When Squirrels Attack! Or how much is this going to cost me?

So we just got back from a week vacation.  My car (2018 Hyundai Elantra GT sport) sat outside the whole time because of course I have 6 garage spots of inside storage but still 5 vehicles sit outside.

I took the car to work today and I leave the driveway and the Traction Control and Hill Hold lights are on indicating a fault. Ok no big deal I think, those aren't really necessary so I head out. Merging on the interstate the Boost Police came and took all my Boost away, My turbo was no longer turboing. That's weird but it won't make boost until it's up to temperature and I think maybe something is going on with the temp sensor.

I get to work, do what I need and I restart the car thinking maybe an old reboot will have it running great.  Now ALL THE LIGHTs are on the car is ANGRY.  It gets home with no boost but otherwise seems fine.  I decide to read the codes before I call Hyundai for an appointment (MAP Off Scale High, 1/2/3/4 cyl misfire).

I pop the hood and what greets me? ALL THE LEAVES, TWIGS, GRASS of a fully developed squirrel nest. I had the hood opened about 3 weeks ago, none of this was there.

I carefully remove the nest just in case one of the little bastages is in there so I don't get attacked and find out why the MAP sensor was OS high. 2 of the 3 wires were chewed up and the connector was gnawed in half. I also found the Alternator field wires cut as well as the headlight wire.  And that's just what I found looking in the dark with my Phone flashlight.

These 3 wires are on 3 separate harnesses which will likely have to be replaced (Yes obviously it could be spliced back together but, it's kinda a new car and I don't feel like doing the work).  I'm hoping it's not totaled but we will see. Damn Squirrels.  I'll update you on whatever the total Damage is when I get it repaired..

Your insurance might cover the damage?

In reply to stanger_mussle (Forum Supporter) :

They should.  I will call them in the morning.  If they do not I will become real familiar with professional wire splice tools.

I've only seen computer fryage once, on a Camry that a woodchuck ate some injector wires, and fried the #4 injector driver.

You'll PROBABLY be fine, sensor circuits are low current and meant to be able to be railed to ground or vref, and anyway it sounds like it chewed through the MAF ground, which is better than most other alternatives.  If you had a whole nest (sorry) of sensor failure codes, then that could point to the 5vref shorted to ground, keeping all those sensors from being able to work.

As an indie, we'd just splice and repair as necessary.  I'm all but 100% certain that Hyundai dealerships do not do wiring repair, they replace harnesses.  A friend of mine is/was a service manager at a Hyundai dealership, and he showed me pics of a Genesis getting the main harness replaced to fix a rear camera fault.  One bay had the car, the bay next to it had the entire interior of the car.

It's a win that didn't catch fire. Insanity.

In reply to Mike (Forum Supporter) :

That's what fuses are for.

I found the exact same picture under the hood of my wife's Jetta a couple weeks ago.  Fortunately, nothing was eaten or burned.  We should indeed be lucky that the odd burning smells (while driving unawares) did not lead to something far more sinister.

Sometimes, I really despise nature.

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

In reply to Mike (Forum Supporter) :

That's what fuses are for.

I doubt fuses stop dry leaves from combusting.

mad_machine (Forum Supporter) said:

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

In reply to Mike (Forum Supporter) :

That's what fuses are for.

I doubt fuses stop dry leaves from combusting.

From what?  The intake manifold's melting point is probably lower.  (assuming Nylon 6/6, roughly 200-300F lower than the kindling point of dry leaves/grass)

Turbo's on the other side of the engine.

In reply to nocones :

That's one reason to have insurance.  My dog chased a squirrel in the engine compartment of my neighbors car and scratched it all up trying to get it. 100 % covered. 

This is a Siberian Husky. He can outrun and catch squirrels. He also catches and does away with any rats and mice that try to get into the house. I keep several around and never have problems with rodent nests in my cars. You can get them at your local SPCA. 

Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) said:

This is a Siberian Husky. He can outrun and catch squirrels. He also catches and does away with any rats and mice that try to get into the house. I keep several around and never have problems with rodent nests in my cars. You can get them at your local SPCA. 

 

 

 

Several times I have called my dog inside and when he didn't come, I have walked out into the yard to find a small mangled animal that may or may not have been a squirrel once.

In reply to ProDarwin :

I found several of my dogs chasing the husky that caught the squirrel one afternoon. Lets just say that the squirrel ended up in several pieces by the time I ended up cleaning the mess. All five dogs survived with little more than ruffled fur. 

Part of that nest could have easily been blown over to the exhaust side. Fuses would not have done any good in that case. That said, I'd say that you're very lucky (might be a good time to go grab a lott ticket or two, or not...).

Rat traps baited with peanut butter.  Be sure to tie the traps to something in case the squirrel tries to run before he dies.

On the dogs and squirrel front:

A Field Spaniel I had years ago came into the house one Saturday afternoon and started retching.   Then she coughed up an entire dead squirrel. Tail first. 

