Are rodents chewing up the wiring in your General Motors vehicle? It may seem like a strange, out-of-pocket question, but this is, unfortunately, becoming more of a problem among owners of later model-year vehicles.
Some years back, the world’s automakers began using soy-based wiring coating in their vehicles. In addition to reducing plastic waste in landfills and oceans, this change also brought with it some cost benefits, helping automakers squeeze more profits out of today’s increasingly complex and expensive vehicles.
Unfortunately, rodents seem to think the soy-based coating is rather tasty, with more and more vehicle owners reporting that rats and other critters are chewing through their vehicle’s wiring. Toyota even had a class-action lawsuit filed against it over this issue, with plaintiffs accusing Toyota of using the soy-based coating despite knowing rodents are attracted to the material. It’s not just Toyota, either. A quick Google search will turn up complaints from owners of various vehicle makes, including Kia, Honda and Ford, among many others.
So, with that in mind, we figured we’d ask our readers if rodents have been chewing up the wiring in their General Motors vehicle as of late. While it’s not clear how many GM vehicles feature soy-based wiring coating, this material has become widespread in the automotive industry over the years and is used by a variety of suppliers. If rats seem particularly attracted to your vehicle’s underbody or engine bay, the problem could be related to extra tasty soy-based wires.
The internet is full of DIY solutions for tackling this problem. David Albin, who created a website dedicated to preventing rats from chewing on car wires, says the best solution is to leave your hood up at night, place Tomcat rat traps on the tops and bases of the tread of the two front tires and spray Rodent Defense into the engine compartment. Owners can also hang string lights near their two front tires to deter the would-be nibblers.
While rats have always chewed on car wires, Albin told Car and Driver in a 2018 interview that he believes the use of soy-based wiring has made the problem worse.
“I certainly believe that soy-based wiring has exacerbated this problem,” he told the publication. “I was curious about this as well, so I started emailing and contacting mechanics across the country. The common consensus was that rodent damage in cars has increased exponentially over the last 10 years.”
Feel free to share your experiences with rodents and your General Motors vehicle by voting and commenting below.
Comments
Old news my buddies F150 wiring got eaten by chipmunks and ground hogs. Same for his Gran Am.
This has been an issue for a long time.
they are looking for salt from people hands while working on the wires.
We have had to replace abs wiring 3 times and wiring for 4 wheel drive 4 times
….thinking everything needs to go back to petroleum based aas we have spent thousands on repairs
When I picked up my 2021 Trailblazer I noticed the cover for my Direct Fuel Injection was chewed and some of the wiring. The dealer ordered the parts and I returned my vehicle for repairs. I have pictures to prove it.
When I was a little kid my father had a 1970’s model Buick estate wagon he used for work…It’s funny because for a while he was an exterminator and this article is about rats chewing on wires! Anyhow after he didn’t need the Buick anymore it sat in our backyard and of course Field mice did a number on the wiring… But maybe it was because those old wires where not Soy based…But the old Buick Wagon stared up after sitting a a year or two… Try that with a modern car and all this environmental nonsense leave our cars alone please! 😤
Environmental nonsense? Yeah, right…
Over $4 of damage to multiple wiring harnesses in my Duramax – thankfully insurance covered it.
RODENTS vs WIRES: My then one year old ’18 Silverado hood unlatch light stayed on when the hood was down and latched. I could tell the wires at the latch were badly chaffed from something so I took it to the GM dealership who told me that rodents had chewed up the wires and it wouldn’t be covered under warranty. When I got back home I checked my wife’s new Acadia for the same problem and as confirmed by a lot of droppings that mice had been visiting there too although no apparent damage so far. I went to Lowes and bought the best electronic anti-mice device they had for my garage and although the light emitter only lasted about 60 days, the low level audio appears to still be helping as so far I haven’t seen any activity since I got it. These vehicles are parked in the same garage/driveway as every other vehicle for the past 30+ years and I have NEVER had this problem before. I think GM owes us some kind of a solution to this “feeding the mice” problem they have created.
I have a 2001 Dodge Dakota that a rodent apparently chewed through the fuel rail. Had to replace it with a used one as a new replacement part was unavailable.
This issue also happens to the plastic elbow on top of gas tanks, part of the closed evap system.
I had a check-engine light and had my local shop hook up their OBD2. The Tech removed, and then put back on, the gas cap. Check-engine light went out …. for 2 days. Repeated the above. Repeated the above, again.
Okay, there is a problem with the gas cap, I’ll replace it later.
While having my Suburban serviced, tech smelled gas, traced it to the chewed thru plastic elbow on top of the gas tank. Oh. Yea. The plastic elbow is NOT a replaceable part by its self, have to replace the entire gas tank assembly.
This also happened to a Pontiac Grand Am owned by my Niece. I live in MD, she lives up state NY.
Evidently this is a pretty common problem, too.
Same thing happened to my 2003 Chevrolet Silverado. The rear vent valve fitting has been chewed through by a rodent. I’m now looking for alternative ways to fix the fitting without replacing the entire tank.
