Rodents ruined our car!

[Aurel]

My wife Lexus ES300 sleeps outside because it is old (2001) and there are two Porsches in the garage...Recently she has complained the idle was very high and there is a big vibration in the brakes.

My investigation quickly evidenced rodent droppings inside the air filter box, as well a big hole chewed in the filter element. Even after replacing the air filter the issue persisted, and I found droppings all the way inside the intake!

Since the idle is still high they must have caused an air leak somewhere else, but how does it relate to the brakes problem?

Well, since the idle was so high my wife mentioned she had to ride the brakes all the time, which caused them to overheat and wrapped the front rotors.

Now the car feels like crap, and drives like crap, because of those godamned chipmunks or mice. At just 107,000 miles It had many more miles to go, but since it’s value is pretty low it may not be worth fixing.

Rant over.

[Bob Kontak]

They like wires. Does the 2001 have a mass airflow sensor or a manifold absolute pressure system?

Brakes sound like a mechanical issue except for if the rodents chewed through the booster vacuum tube.

[Aurel]

Looks like the rodents may have crapped in the idle air control valve. I can try to fix that with WD40...

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Aurel

Looks like the rodents may have crapped in the idle air control valve. I can try to fix that with WD40...

LOL! Yep, WD 40 is a well know mouse crap solvent.
I would do a OBD scan to get a clue what they've chewed up, but that's just me.

[ckcarr]

There's nothing you can do.

I ended up selling a nice, what would have been collectible, pickup truck because it suddenly attracted squirrels. Wires chewed, smelled like animal urine.

The best part was when one sprang out of the hood at me when I opened it...

[Aurel]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

LOL! Yep, WD 40 is a well know mouse crap solvent.
I would do a OBD scan to get a clue what they've chewed up, but that's just me.

I ran one already. No codes came up. I’ll use intake cleaner.

[pwd72s]

Too late now..but traps and baits are available...

[DanielDudley]

I sold a nice 928 because I could not get the mouse smell out of the HVAC.

Your car will live if you want it too, and for not too much money if you apply yourself.
I have a tendency to look at what it will take to fix a car, VS what it would cost to replace it, not what it is worth. But if you drive it so infrequently that mive are moving into the intake, that may be a consideration.

[UconnTim97]

A while back in my '92 Accord I noticed a stark loss in acceleration and a rough idle. Opened up the air cleaner and the filter was chewed up and the filter housing and part of the intake became a squirrels place to hide his acorns for the winter. Completely full. I was surprised that the car ran at all. After I cleaned it out the squirrel never returned. I guess I got lucky.

[beepbeep]

If vacuum hose leading to brake booster is chewed through, there will be vacuum leak and hard brake pedal feel

[berettafan]

These stories are terrifying. I read on a tundra forum the suggestion that newer wire coatings taste or smell good to rodents. Not sure the validity but who knows


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[berettafan]

As a sorta off topic there was a story on NPR (I know, but I can only listen to so many Boston songs and the local conservative radio guy is just awful) about tick diseases, Lyme, etc and one caller mentioned the rodent population in part benefiting from the decline of the old practice of burning out the forest floor. Thought that was interesting.

[Tobra]

Originally Posted by berettafan

These stories are terrifying. I read on a tundra forum the suggestion that newer wire coatings taste or smell good to rodents. Not sure the validity but who knows

Biodegradable vegetable plastic insulation. Ricky the Rat finds it delicious.

Aurelien, aimes tu les chats?

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by Aurel

At just 107,000 miles It had many more miles to go, but since it’s value is pretty low it may not be worth fixing.

That car is worth the present value of what you pay for it's replacement. It is still a pup. It is not rickity or rusted like a same era Ford in Ohio.

Find an ECU pin out diagram for the car. That will be hard as google does not do so good isolating the correct diagrams. Then dig into how to test suspect components.

Does it seem to be miss-firing?

IAC valve my have been contaminated if they hung out in the throttle bore. It can be cleaned.

Throttle position sensor is pretty much isolated from contamination.

Mass airflow sensor is upstream of TB but it's usually on the side or top of intake tube not allowing urine/feces to penetrate. Wires/connector are on the outside of intake tube but they could still chew on the unit from inside.

Is it a straight six?

[latunabernie]

I put some moth balls by each wheel & in the engine compartment.
It works very well.
Just be sure to remove them before driving.

Bernie

[Alan A]

Originally Posted by berettafan

These stories are terrifying. I read on a tundra forum the suggestion that newer wire coatings taste or smell good to rodents. Not sure the validity but who knows


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Friend of mine used to park his Toyota on street in NYC. Rats ate his wiring harness. $1500 to fix.

[mattdavis11]

Does the car have the 1, 2 or 3mz engine?

[speeder]

Originally Posted by Tobra

Biodegradable vegetable plastic insulation. Ricky the Rat finds it delicious.

Aurelien, aimes tu les chats?

It’s a little late for that, by the sound of it. Maybe for the next car.

[Aurel]

Originally Posted by mattdavis11

Does the car have the 1, 2 or 3mz engine?

It has the 2.5L V6, so 2mz. If it was just replacing the IAC valve I would do it, but the brakes are bad now, car feels really old...going shopping for a c300 benz tomorrow.

I tried to clean the IAC valve from the intake. It did not work. If it worked I would have taken it as a good sign and replaced the rotors.

[vash]

That sucks. Where will the Benz be parked?

I’d call a pro pest dude. Set out All the options.