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Relative newbie to repairing my Lexus, and to car repair in general. I've discovered that rats have gotten under the engine cover of the 2006 Silver Lexus SC430, and in addition to tearing apart the padding under the cover, they have eaten several wires in the wire harness on the passenger side. They have managed to eat clear through the four wires to the number 5 (I think, 2nd from the back) ignition coil connection, and the position sensor. There are several breaks, but one is so close to the ignition coil connector, that I cannot splice into that connector. I've ordered a new pigtail connector, but it appears to be made of a different gauge wire. Looks like the engine harness is made of 18 gauge wire, but this replacement pigtail is of 16 gauge. I am assuming that I should not connect these two? Right? I also have to cut back significantly on the wire harness to get to one of the ends for the position sensor wires. Can anyone confirm form me what gauge of wire is used in the engine harness? I've got wire strippers, crimpers, and heat shrink connectors, but I am a little stumped on the wire gauge, and if I need to buy another pigtail ignition coil connector. Thanks for any help you can give. I'll try to attach a few photos.
Did some checking through my 02 books and nowhere did I find a reference to the gauge of wire used in the engine bay. I suspect there are a few based on various electrical loads. With that said, have you check eBay, etc for a replacement harness(es)?
This closeup of a replacement coil connector indicates 18AWG rated for 105°C.
Since 16AWG is larger than 18AWG....in the long run (pardon the pun) with such a short distance for the patch, the difference in resistance is very very negligible. Translation ....probably wouldn’t make a rat’s *** difference. (Sorry) http://www.interfacebus.com/AWG-tabl...esistance.html
Another good reason to drive your SC and not let it become a garage queen!
Dennis
mice chewed wires on my wife's company car. It never s goes more than a day or two without being driven. Garage queen or not it can happen. I was glad it was the company car it happened to and not one of ours.
Relative newbie to repairing my Lexus, and to car repair in general. I've discovered that rats have gotten under the engine cover of the 2006 Silver Lexus SC430, and in addition to tearing apart the padding under the cover, they have eaten several wires in the wire harness on the passenger side. They have managed to eat clear through the four wires to the number 5 (I think, 2nd from the back) ignition coil connection, and the position sensor. There are several breaks, but one is so close to the ignition coil connector, that I cannot splice into that connector. I've ordered a new pigtail connector, but it appears to be made of a different gauge wire. Looks like the engine harness is made of 18 gauge wire, but this replacement pigtail is of 16 gauge. I am assuming that I should not connect these two? Right? I also have to cut back significantly on the wire harness to get to one of the ends for the position sensor wires. Can anyone confirm form me what gauge of wire is used in the engine harness? I've got wire strippers, crimpers, and heat shrink connectors, but I am a little stumped on the wire gauge, and if I need to buy another pigtail ignition coil connector. Thanks for any help you can give. I'll try to attach a few photos.
Thanks for the replies. Yes this was driven daily, so the damage occured overnight last Thursday. Yes, I bought that same Dorman pigtail (from a reputable Amazon dealer), but it is constructed with a large gauge wire than the OEM harness. It sounds like connecting this larger gauge wire isn't a problem. I had to cut out a large section of the corrugated loom, so I'll need to replace that and retape the whole section. In order to try and do this more easily, I've been trying to disconnect some other connections on the harness, further to the front. These all seem stuck on, or I cannot figure out how to get them off. Does anyone have any suggestions?
If the replacement harness wire is 16 AWG & the OEM was 18 AWG, you are in good shape. Bigger wire is okay for general harness type applications, smaller wire, not always okay. (Note: for those not fluent in the wiring nomenclature, wire size gets larger as the gauge number gets smaller. So 16 AWG is larger than 18 AWG.)
I've been trying to disconnect some other connections on the harness, further to the front. These all seem stuck on, or I cannot figure out how to get them off. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Every connection point that comes apart has some type of retaining clip. Sometimes you just need a tool small enough to depress the locking clip. In addition, at irregular intervals along the length of the loom there will been various retaining clips with a ring. The loom passes through the ring and the clip retains it in place along a certain path. Some come apart, most end up breaking or being mangled by frustration. Here are some Toyota examples:
If you are parking your SC in a rat infested garage where the rats are hungry enough to eat through a wire harness in one day you might want to consider getting some rat traps.
If you are parking your SC in a rat infested garage where the rats are hungry enough to eat through a wire harness in one day you might want to consider getting some rat traps.
Dennis
Or bribe them with food and give them a warm place to stay?
Thanks all for the helpful, and the hilarious inputs. Got the wires connected, and after 3 starts the CEL is out. Still need to clean up the wiring, with loom and tape. Interestingly the the wires in the harness were mostly 20 gauge, not even 18. So the 16 gauge wire that came with the replacement Dorman part really was a lot bigger. Still, all the crimps seem to be holding, and passing current. So once it is cleanup, I'll take a photo and post it.
If you are parking your SC in a rat infested garage where the rats are hungry enough to eat through a wire harness in one day you might want to consider getting some rat traps.
Dennis
Actually this is not that uncommon. During the winter, critters look for someplace warm to spend the night. A nice warm engine on a freezing night does just the trick. The trouble is they just chew through whatever is in the way.
I once had a mouse pull off some of the hood insulation and shove it into my car's EGR. No matter how good your OBD reader is, there is not a code for that.
Critters are a pain. The worst are CATS. Especially if you don't know they are in your engine bay and you start your car.
03-17-19, 07:24 PM
Rats ate Engine Wire Harness, need help!
