the wires that were cut close to it and cleaned up the wiring. I was psyching myself up to start on the wire repairs when I talked to a local mechanic and showed him the pics and he said that he would do it for somewhere in the neighborhood of $100-200. Sold! I will let you know how it goes.

 

Wow, if it works and repair looks decent, give him 300!!

 

I'm interested to see how this "local mechanic" handles a wire harness repair. I'll cross my fingers for you hoping he uses the correct methods and material. Basically, he has to make every splice an "environmental splice" to keep out dirt, debris, and WATER. Additionally, he needs to stagger his splices and reduce the amount of heatshrink he uses to reduce bulk. However, he may be limited to what he can do because of the proximity of the damage to the firewall penetration, unless he intends to pull wires back into the passenger side footwell to perform one end of the repair there. I'd be hard pressed to quote that job for $200 given the space constraints and required material. It should be more like $500 - 600, IMO. But I do build wire/ cable harnesses as part of my side hustle. So, what do I know.

 

So the guy doing the work is the cousin of the main guy and is a younger guy. I talked with him and let him know that I am not holding him to 100-200 but to keep me informed. I asked for a very rough ballpark and was just glad that he didn't say anything in 4 digits, which is what I was afraid of. If he bills me 200 and the work looks good, I will be giving him a bonus for sure. I trust the main guy, been dealing with him for over a decade now, and he said that his cousin does a good job and mentioned that he will splice in new wire, solder, and heat shrink each connection. Do I expect the work to look as nice as what you pictured? Probably not...but he also has to do the work under the hood in a very tight space. I really don't care what it ends up looking like as long as it works and lasts.

 

My insurance covered it,dealer did job. Paid deductible,was cheaper than buying harness.

 

Unfortunately, I do not have comprehensive coverage, so insurance will not cover it. A local mechanic did a pretty good job of fixing it up and it cost me $500. He initially thought it would cost a lot less but I know he underestimated to begin with and then he ran into an issue where he could not tell what some wires were...they seemed to be marked the same...and so he had to cut the wrapping so that he could trace them all the way to the pin they were in the plug to determine what they were.

Overall, I am happy with his work and everything is working. I guess the main question is if it will last.

I also managed to "relocate" a squirrel that has been nesting in my pole barn, which is where I parked my truck. I have been cleaning the inside to remove any traces of nests, added mothballs to various areas based on someone else's advice, and I bought one of those sonic wave devices and have that going 24/7 for now. I need to make some adjustments to the main door of the shed, which is a large sliding door as it does not fully seal properly at the top and I suspect that is how they are getting in. I am optimistic that I can have a squirrel free pole barn this winter. We will see.

 

I had a beagle that did that to a motorcycle trying to get at a chipmunk hiding out under the seat. I ended up fixing it my self by soldering and then heat shrinking the solder. It wasn't too bad to do. It was about 30 wires. Just make sure he doesn't do crimp style connectors.

 

Can you post pictures of the repair? Curious to see how it looks after he finished. And everything works as it should?

 

Sorry my friend but crimp connectors, with some heat shrink tubing, is a Proper repair. Some think everything HAS to be soldiered, but this is simply not the case.