Mice chewed the injection harness on my then almost new Impala. Dealer hosed me on the repair. Never went back. Didn’t Henry Ford start the use of soy on the Model T? Not exactly new news.
Rodents do not like the smell of mint ! you can find ” rodent sherrif” online or at dollar general ! I spray this every where i can ! specially under the hood
Just clicking here and there reading articles and I came across this. “Irish Spring is known for its classic “invigorating” scent, and there are plenty of success stories on the internet from people using it to banish flies and even rodents around their home. You can get a mesh or nylon bag, place the bar of soap inside and hang it on your patio or porch. Most pests, including larger animals like rabbits and deer, hate the smell of strong soap, so this trick should keep your social gatherings and garden pest-free all summer.”
“With a bar of Irish Spring in your hand/it’s like takin’ a shower in Ireland!”
If you’ve ever voted democrat, then you’ve helped cause this problem
You would think that the plastics industry could/would include some chemical additives to alter smell/taste of the covering to make it unattractive to rodents.
This is the kind of problems cause by bad manufacturers decisions that has to be covered for the life of the vehicle. The consumer does not have to pay for manufacturers errors ever.
just put mothballs underneath the car and bars of irish spring in the engine compartment, in the center console and in the trunk. That’s for storage. don’t forget to take the irish spring out of the engine compartment when you drive it.
I have been lucky so far as my cat likes to hang out under my truck and RV. I guess his odour is a good deterrent .Many of my friends have problems with rats and mice making HOMES in the engine intake area because it is warm. The can’t even use their block heaters. Some have reported minor damage especially in their Honda’s from wires being eaten.
Back when cars had mechanical fans, and true or not, I heard stories of alley cats looking for a warm spot and …oops.
several of my farmer friends have lost barn cats like that. one drove 15 miles to a shop and when he and his wife came out of the mall one of their cats was standing beside the car. the cat must have ridden on the car someplace all that way.
It happened to my Mazda. I’ve used a peppermint spray sold for that purpose. It’s better now that I garage it.
just put mothballs underneath the car and bars of irish spring in the engine compartment, in the center console and in the trunk. don’t forget to take the irish spring out of the engine compartment when you drive it.
2019 Equinox drew in several chipmunks that ate through some engine wiring, costing us $250 to repair at the dealer. Not covered by warranty, of course. Now we leave mothballs on garage floor, so far so good except for the odor!
I had this problem on my Audi in 2015. The dealer charged me over $600 to repair then.
As a retired ASE Master Tech, both foreign and domestic, I can tell you this is a universal problem! In the desert where I live rats ate up my own personal car both my old Corvette an 86 and my 2009 Ford Fusion. Ive seen this problem in everybody’s wiring, rodents like to chew. The only solution is to keep them out!
people who install lawn sprinklers have the same problem with ground hogs eating the plastic lines under ground and it comes from the salt on the lines put there by the installers hands and not wearing gloves. in the spring after the roads have been salted to prevent freezing in the winter the ground hogs are out there licking the stones on the side of the road to get the salt.
When I bought the house that I currently own, I noticed bat droppings in a few areas on 2 covered porches. I bought a 3 pack of plug in ultrasonic rodent repellers. I put one on each porch and having heard about rodents chewing wiring-I also placed one in the garage. I never saw bat droppings again on the porches and since all my cars in garaged I never had an issue with damaged wiring. So as far as I can tell, they work as designed.
I had a rodent nibble on the wiring and build a nest around the distributor of the 1998 GMC Sierra. I took out the nest, fixed the wiring, pressure washed and now keep a urinal puck in the engine compartment of every vehicle I own, Travel Trailer included. No more meeces.
Had either a ground hog or chipmunks chew thru both a Chevy trailblazer and a Ford Escape several summers ago. Multiple times we were left stranded at home with no running cars. We would literally get both cars fixed and then the next day destroyed again. Neither ran right after that. If this happens to you…our homeowners insurance helped cover some of the several thousands in repair work. Unfortunately, the only ‘solution’ was getting a small game license.
at camp the field mice will build a nest over night on the engine with material from the hood insulation blanket. hard to stop them so you got to check every day and throw out the nest
You think you have it bad, go to Europe where they have pine martens, a relative of the weasel. It’s so bad, people install ultrasonic repellers and electric shock meshes on their cars.
I think squirrels have chewed the wires from the battery to the wipers in my Colorado. It has happened twice in a month. I am going to try peppermint oil. I also heard you may be able to go through your insurance to have these repairs covered and I depending on what was damaged they might write-off the vehicle…
Yes! I have a 2001 Dale Earnhardt SS Camero which they have hurt, a 2006 1 ton diesel which also has problems and a 2015 GMC Canyon no problems yet but the signs of mice are there! I keep Irish Spring soap, dryer sheets and TomCat in and around the cars when possible.
