Ford F150 vs mice!

[welderdude]

I couple of weeks ago, I bought a 1996 f-150 off of a friend of mine. He told me it hardly ran because it had a bunch of chewed up wires from mice or rats. It has 110,000 miles on it and has a 5.0 liter with the 4r70w trans. My friend traded it for some race car parts and tried to get it running, but had no experience in fixing wiring problems. He told me he would sell me it for 800 dollars. I have a 2 year degree in automotive technology/repair and am good at fixing electrical problem so it seemed like a no-brainer. After looking at it, I jumped on it.

I was lucky enough to have good friends with a car trailer and a f-250 power stroke. It took a come-a-long and my friend busting his balls to get the thing on the trailer. He was the only one strong enough and with the motivation to do it. If the truck would of been just an inch bigger, it wouldn't of fit.

The truck would start, but it ran like CRAP. It ran very rich and wasnt firing on all cylinders. After checking a few things, I found that the coolant temp sensor had an open in the wire and caused the computer to think it was -40 degrees so it was dumping fuel in like there was no tomorrow. I found 6 wires chewed up behind the engine that took out the coolant sensor, the throttle position sensor, and a few injectors. After fixing it, It started and runs smooth.

Sadly, I'm not lucky enough for that to be the only problem. I have found wires chewed up around the transmission, the oil pressure switch, and some wires up under the dash. I had to pull the whole dash out to get to the wire that fed the passenger side window motor. it also needs a brake job, an alternator, and a trans fluid change. It smells kind of burnt, but isn't discolored. it also needs a radio. Im not complaining though. its still dirt cheap and I will probably be able to sell it for a profit if I don't decide to keep it instead.

I don't have any pictures of the broken wires on the engine and transmission.

picture 1: the dash in all its glory. I'm just pulled it out today and haven't finished inspecting all the wiring.

picture 2: Ain't she pretty? It has a 3 inch lift and the big meaty tires. Even the body and frame have very little rust, especially for a ford.

picture 3: The wire that made me have to duck tape the window up when it started raining.

picture 4: The antenna wire. Its hanging on by a thread.

picture 5: Looks roomy without a dash in there. also, notice the patch of carpet the little bastards devoured.

Picture 6: Nothing like a good DVOM and a bright flashlight to track down bad wires.