Rodents Under the Hood.

[RightWingNutJob]

I didn't use my truck for a couple of weeks over the Holidays while we were away. I started it up the other day, and the motor was running so rough I think I had a V-4 instead of a V-10. I started looking for the obvious, and found a quarter bushel of grass, leaves and fluff jammed between the intake manifolds and the fuel injection rails. One very industrious rodent had decided to build his multi-room home on my engine.

I pulled everything out that I could reach and then blasted the rest out with compressed air. To my chagrin I found that my unwanted guest had decided he didn't like the Ford wire color coding scheme and had stripped the insulation off of a bunch of my fuel injector wires. Luckily, none of the wires were completely cut, and once I separated them so they didn't short to anything, lo and behold the truck ran fine.

I don't want to have to special order a new harness from Ford. It's a 7 foot long "octopus" that will take me a week to re-route in order to repair 6 or 8 damaged wires.

My question - Can anybody recommend an electrical tape that can stand up to the engine compartment heat, dirt, etc. I've used regular electricians tape before and it gets brittle and falls off after a while. (None of the wires were cut though so shrink tubing is not an option unless I cut the wires and resplice them.) Space is real tight where the wires are stripped, so I think an insulating tape is about my only option. Repair Suggestions appreciated.

[whitjo]

IMO it would pay you to cut them, slip on some heat-srink, and SOLDER! back together and be done with it.
It'll take a bit longer, but, like you say, even the best tape will eventually cause you to have to re-do.
You could also try the liquid tape? I've never used it but always wondered if it's any good?
I bought a Jeep that had sit for some time and the mice had made a meal of the vacuum lines that operate the heat and AC vents!
Ended up removing the entire dash assy to repair!

[Dieselmaster]

you might try using - The Right Stuff - gasket maker... It is the best gasket maker you can get and has a very short dry time... like 5 or 10 minutes.... It's heat resistant up to 450° and is fuel and oil resistant.

http://www.permatex.com/brand_right_stuff.htm

Seperate out the wires, then using tape or something else as a support for the area, cover it all with gasket maker... give it a good hour to dry and remove your support...

Or you could use saran wrap and do each wire seperate....

Just some ideas for you.

[K.N.94PSD]

RightWingNutJob,

Can you post any pictures? Without seeing the destruction, I'd look into getting some wire terminal release tools to remove the wire terminals from their weatherproof shells, so you can then slip on some adhesive-lined heat-shrink tubing over the damaged wires. Another option is splicing in some cross-linked wire of the same gage, soldering the splice and covering with some adhesive-lined heat-shrink.
I don't believe any electrical tape is going to give a reliable repair, however, I've found 3M Super 88 to be a really good tape.

Hope it helps,
K.N.

[MGX]

Liquid Electrical Tape

Here are just 2 of the links that came up from a Google Search

http://www.starbrite.com/productdetail.c...9&ProductSSCat=

http://www.plastidip.com/home_soluti...cal_Insulation

[holstein05]

I think you got very lucky. I don't know how often the rodents make homes in trucks, but I had a co-worker once with a new Dodge. The little fella decided to make his home in the air filter box. I have no idea how that happened. You can imagine what this did to the air going into the engine, and what happened to the engine shortly thereafter. As it turned out, Dodge warranty does not cover rodent damage to the engine... imagine that... I think that was a gasser..

[aka-444-International]

Definately lucky .... my brother in law had some get into his motor home... not only did they screw up the motor wireing but they destroyed the generator.... It was horrible... they stripped wires and rubber lines the entire length of the RV...

It never did run right afterwards...

[amunderdog]

liquid electrical tape.
Comes in a can buy it at about any parts store.

[checkthisout]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: K.N.94PSD</div><div class="ubbcode-body">RightWingNutJob,

Can you post any pictures? Without seeing the destruction, I'd look into getting some wire terminal release tools to remove the wire terminals from their weatherproof shells, so you can then slip on some adhesive-lined heat-shrink tubing over the damaged wires. Another option is splicing in some cross-linked wire of the same gage, soldering the splice and covering with some adhesive-lined heat-shrink.
I don't believe any electrical tape is going to give a reliable repair, however, I've found 3M Super 88 to be a really good tape.

Hope it helps,
K.N. </div></div>


This is sound advice and exactly what I was going to suggest because it's a repair I have done on customer's cars myself many times.

Pop the damaged wires out of their connectors, slide a piece of shrink-wrap over the wire, shrink it and reinstall it in the connector.

The best wrap is the kind that has sealant that melts when you heat it. Corrossion getting into your wiring and damaging it is a real concern in areas where they salt the roads.

You can reinstall and re-wrap any split-loom tubing that you have to remove to gain access to the wires with ease.

Make note of the knock sensor wire in the valley and the CMP. Those are usually the first two wires that the mice percieve as hostile and dispatch first.

You're lucky you didn't get rats. They chew through battery terminals, airboxes, and heavy starter wires you name it.

[eaglelake2007]

Make a comp claim against your auto insurance. This is considered an animal loss and is covered under most policies. Rodents can cause havic to any thing plastic. The wire harnesses are huge and one short and you are out of luck. Get a good dealer to replace it if your insurance covers it.

[ch58dr]

you can get some chaffe tape for electrical wiring to wrap around them after electrical tape itself. It's a rubbery tape that sticks to itself, it is good at high temps,an just plain tough as far as wires rubbing on metal. Sorry I don't know the real name for it , we use on helicopter wire bundles. Also a friend of mine has a feed store an the coons,skunks,possums were getting into the bags of feed an such , so he set out some of that fly bait that comes in pellets ( something like MALADRIN) can't remember the spelling, but said it will kill them things within about 20 feet of eating it.

[RightWingNutJob]

Thanks gang. I managed to release four of the wires from their connectors with tip of a really small jewler's screwdriver, and then was able to put shrink tubing around them for a nice tight fit.

The wires closer to the back of the engine I just couldn't reach well enough to pop from the connectors.... I needed a second wrist joint in the middle of my forearm in order to get in there without dismantling the top of the engine. For those remaining wires, I bought a bottle of "Liquid Electrical Tape" from Car Quest (and aside from being dumb and not wearing rubber gloves while I applied it,) it worked fairly well. I needed to apply it in several thin coats for the best results. Then I spent the rest of the day rubbing it off of my fingertips....

I think next investment will be a Top Side Creeper. I'm 6'5" but couldn't reach the wires without literally almost getting into the engine compartment

[whitjo]

Originally Posted by RightWingNutJob

Then I spent the rest of the day rubbing it off of my fingertips....

I think next investment will be a Top Side Creeper. I'm 6'5" but couldn't reach the wires without literally almost getting into the engine compartment

Two investments:
some cheap latex gloves and
the topside creeper, best $200.00 I ever spent!