I live in the ounrtry and this is an on going problem during the winter months. Several of my vechiles have had to be repaired from varoius manufactures. You can purchase 12 volt ultra sonic with blinling lights rodent repellant from Amazon and others. Irish Spring and Peppermont oil also seem to help. It is not Just GM. I today found Rat droppings under the hood of my 2021 Sierra 1500. Tells me I need to get busy with traps
Moth balls work good and dryer sheets work also. Cloves placed in a small cloth bags also work for rodents .
This is a problem with electrical extension cords (ruined a brand new Sears one), silicone, and plastic spatulas and I could never figure it out until now. BOTH roaches and rats like them. Spatulas from both expensive places and cheap places bought last less than a year before you find it nibbled by BOTH roaches and rats. Ruined many brand new things around my house. Fortunately, have never attacked my Ford Diesel. Does not have much wiring in it or maybe it’s the diesel smell? I dunno…..
Peppermint oil works as long as you keep refreshing it, on, what I use cottonballs. Mothballs work but seem to desolve rapidly.
I bet mice are having a hay day on all those cars sitting out, waiting for chips
2018 Chevy Volt. Rodents chewed thru several wires in the engine compartment. Cost me a tow and repair. I was surprised to read that this issue has been out there for many years but care mfgrrs continue the practice despite many years of issues and lawsuits.
Brief information about this – My OPEL Corsa 1.4i Generation F. from 2017:
These animals, called martens, have bitten my Corsa twice on the engine cable so that the OBD reports damage to the engine.
Since I have not had any problems with marten bites so far, I suspect that GM worldwide (also at OPEL at that time) did not install cable harnesses, lines and other components with marten defense odors in the vehicles. This could be the main reason, otherwise martens won’t bite cars anymore! Why at GM should you ask the development and purchasing department of the components!
Use tons of poison, glue traps mouse traps with peanut butter. And keep everything fresh!
I don’t know why but WATS seem to like peanuts and peanut butter and they make the best bait I have found.
Yes, the professional exterminators swear by peanut butter to attract rats.
2014 Chevy Traverse – rodents ate the wires on the rear wheel speed sensors. Both sides.
Mice ate into the plastic fuel line connectors on my 2017 gmc sierra. They also made a nest in the cabin air filter. I made a stainless steel mesh cover so they couldn’t get into the cabin air filter area.
This is a problem that is not just GM’s. I think the company manufacturing the harnesses should be told by the car manufacturers that they need to add something to the harness that keeps the rodent away or the manufacturer will not continue to purchase the product.
There is a level of responsibility here.. profits are an issue however no sales mean no profits.
Rodents have eaten the wiring in my 2019 camaro twice
I recently took my 2016 GMC Sierra SLT to the GMC Dealer because the heater output was very weak and had been for a few years. I had it checked before and was told output was per specs but now I insisted they check it again as we were freezing in the MN winter weather. They found this time that the cab filter was completely plugged with mouse nest but there had never been any odor so we never noticed it. The mice must have died out of the nest. Anyway, it was quite the mess but a new cab filter and thorough cleaning fixed the issue. I believe the nest had been there a couple years. The pickup only has 32,000 miles now since we are retired and don’t drive much anymore.
I have seen multiple Bolts come in with wiring damage. They make their way up the drain under the windshield cowl. If the vehicle owner leaves the fresh air selection on their climate control they have an easy way into the interior HVAC box. From their depending how the controls are set, they’ll try to chew through the defroster vent, make a nest in the blower box, or exit into the vehicle interior where they will chew on more wires and make a nice cozy home under your seat with the carpet backing.
I live in PA. We became a dealer for NHOU New Hampshire Oil Undercoating for rust issues to start. They soon followed up by adding essential oils to their clear product and call it their Mouse Out . We have been spraying customers vehicles now for 3 years. The oil with the Mouse out/Rodent repellent helps to deter them. The rodents ultimately do not like the smell and taste of the essential oils so it helps to keep them away from the vehicle and wiring.
Michalak Service Station and Rust proofing
Two new Chevy Bolts in our fleet have experienced the problem of rodents eating the wiring.
The vehicles are parked outside and left for days at a time allowing rats to move in under the hood and set-up a new home.
Repairs were not covered by warranty.
Rat bait was placed under the hood, nibbled on, but eventually worked.
Other trash brought under the hood by the little varmints was also discovered.
Have not had this problem with any other vehicles in the fleet.
That’s not the vehicle’s fault. Get an exterminator.
If car manufactures really wanted to could the make cars and truck mouse proof? Even if it made cars cost a little more it would prevent a lot of problems. I have a back u[ generator for my house and I think the company could have made to cover mouse proof. Could things like ovens also be made mouse proof also? How can people tell manufactures they want mouse proof products.
I have a 2020 Traverse and I’ve had this happen twice in the last nine months. I tried the Irish Spring trick with no luck. I’ve lived in the same place for 21 years and never had this happen to any of my vehicles before. I think it should be considered a manufacturer defect. I hate buying used cars but I can’t afford to pay this much in fixing the problems much less the inconvenience of having it towed every time.
