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.

[dyethor]

Man those little guys went to town on the wiring. I've never heard of a vehicle with that much wiring eaten up. I bet there are a lot of terds everywhere.

[welderdude]

I have been told that the insulation in the wires are at least partially soy bean based. They seem to like it. I'm still finding turns and half eaten nuts in the weirdest place. The carpet smells of piss so I'm going to pull it out and pressure wash the piss out of it along with using plenty of bleach.

[jp2code]

I wonder what makes Rats think electrical wires are nutritious?

[Cippee]

I use moth balls and dryer sheets. For some reason they can't take to smell. I have a car I don't drive in the winter and notice it started smelling like mice. So I put 4 boxes of moth balls in there and the next day I saw a hole in the cover. The little bastards bailed ### out of the car and ate their way through the cover. As a note I have a story. I much as I hate what they do I saw a mouse one day under the hood on another car and I grabbed him. I was going to step on him when I looked in his eyes and connected to him for a sec. They only do what they have to stay out of danger and the elements. I felt bad for him so I just tossed him in a bucket and dropped him of down the road. I know laugh it up.

[welderdude]

Hey, I'm an animal lover. I couldn't kill one like that either. Ill have to keep the mothballs in mind.

[Cippee]

Yeah me too. It's funny though you think they are going be some big ugly beastly mouse from the damage they do. When you see them they are very small. The one I caught was only about 2" long. They are very small that is how they fit in such small places. I know some mice are bigger but most are small.

[redbeard]

It's the chipmunks I have a hard time doing in, even though they invade the house and make a mess on everything, but:

I hates meeces to pieces!

[brad3579]

Nice clean looking truck.
Looks like it will be a fun wiring project.

I have been told that the insulation in the wires are at least partially soy bean based. They seem to like it. I'm still finding turns and half eaten nuts in the weirdest place. The carpet smells of piss so I'm going to pull it out and pressure wash the piss out of it along with using plenty of bleach.

A mechanic buddy of mine told me the same thing about the bio products and mice smelling it in the insulation.
He said since they started using it they have fixed quite a few problems like that.

[jp2code]

Are chipmunks about the same as small squirrels? We don't have chipmunks in Texas, that I know of.

[welderdude]

There is the occasional chipmunk around here too. they look just like little squirrels and can stuff a crap load of stuff in their mouth. its kinda cute

back on subject,
I finished going through the dash wiring harness and luckily found no chewed wires. I just have that wire pictured in my first post and a couple vacuum lines that supply the HVAC system. I also took the time to cut out an aftermarket remote starter/ remote door unlocker. Who ever tried to install this needs to step away from anything involving wires.

[Cippee]

I'm a mechanic and found the people that install remote starters for the most part shouldn't even be allowed to wire a doorbell. So many problems trace back to the remote starters.

[redbeard]

I'm a mechanic and found the people that install remote starters for the most part shouldn't even be allowed to wire a doorbell. So many problems trace back to the remote starters.

As a handyman and remodeler of old houses, some of the stuff I've seen is downright scary. I'm all for people DIYing, but even pre-internet it wasn't all that hard to go to the library and check out a Time-Life book and learn how to do things right.

And getting a little closer back to topic, I just found a spot in the romex near the heater that has been chewed down to the copper by some #@$$% rodent.

[DVA]

Some parts of Arizona have issues with pack rats loading their cars with all kinds of junk and eating the electrical equipment. I hope this does not happen to my cars.

[redbeard]

Some parts of Arizona have issues with pack rats loading their cars with all kinds of junk and eating the electrical equipment. I hope this does not happen to my cars.

Had a friend that bought a 48 Packard from around the Prescott area I think, the passenger compartment and trunk were pretty much solid pack rat nest. They must not have liked the insulation from back then though, as I recall it didn't take much to get it running.

[welderdude]

I'm a mechanic and found the people that install remote starters for the most part shouldn't even be allowed to wire a doorbell. So many problems trace back to the remote starters.

They would probably screw up a doorbell as well. They need to stick to AAA batteries and little lightbulbs. anyways, I got the dash halfway put back in currently.

here are some more pictures.

Pic 1. I found this nice little suprise while I was taking out the rest of the remote door locker/ remote starter. these wires feed a little lightbulb in the door.

Pic 2. This is where the remote door locker was spliced in to the door locks. This person used the cheap plastic crimps and still screwed it up. they were hardly holding on. I'm amazed the door locks still worked. I soldered them back together and used heat shrink tubing on them. the picture shows it right before I soldered them back together.

Pic 3. this is the column shifter. It had a crap load of play in it because the factory plastic bushings were worn out. I made a new set out of 3/4 inch sch 40 pvc pipe that I turned down to the proper size. I used epoxy on the outer part of the bushing to hold them in place.

Now i'm off to finish putting the dash back in it.

[jp2code]

What are we looking at here, Mr. Manley?

[charger891]

fixed many tractors and combines with mice damage, those little critters will get through the smallest holes and make serious damage

[redbeard]

May all your surprises from here on be good ones.

[brad3579]

It looks like you are coming along quite well with your project, keep up the good work.