Rat damage to wiring

[mickmac_42 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mickmac_42]

This is the damage from a rat having partied in my engine bay. The rat is now dead.

Toyota noticed the damage on my last service. Their only comment was that i should "monitor" the situation. As such, i can only assume that either (a) they're not particularly worried or (b), they're happy to wait until the damage causes further complications which creates more business for Mr Toyota.

The rat only got two strands of wire. The rest of the damage is to the plastic. My concern is ingress of water next time it rains or when i go off-road again.

Would a layer of electrical tape be sufficient, or is there a better fix.

Mike

[Guest Close Guest]

Self amalgamating tape is better than electrical tape as it will provide a seal. However, from the pic, it looks very close to the plug.

[barryswanson Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close barryswanson]

If it was me I would get it repaired properly. If somehow water splashed up there and screwed up my injector or computer I'd be pissed.

[footoo Member Find all posts View Profile Close footoo]

A solution could be to :-
1. cut the wire/wires further back up the loom.
2. put a dab of silicon on the exposed copper
3. heat shrink over the silicon/exposed copper.
4. solder the respective cut wires, with pre-sleeved heat shrink in place
5. silicon and heat shrink the joints.

If you can get enough wire length you could get away with the one piece of heat shrink over the respective copper and soldered joint.

As amts mentioned the white one could be a bit tricky, however with a bit of fiddling you should be able to get the silicon and heat shrink up into the plug.

good luck
Geoff

[mickmac_42 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mickmac_42]

Thanks guys. This is exactly what i was hoping for.

[mjrandom Out of control poster! Find all posts View Profile Close mjrandom]

Not quite the same thing but a mate had problems with his ute a few months back and it turned out rats had eaten through some wiring which meant the starter relay was out of service. Bit of a quick rewire and all good. Then a week or so later his wifes SUV had wiper problems so off to the same garage. Except this time it was carpet snake induced (the snake curled up under the extension arm and popped the connector off). When the mechanic opened the bonnet and removed the cowl to have a look the snake was still there! Only about 2m long. I think the snake now lives in a garage near here. And the mechanic will be off medication in a month or so.

[wooley Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close wooley]

I opened up the hood of a tractor today to find a rats nest and a bunch of chewed wires didn't even bother trying to start it, just called the mechanic.

[LeighW Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close LeighW]

I would just put some white silcon over the missing insulation.

Cheers
LeighW

[alanm Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close alanm]

I had a recent experience with one of more mice who chewed into a number of plastic sheaths and wire insulation. No wire threads were severed. I've used self fusing silicon tape to effect a repair. The self sealing silicone is supposed to have strong sealing properties. I haven't got the web site at hand, but there are distributors throughtout Australia, I can get the web reference on request. Cheers

[Fungi2003 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Fungi2003]

There are reports of rat and mice plagues at various parts of the eastern sea board. How would one deal with mice/rats who could potentially chew the living daylights out of your wires?

[wooley Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close wooley]

There are reports of rat and mice plagues at various parts of the eastern sea board. How would one deal with mice/rats who could potentially chew the living daylights out of your wires?

Traps or bait. However I'd recommend traps or you'll end up in the situation we've currently found ourselves in: the smell of death inhabits every conceivable space.

[Matty80 Avid PP Poster! Find all posts View Profile Close Matty80]

There are reports of rat and mice plagues at various parts of the eastern sea board. How would one deal with mice/rats who could potentially chew the living daylights out of your wires?

I have a buch of baits nailed up in the corners of the sheds, and replace everytime they go missing. Seems to keep the feeding time out of the prado and the population down. best ond only way! Never can seem to get rig of all of them though?

As for repairing the damage, self-amalgimating rubber tape is best for permanent seals. For core damage, i'd cut and splice the a mini-seal mil spec. inline crimp, complete with glued heat shink cover. Over the top, but never have any issues.

[craigm Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close craigm]

Whilst camping at Gordon Country this weekend, overnight I heard some rustling around the rubbish bag outside my tent. I assumed it was a hungry possum but couldnt spot him. After a couple more noisy events I move the bag and went back to sleep. Later in the morning I needed to replace a blown fuse from a mishap the night before (dodgey plug on my worklight) and upon raising the bonnet I came across this on my fusebox...



and on the other side of the engine bay...



And on closer inspection found this... which called for a more thorough inspection. To date I haven't found any further damage .




Lesson learnt. **** always ensure your rubbish is out of reach of wildlife and vermon****

[Anth120playdo Banned Find all posts View Profile Close Anth120playdo]

Our area had an increase in Jerry's in the last 2 years withh all the rain.
Bunnings were out of stock on traps etc.
That's about all u can do kill the bastards.
Put a pack of ratsak under the bonnet.
One Neigbor was finding 10 suicidal Jerry's each night.
The little priks love chewing wires, nOt sure why?
Our numbers seem to have reduced to the point I can't loose baits.
But the cat still finds them, (on other property's) the bitch recons their pretty tasty.
Even the dogs were taking off after them, also having a supper at times.

Little priks.