Cindy:
If your wiring issue is determined to be a manufacturing defect by an authorized dealer or expert third party. File a claim with an authorized dealer and/or contact the Chevrolet zone office for resolution. If this does not solve the issue contact the consumer complaint unit in your state. If this does not solve the issue file a complaint in the small claims court in your area.
If the wiring is determined to be destroyed by rodents, you are on the hook for repairs. If you rent, contact your landlord for extermination services.
I use ultrasonic rodent repellant, of course all my vehicles are garaged. Never had a problem in the garage. I’ve seen bat droppings on my front porch and rear porch so I put one on each and the bats have never returned and that’s 3 years ago. I bought a 3 pack at Home Depot for about $20.
I have Photo of damage by a rodent to a foam cover over the direct injection to my 2021 Trailblazer. I brought it back for reply.
We bought an 18 Colorado. 70 miles from home. We went on an errand next day about 80 miles the other direction and check engine light came on. Went to O’Reilly there and they said it was a P0014 cam shaft exhaust sensor. We called the dealership who said we could bring it in but would’ve been closed by the time we got to them. So next day husband takes it up there and they say rodents chewed through wires. They had to solder some wiring. This took 5 hours but happy they accommodated us. Husband is driving home and about 20 miles from home check engine light comes on and it is shifting hard. He calls them and they say bring it back. So I have to drive 70 miles one way to get him. It’s been in shop 5 days, trying to replicate problem. I know it’s a no fault situation really. The truck had been sitting at a GM dealership since April and we bought it last of June. Hopefully get it soon before we need it for work.
I’ve had my 2019 Escalade in the dealership two times now for chewed wires and gas hoses . I wonder what the odds are of the fuel hose being chewed above the exhaust manifold to cause a fire hazard, or wires being chewed to cause a short and burning up the cars computers and starting a electrical fire .
I think consumers should not have to pay for these repairs.
Appears car manufacturers are possibly getting class action law suits over the use of this material.
A correction is needed and the consumer should not have to be liable for the expense.
Thanks,
Cadillac For Ever Man !
Rodents chewing up wiring and hydraulic hoses on farm equipment has been highly problematic. Especially when seasonal machines such as combines and grain trucks are stored in farm sheds for several months without use.
Farmers use a product called CAB GUARD to prevent this problem. Works very well. Highly recommend.
2019 GMC Canyon , 10K miles. Fuel lines chewed through causing massive hazardous spray when ignition turned on. Towed to dealer, hoses replaced. Cost to me 400$ . Months latter , wiring harness above spare tire chewed through costing me 700$ more (towing covered by GMC). Documented , receipts from dealer with service dept notations.
Tried using mothballs, Tomcat Brand Rodent Repellent Spray on underside body panel, Suavec Squirrel Repellent (smells like mint, mothball, and other herbs) . Dryer sheets with peppermint oil zip tied under some lines underbody. Got 3 large squirrel cage traps . No success so far . Have 2 1950’s Chevrolet vehicles (truck and car) stored nearby —-zero problems on all my older vehicles and boats. {Retired Mechanic, 50 years in the automotive field}
J:
The older insulation was made from real rubber, not this new material made from corn.
Usually it’s made of soy.
J: Try Irish Spring regular traditional scent bar soap. Replace periodically when bar ages and scent fades. Critters hate Irish Spring.
The automakers and equipment builders need to take notice of this issue. Should be coming through in their service information management systems and warranty claim data.
Warranty claim data will never show that because manufacturer’s consider the problem to be an insurance matter.
Well just got back from having my 2020 silverado lt trailboss towed home. Overnight a squirrel chewed through two whole ignition coil plug leads (all 8 wires). Dealer said “some” companies is soy based wire coating but wouldn’t admit gm does. Well it didn’t just chew through the wires either there is a whole pile of copper because it took out a whole section to chew the shielding off. Of course dealer won’t cover. Guess I’ll be soldering on my $50000 truck! Never seen such a thing and I have had many chevy’s, including a 68 vette currently.
Mice had a similar feast on the hood latch wires for my 2018 Silverado. Kept getting a hood unlatch light although the hood was latched normally. The dealer wanted $155 to replace the latch and the three-wire connections but I found one online from another GM dealer for $53 total. Three easy to reach bolts and it took about 15 minutes, mostly to add new wire connections. They have also left a trail on my wife’s new Acadia engine but I haven’t seen anything new since getting an anti-mice light/buzzer from Lowe’s for the garage about six months ago. The light only lasted a couple months but the low-noise level buzz seems to be still keeping them away. Fortunately they don’t like the old stuff as they’ve never touched either of my ’63 Vets, or I would have nuked them…
They don’t like the old cars because the wires aren’t cover in soy.
If you think the Service Mgr has any idea what the wiring insulation is made of, you’re dreaming. There is no way he would know of materials used for that. If you want to find out, your only hope would be to start at 1-800 number in your owner’s manual.
Fair point, though I spoke with the owner of the dealership (and svc mgr) but will have to give that a try. Probably end up doing it myself. Looks like it either needs spliced or entire engine harness replaced (doesn’t have separate sub harnesses).
