Liz and I went away for 5 days over Thanksgiving weekend. I left my Si parked in front of my garage. On the day that we came back, we had a snowstorm all day and through the night. When we woke up on Tuesday morning we had 8 inches of snow. I had to back up my Si in order to get my snowblower out of the garage. When I started it I got messages on my dashboard that the TPMS is not working, the Power-Assist Steering is not working, the Hill Start Brakes are not working and other functions were not working. In addition, once I had the driveway cleared of snow and I attempted to drive the car I noticed that the power steering wasn't working.

I had no idea what had happened. I thought it might be the onboard computer. I asked Adam about this. He thought it might be the battery. In spite of the fact that the car started right up, he thought this could be the result of low voltage fluctuations. I slowly and cautiously drove the car to my Honda dealer. They too thought it might be the battery or perhaps the alternator. Both Adam and Honda ruled out the computer. I left the car with Honda overnight so that they could do a complete analysis of the problem.

This afternoon I got a call from Honda. According to them, a mouse had gnawed through the wiring harness. They would have to order the part and the charge would be $471. If I wanted the car back tomorrow they'd have to have the part overnighted to them at an additional cost of $22. I decided to wait until Friday to get the car back.

It does seem a bit suspicious to me that a mouse gnawed through the wire, but we do have an awful lot of chipmunks, mice and squirrels running around on our property (we live in a wooded area). I asked Honda to return the damaged part to me so that I can see for myself. Also, I was thinking of wrapping the wires with wire mesh to prevent something like this from happening again. Liz suggested that I sprinkle granulated pepper under the hood.

Assuming that it really was a mouse, what can I do to prevent this from happening again? How can I keep mice away from my outdoor cars? Any and all suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

 

 

Why it happens and what to do about it. You have to slide the volume to hear it.

https://www.abcactionnews.com/money/...lars-in-damage

 

Mice gotta eat!

Folks with RVs and travel trailers experience mouse damage at times during storage. Dryer sheets? Moth balls? Use of dryer sheets is useless as mice are known to poop on it or use it for nests. And they poop next to mothballs (probably because they can't get their little bottoms up on top of them). Hard to keep them out of your engine compartment, though.

Rodents (of some species) damaged the rubber hoses on my travel travel trailer propane system. Both tanks were dry when I went to use the propane. Murphy's Law of Spare Parts will prevent this from happening again. Not sure a spare wiring harness will help though. The "mouse tape" is worth a try.

-- Chuck

 

Try some peppermint oil Rob I have heard that works and it wouldn't hurt to get one of those little machines that put out noise to keep the critters away.

 

I like Emil's suggestion. Our cat brings us mice "gifts" all the time.

 

^^^^X2
Levi

 

We've used it before and it worked!

 

Let's see...wire covered in soy...what could be next?

Watch your headlights!

 

Or, you can attract coyotes to your property. They hunt mice as well and you don't have to take care of them because they are wild. In that regard, you can attract some feral cats to your yard. They are smaller and less troublesome than coyotes and you don't have to take care of them either.