Rats bite through a wire.

[Shan87]

Hell All,

I just bought a Lexus IS250 couple of months ago. Rats seems to have bitten through some wires. Can you please help me identify this wire? Is this something I can easily fix? I have attached photos of it.

[Mr Vlad]

I can't remember what that connector is for but someone who does will be along soon. What affect has it had on the running of your car?

[Shan87]

Engine management lights have come up along with anti slide lights. No loss of power of the engine.

[Mr Vlad]

Yes if any connections have failed then any number of dash lights will come on even irrelevant ones.

[Herbie]

Where is the wire that should be in that connector? Unless I'm missing something I can't see it.

Anyway, you'll need something like this to get at the connector terminals to release them and remove the bits of wire that are left in there. Then you'll need two lengths of wire, connecting one end to the loom and the other end in the connector.

EDIT:

I think I've just seen the 'other ends' of the wires in the grey corrugated conduit below the connector, so you'll need to cut that conduit open (if it's not the split type) to get enough length to connect to.

[Shan87]

Thank you, I will keep everyone posted on the update.

[Grumps]

I have read about this before and when sorted the person bought some 'Rodent-deterrent tape'. Just google it for suppliers.

[steve2006]

It looks like the vacuum switching valve as shown below. There appears to be 2 wires to it with a black one at the lower connection. The ideal solution would be to find another plug connector with pig tails allowing you to reconnect it to the existing harness.

Found you a used one on eBay which still has the plug connector for £20.00. OK you only need the connector but given the time and cost of finding just that this would be a cheap and faster solution. You may have to disconnect the ECU fuse for a while after replacing the connector to remove the fault code and EML.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/263726777819?ul_ref=https%3A%2F%2Frover.ebay.com%2Frover%2F1%2F710-53481-19255-0%2F1%3Ftype%3D2%26pub%3D5575403537%26toolid%3D10001%26campid%3D5338343596%26item%3D263726777819%26customid%3Deb%253Ag%253Avms%253Aeb%253Ap%253A263726777819%253BCjwKCAiAz4b_BRBbEiwA5XlVVrNnjzSdxcZOHYsLOHsxWXjLVGSNixtsCxcVZOmL1yJhkrttKWZXfBoCye4QAvD_BwE%26gclid%3DCjwKCAiAz4b_BRBbEiwA5XlVVrNnjzSdxcZOHYsLOHsxWXjLVGSNixtsCxcVZOmL1yJhkrttKWZXfBoCye4QAvD_BwE%26srcrot%3D710-53481-19255-0%26rvr_id%3D2739012065407%26rvr_ts%3D8b65948f1760aad926f70e23ffe90a05&ul_noapp=true

[steve2006]

Also order these 😀

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5X-Heavy-Duty-aggressive-Rat-Traps-self-Setting-The-Rat-Splatter-Rats-Catcher/373136062143?hash=item56e0a476bf:g:t-cAAOSwVIxfJ9na

[Shan87]

Perfect, I do need those Rat traps...little buggers have managed to do this for the 2nd time.

[cruisermark]

Mind does wonder sometimes - how a small animal like that with small head and teeth has so much power.

We have a rat chew threw our plastic cold water pipe

 

[Mr Vlad]

Blimey aren't there any cats in your areas guys?

[Shan87]

Sorry about the delay in updating everyone. So I sent the car to a local garage and they were able to fix it ( They cut the wires through and installed a new connector). Total cost 80 pounds.

I now have anti rodent tape over the wiring looms and connectors (the ones I can reach to).

Installed a Battery operated Rat repellent (I just pop in somewhere in the engine bay when the car engine area is cool and parked up)

The main thing is, I now park it elsewhere away from the usual parking spot till the council fix the pest issue.

We have seen a reduction in the rats lately due to pest control taking some actions around the whole area, so by summer hoping it will have gone down by a considerable amount.

[Texas]

By the by... I went to look at buying a 335i for my son last year and when the bonnet was opened (shown below ) I had to walk away right there and then, after seeing the obvious presence of a rodent! I had to explained to the seller (and my son!) that there could be a whole lot of wiring loom damage that would be a nightmare to trace let alone fix! You can see that the little fellow used the bonnet sound deadening material as a quilt and made a lovely little nest right there in front of us! The underlying problem was the car sales lot was right next to a fried chicken/kebab shop and there was discarded food everywhere!

[Shan87]

You got lucky there!!! Imagine if you actually bought it. They seem to love the sound deadening material. Per Lexus AA, those materials not only provide comfort, but also as a midnight snack as they are made out of Soya products. Not just Japanese cars but all latest cars. SO I have just put my Engine cover in the boot.