Replacement harnesses are a thing of the past. They are only available on special order and take a long time to get. Virtually any harness is repairable.
Wish I could show you how bad it was… I was on awe. Fortunately I am resourceful and capable LOL. I ended up finding the same plugs and similar wire that the factory uses. Had to buy specialty plug pins and crimping tools (none of my aircraft ones were the right size) but was able to make my own pigtails and splice in each. They had chewed the wire to nubs and the plugs they use are very hard to de-pin and re-pin so this was the best option along with solder and shrink wrap splices. Had some factory wire wrap. Nobody would be any the wiser. Glad I could solve it myself for $50. Dealer wanted a kidney in return…. damn shame for people that cannot fix it themselves.
Local rodent populations have changed a bit here too since then 😉
Yes, 2nd time in 3 weeks they have chewed my wires.
Critters did $7,000 damage to the body of my 2022 GMC Terrain. Now they are eating my 2012 Malibu. Not any wiring. The actual car body. Google searches don’t find anyone else having this problem. I don’t know what critter finds my cars so tasty but beware. If they’re eating your wiring it’s probably just a matter of time before your whole car becomes a buffet.
6/14/23
Gas was leaking big time out of my Chevy Spark. I brought it to the Chevy dealer and they said a rodent chewed through my gas line. Cost: $700.
I’ve had my brand new(’24) Trax for 3 weeks. It’s currently in shop because of chewed wires. This has never happened before. To make matters worse, the repairs are not covered!!from what I’ve read, the manufacturer is using soy based coating for wires now, which rodents love! Of that’s the case, repairs should be covered. Also, I was told it would be a few days to get new parts, and they don’t have any loaners available! This is so outrageous. Some compensation really needs to be made. At 66, this has never happened. I’ve had my car only 3 weeks. I don’t even want it anymore. This is just outrageous!
Don’t believe everything you read. Rodents will chew anything.
Yes rodents will chew anything. However for the past forty years I’ve parked my cars in areas where squirrels were very active and none of my cars had the wires chewed. I still think the auto manufacturers need to investigate why this seems to be happening more often.
Even if the coating is not soy based (very well may be), I’ve heard they use soy or peanut oil in a lot of the factories to lubricate the wire while its being pulled through the machines (cheaper than other lubricants). You think they bother washing the wire afterwards? Doubtful.
Same boat… chewed through my 2020 silverado engine harness. BUT they don’t bother chewing my 97 f250 (sitting in woods quite often), 2011 jeep, 1968 vette, 2001 bobcat, 2017 & 2021 motorcycles, atvs, minibikes, and a vintage moped. All are in fairly close proximity to eachother. Never bothered the couple dozen other vehicles i have had in the past either. Seems a bit uncanny huh?
“I have heard…”. Do you believe everything you read or hear on the internet? If you do, God help us all.
Seeing as your comments and negativity are “on the internet”… Certainly think you could use some help too. Later troll.
Fine for you, stupid.
Within a few weeks of getting my ’22 Terrain in March of ’22 some kind of rodent (squirrel or raccoon most like due to size of teeth marks) literally ate the trim on my entire car by June ’22. Insurance luckily covered it but they did over $4k in damage. With part delays my car was not completely repaired until December ’22. It now goes in the garage even if I’m home for 10 minutes. I did leave it out for about 15 minutes a few months ago and one of them got ahold of the driver rear trim and left a few teeth marks. I have never had this problem with any of my vehicles EVER!
Hello All,
I purchased an Escalade three years ago that was less than a year old, shortly thereafter I had the issue of my dash lights coming on so I took it to my local Cadillac dealership and they informed me that the wires had been chewed up by rodents, so they charged me about $1500 to repair a couple wires back where the spare tire is. So I get the vehicle back and all is good until a month later and the same thing happens again, So I got online and did some research and discovered that most auto manufactures are having the same problem and a few of them are now in “class action lawsuits” because they have known of the problem but refuse to correct the problem.
So back to the dealership I go again with the same problem, this time I requested the dealership to spray ALL the wires with undercoating or something to seal up the smell of the soil bean product used on the wiring, but they refused, and I paid a ridicules amount of money again to have a couple wires repaired, so I get the vehicle back and all is good until a few weeks later and the same thing all over again! (starting to remind me of the movie “Groundhog Day”). I can see why the dealership doesn’t want to correct the problem because it’s a “Cash Cow” for them repairing these wires all the time.
I own a heavy equipment construction company and you learn early on that when something fails you need to understand what caused the failure and often change the method or design to make the correction to prevent the same problem from occurring over and over again. This is what upset me with the dealership, they just wanted the residual income from the wiring issue, but I refuse to operate in this manor since it was NOT correcting the problem at hand, it’s like putting air in a tire every day that’s going flat rather than pulling the nail out and repairing the tire to prevent the tire from going flat again.
