So last week when I took my second trip up to see and purchase my car, I noticed something quite odd in the engine bay.

The car was really very clean overall, but not in the way that a person had been detailing and dusting every little centimeter. But on the drivers' side, near toward the center of the car where the body forms a shelf, there was an odd collection of things. Upon further investigation, I found it was some type of RAT'S NEST!

So I pick through, remove all of the major stuff, and sure enough, the little SOB chewed through some wires. One wire was bare while another had been chewed clear through! Looks like that explained the other thing that we found wrong - the ABS light was on.

Unfortunately, it didn't save me any money with the seller (it was already being sold for a ridiculous price), but things could have been worse. I inspected further and found that on the other side, there had been some chewing on the loom, but not a nick on any wires.

Last weekend, my friend and I fixed it very cleanly, soldering in another wire from an extra wiring harness from one of my Honda Ruckuses. We taped everything up and redid the loom, seeing that it was extra secure and cleaning out any remnants.

Unfortunately, the ABS light remained on. A friend who worked at Honda volunteered to scan it for any problems and was able to do so today. However, he wasn't able to communicate with the ABS system at all! I'd already checked and the ABS fuse was OK. He said to check under the dash.

Back at my friend's house, we found that a 7.5 amp fuse had blew. It didn't say anything about ABS but it was something like R/C Mirror (the C might be wrong). After swapping it with a spare, the light finally went off! It looks like the problem had been fixed!

I went out an tested the ABS... I couldn't tell if it was working or not. It must have been though, because it didn't feel like the car did a full slide when I hit the brakes (twice). I wonder if there's a better way to confirm?

It's crazy that this car, kept in such good condition, kept in the garage, under a cover, in a really nice house, ended up having this problem. I guess when it only accumulates 17k miles in 5 years, it must have spent some time sitting.

As for the rat, I hope it burned it's ass on the motor at some point. Stupid rodents!

 

UGH. I had that happen to my Integra when it was at a body shop. They ****ed up my headlight gaskets and HID ballasts. Really sucks, but it's good you got it all worked out.

 

Happened to my Porsche 944. Something ate about half way through the bottom of my spark plug wires..., and had severly damaged some starter wiring.

 

I have to say that I'm pretty lucky it only did what it did. Who needs ABS anyways?

Although, I kind of wish it did a lot worse so the previous owner would have paid for another wiring harness. But I could just see the damage from some moron trying to put it in. So I'm probably better off.

 

I had a rodent problem with an older (outside parked) van I had.
I got one of those round wire tea leaf dipping thingys from a local Marshals (discount store). About the size of a tennis ball. Filled it with some mothballs and hung it in the engine compartment. I refill every 6 months or so.

Seems to do a good job. I don't get any smell inside the car.

Either that get a Killer Cat!! (much, much fiercer than the one in your avitar!)

(ps: I suspect you can test the ABS by getting up some moderate straight line speed, preferably on a surface with loose material such as road with gravel or sand on it. And stand on the brake pedal. Sort of rough but you might need to stand on them one day. You should notice a rapid vibration of pedal and car when the ABS kicks in. Thats how my 2001 works. It is recommended to activate this system when you can test it, so you are not surprized how it feels when you really need it.

You need to break loose one or severals wheel while the others are still gripping to do the trick. This ABS action works fast)

 

trust me you'll know when ABS is working lol it has saved me before in my integra

 

my rpm's were acting funny one day. took it to my firends house to see what the problem was. found a big ASS rabbit inside the engine bay. that focker chewed up my extra injector wire for my Vortech. silly rabbit!!

 

You found the rabbit alive?

And as for now, I won't have to worry about rodents. My car is kept inside and we've never had a rodent problem. Doesn't seem to be an issue in this part of FL.

However, I have seen bunnies in the neighborhood. Only outside though. I would bust the shit out of one of those cute things if I saw it looking at my roadster the wrong way...

 

yes, he was alive.

funny thing is my friends house is about 40 minutes away. that focker was in there while i drove to my friends place....lol

 

I had this problem way back in the day with my old Mitsubishi Starion. They made their way into my front bumper and nested behind the fog lights, chewing wires, and making a mess. Now I place traps yearly around the sides, as I don't want this to ever happen to my S. Not out of the ordinary, especially when a car sits a long time, and like mine, i'd imagine it sat quite a bit during winter. Glad you got it fixed.