Soy based wiring insulation

D

Dan2020

New Member
I bought my Tacoma last year. It was not disclosed to me until today that my wiring is done with a soy based food product. I had a trac and engine light and engine failing because mice are the wires overnight. I live in Toronto.
Have any of you had mice chewing your wires and been asked it’s a function of where you live? Recommended you keep mothballs in your car (a poisonous product) to combat it?
I did research and saw that there was a class action lawsuit that Toyota lost for models 2012 to 2016 for this issue. The dealership did not disclose this and said this rarely occurs and most likely my work would be under warranty. Then they said it was a mouse and I paid for 8 hours of labour plus hst today.
Also, can any of you with a new Tacoma, send a pic of how your new wiring looks? Mine More exposed and is like this now with prior glue on the wire present as a sign it was taped before they did the work.647E6250-7F9F-4E2A-B6D1-ACD4E09ED584.jpeg
 
A guy I used to work with had this happen to his Tundra. The dealership here in Texas told him it wasnt a warrantee repair. At least you got yours fixed. It may not be as pretty as a factory harness, but your truck runs.

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
 
They can also get down in the center of the block under the intake valley .chewed wires on my neighbors off road and the truck would only move in reverse cost a grand at dealer to fix .said it was a nature thing not covered it had 2 thousand miles on it .WTF!
 
I have a 2021 4Runner Nightshade and a 2021 Tacoma TRD Off Road. The 4Runner has been hit twice by rats. Trust me - Irish Spring? Moth balls or dryer sheets do not work for rats.
We have motion activated lights that I place around the cars every night, there are strobe lights and noise emitting devices in the engine compartment, 2 bags of repellent are hanging in the engine compartment and we spray a peppermint oil based product around the car and onto the wheel wells every night. We do not have a rodent problem at our house - the only sign of rodents is in the engine compartment of our 10 month 4Runner. $6,500 both times - homeowners covered but come on Toyota. We are attempting to join the Class Action
 
Yikes my wife has a friend who works at a dealership and she says they spray that deer and rabbit repellent made with garlic and rotten eggs around the lot .I bet its a bitch to get the smell out of a new car though.
 
My friend sells an electronic device you wire in and he has it in an old bronco, a real Bronco not the Honda Elements rebody they sell now and has never had an issue since he put it in ill find out what type it is and post it .he says its around a hundred bucks
 
Luffin said:
I have a 2021 4Runner Nightshade and a 2021 Tacoma TRD Off Road. The 4Runner has been hit twice by rats. Trust me - Irish Spring? Moth balls or dryer sheets do not work for rats.
We have motion activated lights that I place around the cars every night, there are strobe lights and noise emitting devices in the engine compartment, 2 bags of repellent are hanging in the engine compartment and we spray a peppermint oil based product around the car and onto the wheel wells every night. We do not have a rodent problem at our house - the only sign of rodents is in the engine compartment of our 10 month 4Runner. $6,500 both times - homeowners covered but come on Toyota. We are attempting to join the Class Action
Click to expand...
How about a Closed choke 410 with birdshot ?Screenshot_2021-08-25-22-09-12~2.png
 
Last edited:
When we first moved into our current house--about 10 years ago--we had a really bad mouse infestation problem due to the previous owners having lots of pets and lots of pet food available. After about 2 years of trapping and poisoning, we haven't had a problem since. Having a neighbor's cat being a real mouser hasn't hurt either. I know some folks are against the use of poisons, but they sure worked for me--especially the little green pellets that the critters eat that plugs them up and they croak. Even took care of a huge pack rat that had taken up residence in our crawl space.
 
TacomaLance said:
Instead of using mothballs, Irish Spring bar soap works well to keep the mice & rats away. I have used it in RV's that sit for a long time and no critters. Smells good to us, but not for rodents.
Click to expand...
I have used Irish spring in my popup camper for years. I get a pack of a few bars at the dollar store, cut them up in quarters then put them in to the corners of the camper and in some of the cabinets. I have Not had a mouse problem yet. The camper sits all winter outside. I even left some paper products in the one cabinet which they love for nesting and it wasn't touched.

I've heard of this being a problem with the Tacoma. I keep a couple cotton balls with some peppermint essential oil in the glove box and tried to put a few drops on the cabin air filter as prevention since I park outdoors. There are also some rodent repellent sprays you can apply. I also hear Honda sells a tape that has hot pepper in it to wrap wires that does a great job keeping them from feasting on the wire harnesses.
 
I've tried the irish spring soap, dryer sheets, and had some very short term success with the peppermint oil in cotton balls. The other stuff, either they chew the soap or line their nests with chewed bits of the dryer sheets
Only other thing thats gets them permanently terminated is baited rat, or mouse traps, and there's no shortage of those varmints here.
 
Or the little mouse pellets .i tried all kinds of things to keep them out of my '35 ford truck it was a loosing battle i sold my truck and stress level is nil
 
I've got an older snowmobile that i still use, plus a couple race bikes that hasn't run in years due to a stroke i suffered some years back. The mice are always present ready to chew wires, and anything else thats cloth covered. I've used just about everything short of the latest electronic rodent repellers. Seems the pepper mix, and traps are still the best bang for the buck.
 
I too, have had my issues with this. My wife's Honda has been hit 4 times by squirrels. Yes, we live in Tennessee where squirrels rule but it cost us a fortune in service calls at the dealer. After talking with the service manager and threatening action he said "get a cat".
He was correct. We have owned one cat who was outdoor/indoor but eventually got eaten by an owl, ouch. And now we have a neighbor cat that visits every day, maybe the treats help a bit, and so far, no more squirrel damage. I have had three Toyota Tacomas on the property the whole time with no issues. I do believe the cat is the answer. Honda offered me rodent proof tape and I can't make this up, it had a picture of a rat with the red circle and diagonal bar through it....really?
Good luck.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top