Long story short, I went out and purchased a seizors-lift for myself then purchased a few spray cans of Rust-oleum Clear Acrylic Enamel (because I didn’t want to cover up the color of wires is why I used clear), then I sprayed about four heavy coats of clear on every wire and harness and gas hose I could find on the entire vehicle, and guess what ? I have not had a problem since, but I did have them chew a hole in the plastic gas cap on my Jonh Deere pressure washer when it was sitting out for a few days, guessing it might have soil bean product in it so I’ll be spraying clear on it too.
Hopefully this will help someone else before the varmints chew though a gas hose or break hose, either way it is not fair for the consumer to have to keep paying over and over again for the same problem without a remedy being in place.
I think it’s HIGH TIME for the government to get involved that represents WE THE PEOPLE.
And now you want the government involved. Why don’t you just put the vehicle in the garage? The rodents just ate two valve stems on my car causing two flat tires. Should the government do something about that, too? How about where they sharpen their teeth on the Hardyplank siding on my house? Should I expect the government to get rid of the squirrels doing that, too. Grow up!!
Kinda the point of nhtsa and class action suits… for the government and people to get involved when there is a systematic problem, especially one that has such a high potential for injury. If it was a minor issue there likely wouldn’t be suits and so much awareness of the issue. So maybe it’s not a best practice to have such a dismissive attitude when you see the problem right there at the tip of your nose.
Gee are the squirrel populations that out of hand now compared to all years past when new cars were made?
Or is there possibly something that the manufacturers and/or their suppliers could do to easily resolve such a seemingly widespread problem?
Might be smart to do SOMETHING, rather than NOTHING.
Appreciate Cad sharing the idea about acrylic enamel… helpful.
The only thing systematic (sic) is that older vehicles’ wiring is dirt and grease/oil covered thus not as tasty as what’s new and clean.
I do believe the Clear Enamel suggestion by Cadillac Forever just may be the best option available now for consumers plagued by rodent wire-eaters. I also believe that “Rodent-food” coatings for new vehicle wiring could and should be outlawed, and never should have been allowed in the first place although I’ll not go so far as to hold the country liable for any damages.
This is not a new problem nor is it confined a general motors cars. I worked in the desert 40 years, and definitely know that rodents can eat anything that’s available. Doesn’t matter what it is! I’m not sure any of you are aware that Honda has an electrical tape that is rodent repelling. Anytime I do any rodent damage, I add this product. Check with Honda, it’s easy to order.
Also, peppermint spray works. It’s easy to find and order.
Mouse Proof Cars, Generators And Appliances
Hi: Everyone
I had a few wire on my car gnawed and now an idiot light stays on. This is not to bad but I also had mice get into my Generator and it stopped running. Mice can also get into some appliances. Soy based wire may be a big part of the reason for gnaw but there are other ways mice ruin things. If the mice are kept out it will probably end the problem with other gnawing animals. The mice are small and this makes it hard to keep them out.
Soy based wire may be a big part of the problem but there are other ways mice ruin things. So far I have not noticed gnawed wires in the generator but I may have just not seen them. Perhaps the soggy smelly mess the mice made of the sound deadening material that they had put in places with a lot of wires and connections shorted something out. I am going to try and mouse proof my Generator so mice can not get in the generator housing at all.
One metal fabricator I talked to said that he thought that if car manufacture wanted to they could make cars and generators mouse proof. It would be a lot easier for manufactures to make thing mouse proof than it is for a person to mouse proof a car, generator or appliances that is not mouse proof.
I wonder if a business that did Car and Generator mouse proofing would make money. If I could find someone who was good at this I would be willing to pay a good price for it. Mice can get though very small opening and a screen mesh needs to be fine enough to stop mice. For enough air to get though a fine mesh I think you need a fairly lager opening. The Generator company’s might say this would void their warranty, but if it is mice that stop a Generator they will just say it is not their fault so their warranty does not cover it. Ether way a person is left with a generator that does not run.
After my experience with the generator I would be willing to pay a lot more for a generator, car or appliance that mice can not get into. Manufactures will not do this because the first thing most people today look at when they buy something is the price. When I am looking for something on the internet it seems the first thing shown is the price, but often there is not enough information about the product to know if it is what you need. When you buy something on Amazon it is hard to deal directly with the seller. The way thing are advertised today it is sometimes hard to tell what is a quality product and what is not. A good price on something that does not work is not a began.
When manufacture make cars with wires or other parts that animals eat some people will hate the animals that they would not hate otherwise and then they may kill them. Both people and animals would have a better relationship with each other if things where made mouse proof. I love the Squirrels and some other small animals so when manufacture will not make thing mouse proof it makes me sad and I hold them guilty of being cruel to animals. People pay big bills to fix things that are not made mouse proof that get gnawed and then sometimes the animals are killed by anger people.
When I go to the internet and ask if anyone mouse proofs generators all the comes up is pest control which means Poisoning and trapping which I do not want to do. Live Traps can sometimes hurt animals. Live traps must be cheeked often if you do not want animals to die in the traps. Poisons just kill the animals. It is usually a painful death for the animals that are poisoned. I think Poison could kills animals that the poison was not intended for, may be peoples pets. (??Children??).
have a 75 corvette 07 jeep 97 harley never touched by rodents 2019 camaro has been eaten up twice
is there any known wiring that has a rodent repellet wire?