 Wife left the den and said call me after you put "your" dog out and "you" deal with that mess.

In reply to Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) :

We tried one of those.  Could not distinguish between squirrel and our Cats.  Also had a bad habit of asserting it's dominance over our 5 yo whenever he would snuggle mommy.   Probably over time could of fixed the issue with the 5 yo, but the experts we talked to said the prey drive would be there for ever so we gave him up so he could go to a more appropriate home (which he did).  

I think the squirrels have migrated to the front yard because our neighbors have Corgis who have a high screw with small animals drive which has scared them out of the backyard.  

The car has been towed to the dealership and insurance is handling it.  The dealer said when I called, this will likely be expensive and take a while, hope your insurance covers it.

I was a bit concerned about fire and felt I dodged a bullet on that as well.  Direct fire from hear was very unlikely where the nest was but They easily could have chosen the Header side for their nest, and not knowing what they chewed the Alternator wires, or Radiator fan could easily of sparked what was basically a massof kindling.  

I love that we've reached a point where a bit of chewed wiring can cause an insurance write off.

nocones said:

 

The car has been towed to the dealership and insurance is handling it.  The dealer said when I called, this will likely be expensive and take a while, hope your insurance covers it.

I was a bit concerned about fire and felt I dodged a bullet on that as well.  Direct fire from hear was very unlikely where the nest was but They easily could have chosen the Header side for their nest, and not knowing what they chewed the Alternator wires, or Radiator fan could easily of sparked what was basically a massof kindling.  

Sorry to hear that. My leased 2018 Tacoma base model had this issue at my farm. Rodents chewed the wiring h arness. Bill was $3900. Insurance covered $3,800. I kept it a year longer, and then lease is up, it went back to Toyota, and I purchased a new one.  AFter the dealer swapped the whole harness, truck died 3 times. Then they replaced the alternator, and battery few times. It wasn't back to how it was ever. I hope your outcome is better than mine. 

ShawnG said:

I love that we've reached a point where a bit of chewed wiring can cause an insurance write off.

 

Places that hire parts hangers don't trust the people they hire to do proper wiring repairs.  Sow, meet reap.

nocones said:

In reply to Snowdoggie (Forum Supporter) :

We tried one of those.  Could not distinguish between squirrel and our Cats.  Also had a bad habit of asserting it's dominance over our 5 yo whenever he would snuggle mommy.   Probably over time could of fixed the issue with the 5 yo, but the experts we talked to said the prey drive would be there for ever so we gave him up so he could go to a more appropriate home (which he did).  

I think the squirrels have migrated to the front yard because our neighbors have Corgis who have a high screw with small animals drive which has scared them out of the backyard.  

 

Strange. The dog in the picture actually loves kids and they love him. He actually tolerates kids pulling on his ears and tail. He loves everybody and is useless as a guard dog. 

Cats, on the other hand, he treats like larger squirrels. It's what's for dinner.  

Corgis are herding dogs and they punch above their weight. Sheep and calves are actually afraid of Corgis. 

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) / ShawnG:

If the car was out of warranty I would perform repairs by sourcing the correct terminals and OEM quality wire, disassemble the plugs and extend the wires and reterm them.  

It would probably then give years of satisfactory service.  But I don't want to take the chance that Hyundai denies future warranty work due to improper splices so they are doing the fixing.  

The good news is that the car is worth more then I thought, like 13k instead of 10K so I don't think it will likely get to the point of being totalled.  But I could be wrong about both of those.

nocones said:

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) / ShawnG:

If the car was out of warranty I would perform repairs by sourcing the correct terminals and OEM quality wire, disassemble the plugs and extend the wires and reterm them.  

It would probably then give years of satisfactory service.  But I don't want to take the chance that Hyundai denies future warranty work due to improper splices so they are doing the fixing.  

The good news is that the car is worth more then I thought, like 13k instead of 10K so I don't think it will likely get to the point of being totalled.  But I could be wrong about both of those.

I had a vehicle with similar issues at work last week. Rodents chewed up the cabin air filter and some underhood insulation. Insurance paid (less deductible) for cabin filter, blower motor, underhood insulation and battery insulation.

You should hopefully not have any issues going through insurance.

In reply to 1kris06 :

If insurance pays for cabin filters, I could probably get at least one claim a week.

You have to pull the blower motor to get enough access to clean all of the nest out on most cars.

I  just had this happen to me in December and insurance covered it.  The squirrels got 5 wiring harnesses in my Tundra.  They don't fix the harness/wires, they replace them.  The total was about $15,000.  

rande said:

I  just had this happen to me in December and insurance covered it.  The squirrels got 5 wiring harnesses in my Tundra.  They don't fix the harness/wires, they replace them.  The total was about $15,000.  

Happening to us and lots of other toyota owners 

https://www.motorbiscuit.com/class-action-lawsuit-rats-love-toyota-wiring-so-owners-sue-again/