Hi guys,

So, I got my fuel pump recall done in the middle of September and parked the car in garage for about 3 weeks, finally decided - "hey, let's take LS for a drive" started the car and was immediately greeted with PCS fault, check engine light and yellow explanation mark. Engine running very rough, car won't accelerate past 20mph. Towed to the dealer, they requested 6 hours diagnostics to remove intake manifold. When tech removed it, he found mice nest under it, by the cylinder 5, where mice ate wires to knock sensor and injector!
Replaced injector wire harness and one injector too (connector broke off on it), while there I requested to change spark plug and PCV. Total bill was over $2K.
While car was at the dealer, I found a couple of threads here describing exactly the same damage from mice, even the location of that mouse nest is the same, for some reason they love that spot by cylinder number 5.

Just a heads up for everyone, spray some peppermint oil under and around the car in your garage, that should keep those bastards out.

 

I use a few packs of FRESH CAB in my cars (under hood especially) that stay parked outside and NO mice. www.earthkind.com

BTW! When I saw the topic I thought you had a "big azz mega-mouse" that ate your entire car.

 

Well, it certainly felt like "big azz mega-mouse" ate the car, after paying that bill! I was glowing red when they called me with that news about mouse nest.

 

Have you looked into filing an insurance claim for this? A friend of mine was successful doing so; I don't remember if it was his homeowners policy or comprehensive on his car. For $2k, I'd sure look into it.

 

Mice (and rats) are the worst. I had an infestation in my garage a few years ago. Thankfully they didn't harm the cars, but they they got into all sorts of stuff like camping equipment and sporting goods and made a crazy mess. Now we keep mouse traps set all around the interior walls of the garage. (And no longer store any kind of food or birdseed in the garage).

 

Obligatory mega mouse photo enclosed

 

Please tell me you have comprehensive coverage on your vehicle and you filed an insurance claim...

 

I did,waiting for it now ...

 

This happened to my LS430.... a mouse ate through the wires on my knock sensor (and there was a nest inside the motor !). It was a big job to get it all part to change it and even after that a code would come up.. even after resetting the battery, driving for 100 miles, etc.

At this time my LS430 had almost 200K on it (and was close to replacing it), so taking to the dealer was not going happen and I didn't really want to spend $300-2000 for someone to TRY to find the issue.

There was a way(found it on this site), going at wires on the computer, where both knock sensors came into, 1 was working fine but, 2 wasn't so I wired 1 into 2 so they both used 1. This worked really well, every once in a while a code would come up but, it would go away next time I restarted the car.

I'll try to find the picture, I have someplace. Dam Mice !!

 

sir your culpirate '

 

No matter how cute they can look, they are still rodents and they could cost you many thousands of dollars in damage if you don't keep them at bay.

 

Insurance paid for damages and I caught 5 mice since the incident.

 

I put these in my garage and I haven't seen them lurking around since.

 

I definitely feel your pain here as I'm also a victim of those varmints. My insurance covered all but the $100 deductible. Make sure you have them check for the coolant leak under the manifold when they have it apart. Way cheaper to fix then.

 

yep, checked for coolant leaks, none found. Spark plugs were replaced.
Funny thing - I parked LS after fuel pump recall and was driving my Mini Clubman for a while and when I first started LS and it wasn't running well, I thought to myself - "Yep, LS got upset with me for not driving it!"