They chew on the hardy plank siding on my house. It’s made out of cement. They will gnaw on anything!
I have a 2024 Buick Encore GT and while I have only had it 2 months rodents ate through my wiring harness at a cost of $750. If GM is aware it should be covered under warranty.
Wrong. You need to take steps to better care for your vehicle. That’s your responsibility. Don’t blame someone else.
No, manufacturers need to stop selling defective products.
For your information I do take care of my vehicles. Having products may of soy are an invitation to rodents. I was not aware that car products were made
Of soy. Sorry not a rocket scientist!
How do know that there is soy used? Do you believe everything you read on the internet?
If you make wire coating out of something editable more animals are going to gnaw on it. Some mechanics say they have seen about a 10 times increase in wires being gnawed. Soy wire is cheaper so care manufacture do not want to admit it is a problem. One of the worst thing about this is that people want to blame The Animals and the some people get mad and want to kill The Animals.
I ask a person who works in a metal fabricating business if he thought it would be possible to make cars and generators housings mouse proof and he thought that this could be done if the manufacturers who make cars and machinery wanted to.
It seems that a lot of people would rather poisoned Animal like Squirrels and Chipmunks than fix the problem in a way that would be BETTER FOR BOTH PEOPLE AND ANIMALS. This problem should be fixed in a way that would end the problem for good. It would be worth paying a little more when you buy a car if it would end the gnawing problems for good. It seems that other parts of cars and machinery besides wiring are also be gnawed on more today.
What kind of steps to better care for their vehicle do you think a people should have to take? Kill animals? Cars can not always be parked in a garage. What happens when a person goes camping? You want to blame people not the car companys when the car manufacture could fix the problem for good if they wanted to.
Some People Love the Animals and do not want them hurt. I Love The Small Animals like Squirrels, Woodchucks and Chipmuncks. Other people probably do not care if the Animals are hurt or killed.
You’re making assumptions that have no truth behind them. All you have is hearsay. Where’s the proof of your allegations?
A good question is how do we know if what we read on the internet is true. This is a big problem on many issues today I am wondering just how does anyone know what is true today? Some people say the internet just searches for works but It seems to me who ever writes the search engines that decides what come up first on the internet are bias on may issues and it is not just words that determines what comes up first. GM seems to getting a fair share of the complaints about wires being gnawed but I think most New Cars today are using Soy Based Wire Coating . I do not think The Car Manufactures deny this they just say that Soy Based Coating on wires dose not increase wires being gnawed. There are websites on both sides of this issue.
Car manufactures claim there is no scientific evidence of wire coated with Soy Based Coating being gnawed more but Soy Coating is cheaper to make and this gives them an incentive not to admit it even if it is true. I think there is few if any scientific studies that are not payed for by someone, usually someone who has a reason to want a certain result. So it is hard to say what is true from what you read on the internet. Even if not scientifically proven there are a lot of people who have reasons to believe that Soy Based Wire Coating is gnawed more than wires with older types of coatings. Although this is not proven it may still be true and it does seem that wire coating made form something that animals can eat would be more likely to be gnawed. There has been gnawing problems before Soy Based Wire was in use but the question is, is there a lot more gnawing problems since Soy Based Wire Coating can into use. Possibly ten times as much in some arias. It also seem that a lot of other kinds of car part are being gnawed on more today.
I think that some car manufactures may be developing thin metal material to put around wires to protect them from gnawing. If this is true and it works it would be nice if this came into use on New Cars. Although it is claimed that some of the new materials made form plants are better for the environment there are also negative for the environment with these materials. Replacing wiring and other car parts is not good for the environmentally
I agree with Edward as I have owned over 50 vehicles during my lifetime; those from the last thirty years have all been parked in the same spots and have never had any wire-gnawing problems until recently with my 2018 Silverado and 2019 GMC Acadia. Fortunately my damage was limited to the hood latch wiring and although my dealer wouldn’t cover it under the warranty, a $60 part and less than an hour to swap took care of my problem for now. I did buy the best “mouse eradicator” that Lowes had in-store but the light only lasted only a couple months. The very light, non-intrusive “buzz” is still there and haven’t had any more problems so hopefully that’s the fix.
they are after the salt on the wires from being handled with bare hands. they eat the plastic tubing used in lawn sprinkler systems because of the salt. here in Pa where they use salt on the roads in the winter come spring you see groundhogs eating the dirt along the edge of the road come spring and summer
Someone wrote that I had no proof. I wrote in one reply “Although this IS NOT PROVEN it MAY still be true”. Does this person have ABSOLUTE proof for what they want to believe? I have seen conflicting studies all sorts of issues and things. How can anyone read much on the internet without realizing that there is no way to be sure if some thing on the internet are true. Why do you think there are double blind studies? For a lot of people if one article or study does not say what they want to believe they will find other studies and article that support what they want to believe. It is almost impossible to find the truth today on some issues. I have no faith in studies just because they says they are scientific. THERE IS FRAUD MONEY AND BIAS INVOLVED IN TOO MANY STUDIES TODAY.
My Generator failed because mice got in it. I am working on making my Generator Housing Mouse Proof. I will try to do it in a way that will allow enough air flow for proper cooling. Do you think the people who make the housings for Generators could not do this if they wanted to? Can their engineers figure how to make a housing with enough air flow for cooling that is mouse proof? It would be much easier for the people who make the Generator Housing to make the housing mouse proof than it is for me. It would be nice if the The Generator came with a mouse proof Housing in the first place so my Generator did not fail and I did not have have to figure out how to make the housing mouse proof. I do not like hiring exterminator, putting out poison or traps and if you do any of these thing you will have to continue doing them and you will also be hurting Animals.
Yeah there are several class action lawsuits about this very issue… which manufacturers did NOT deny the use of soy-based wire coating. So there’s that. Now to the idea that this coating is attracting them to chew. The observations given here and elsewhere should constitute some insight into that. It is at least possible and quite like probable as a reason for increased amount of destruction to newer vehicles. Let’s also remember that the vast majority of scientific discoveries are first based on observation. There are a couple commenters on here that want you to throw out your observation / experience and just “believe the world is flat”… why? because they said so. Wonder who the real shills are.
Some wire mesh from the hardware store might be able to help with your rodent-proofing generator project.
I’m still waiting to see some proof, not conjecture.
Hows about you show us some proof to dispell EVERYTHING since you know so much? Saying mice chew on your siding too is merely dismissive conjecture… two way street pal.
Mice, chipmunks and squirrels chew. That’s a fact of life. The little b@stards will eat anything soy or not.
What I would like to know is do these cars sit for long periods of time without driving anywhere? All of my cars have sat outside I have lived in Warwick NY and now Sussex NJ which is very country woods like setting and I have never ever had anything chew on my wires and we own a 2019 Buick enclave and a 2020 Chevy Equinox I didn’t even have this problem with my 2015 Mazda or 2010 equinox. Now cars that my family used to have sit on the property we owned in Warwick like the 1973 Buick estate wagon or one on dad’s old 70s Caddy’s they had evidence of rodents chewing on wires but those cars had been sitting and not running and they where older 70s cars no soy based wires in those.
I’m also a Bowtie Man and I drive my truck at least five days a week. My pair of ’63 Corvettes that have been parked beside the 2018 Silverado are seldom driven and have never been touched, but critters gnawed through the truck hood latch wires that initially gave me a couple of warning lights. I hadn’t looked to see what the problem was as it was time for an oil change anyway so I took it to the dealership who quickly informed me that it wasn’t covered under the original warranty (and I also have the 10 year extended version from the dealer). I’ve been dealing with these folks a long time so after he showed me where the critters had their feast, I just ordered the new latch with harness and installed it myself.
Recently had my 2011 equinox experience a electric issue replaced starter battery and some wires but I think the problem is a rodent tried to make a home and chewed some wires when I try to start the car it clicks one time and won’t start 😞 I hate electric issues
December 2023 my 2021 Sierra AT4 went in for rodent damage to wiring of sensors for mass & flow & intake air temp & sensors for alternator system. I was told by dealership this would not be covered by my warranty. It cost me $1,300 out of pocket to fix this. This truck sits right next to my 2015 Toyota 4Runner in a garage. I have never had a problem with the older 4Runner. If these vehicles are having issues due to soy base wiring… we should all be reimbursed by the manufacturer and in the future this should all be completely covered as a manufacturing defect.
2023 trailblazer so far 3 wires chewed 1400.00. This vehicle driven every day. When hood opened at dealer some dead grass and also a small piece of plastic bag.
An unknown critter ate through wiring to headlights, taillights, sensory saying gas was empty though it wasn’t, blinkers, windshield wiper fluid, and back up camera. How can I become part of this class action lawsuit? Would love to put photos on here!
My 2021 C8 just had $13,000+ in rodent damage. Been sitting 15 weeks at dealership waiting for parts. One part ETA still unknown. Decided to rebuild old part, cost much more than new part costs. Still waiting to hear from GM about promised compensation. I am not pleased with GM
My 2024 Cadillac CT4, new with 1100 miles is in the shop with for rodent damage, costing me $707 for repairs. Manufacture saving money in production of the vehicle, costing the consumer in repairs. Soy based insulation attracts rodents!
I’ve had this happen 3 times on my 2018 Colorado. First time was about a year ago & most recently early last week & then again today after I just got it back yesterday. So far this has cost me nearly $1400.
Just bought a Kai hybrid sportage 2024.Always in garage with mice trap on my work bench .I had 1,500 miles on the Kai. Went out one monning and the coursety inside lights would not come on.Took it to garage and nest in roof and had to get a whole new wiring harnes. Gave me a loaner and they had the car for a month having trouble ordering and geting one. Total cost the insurance will have to pay is 2900 hundred dollars. i had no problem with my other 2 cars i had there for 15 years. Some buddy soon better wake up with soybean crazyness