Steveb

I just brought my '04 TL in for maintenance and because the check engine light was on. The service guy told me the engine light was on because a mouse chewed "the knock sensor wire." He said this was common in MDX's and older generation TL's. It's going to cost me over $300 to have it replaced. The wire itself is under $20 and the rest is labor.(over 4 hrs) Has anyone heard of this happening before? Does the repair cost sound high? He said he was going to show me the chewed wire.

PeterUbers

iTrader: (1)

This is common? What kind of rodent infested homes do TL owners live in??? LOL!

Ron A

The mechanic has to remove the intake manifold, and then remove the fuel rails and the intake runner base, to get to the knock sensor, so the repair cost probably is about right. The labor rate where you live must be near $100 per hour. Wow!

I guess there is not enough of the wire left to just splice it together, or is that too simple a solution?

Steveb

Does anyone think this should be covered under warranty?

Ron A

NO WAY!!!

zexi

I had the same thing happen to me ! It happened over the winter. My office parking lot backs up to woods. The rodent must of got up in there to keep warm. My dealer fixed the wire under a one time
"good wiil" , but said it was going to be 300.00 next time if it happens.
So your not alone.................

boltjames

I warned you modders to leave the TL alone.

BJ

Alfred

I had a mouse that tried to chew through an alternator wire.
My mouse wasn't as lucky as your mouse. . .

Al

JoganJani

I had to park my Nissan van out at night once. Next day when we tried to drove it the steering locked while driving and would not let steer. It was fortunate that my wife could stop the van without anybody hitting the van in the street. I got down and when opened the hood, found a big rodent like squirrel ran from the engine compartment and into the grass at the side of the strret.

Had to tow the van to the Nissan dealer and found out that lot of wires and power steering fluid pipes were eaten by the rodent. Costed me $900 to get everything fixed. Have'nt parked my van out since.

geminis2

Sue the Mouse in small claims court. J/k wow sucks damn mouse.

mobilezen

Where do you guys live that you get these rodent programs?

PeterUbers

iTrader: (1)

Mobile...

I bet a lot of these TL's are parked outside near shrubbery, etc. (i.e. parking lots that abut a patch of vegetation, etc).

Aegir

Yeah, you were right on that one. I had a family of hamsters confuse my CAI for a Habitrail and move in.




Sorry, couldn't resist!

jazzpicker

Ok, now I have heard it all..The Acura tech is skillful enough to tell that the wire was "chewed by a mouse". By saying this is a common problem, maybe the wire has faulty insulation or other problems that can be blamed on a mouse. Why would a mouse pick that particular wire to chew making this a "common problem"?? Geez..I have owned 30 cars in my lifetime and never had a mouse/rat/gerbil/ferret/squirrel chew anything...The obvious question is how can he prove what happened to the wire??..Maybe he found rat shit in the motor..Short of that, it is a big guess and Acura should pay... I would refuse to pay and complain to everybody at the dealership and Acura

Aspector Gadget

I agree that Acura has to prove it was a mouse that chewed through the wire. If they refuse warranty work they have to prove that it was not manufacturer's error.

Example: If I put a CAI on my car and I have a problem with the headlights, and they refuse to work under warranty because I have a CAI. They have to prove the CAI caused the problem or in this case the mouse caused the problem.

nick04tl

there is no way acura should pay. i am an acura tech and have seen quite a few wires chewed by animals. i could tell you if it was chewed by an animal or not. wires from the factory dont come with chew marks in them. the tech probably popped the hood and looked at the knock sensor and saw the harness was all chewed up. if it was a defect from the factory then why wasnt the check engine light on when the car was purchased? the answer is because some sort of animal chewed it.

jazzpicker

Nick04TL,
Did you inspect the car in question?? Only one wire damaged and that wire was stated to be commonly damaged in other cars...Do rats/mice/varmits like to chew on that paticular wire???
Your knowledge of animal caused damage might not be as good as you think and unless Acura can prove the problem was caused by a critter, Acrua should pay
Bottom line, it's a big guess with the poor customer on the losing end of the deal as usual......

boltjames

Finally, someone responded to my joke. It was a good one; went over too many heads I guess.

BJ

Ed Moore

I just paid $397.84 to have my knock sensor cable replaced! The cable cost $5.66, labor was $360! The service tech told me the outer cable is made from a soy based product and rats, mice, etc. love to chew on them. According to him this is happening all over the country. Has anyone else heard of this? The replacement cable is the same as the original, soooo, I may be in for a similar bill every few months.

rets

You ain't alone... check this.

http://www.acura-tl.com/forums/showthread.php?t=86162

Ron A

So far, only two people have replied with this problem, but who knows how many others out there, who are not members of this forum, had the same thing happen to them.

If it is true that the wires are made of something that rats find good to eat, then maybe Acura should consider warrantying this repair, and also either making the wires of something else or putting them in a protective outer cover.

This may be the only wire made in this way, which is why it is the only one that is being chewed upon by animals.

I would definitely contact Acura Customer Services, armed with the knowledge that the tech told you the wire is made from soy-based materials, and fight for a reimbursement. Can't hurt.

Pot80h

Maybe we should point this thread out to all the guys complaining about cats hanging around their cars!! It could be that they're after the mice!

Ed, maybe you should buy a live mousetrap and remove the little pest - humanely, of course. I once spent a month "relocating" some mice from my in-laws garage to a field about 5 miles away. They thought I was nuts, but they're so cute!

Or maybe you could put down some kind of repellent. If they're nibbling on the TL, they could be nibbling on other stuff too!

Mindcrime

I had this on my 2000 323i. They said an animal chewed through the cable for the outside temp guage.

KJSmitty

What indication did you experience that led you to the dealer and them finding the above? Did your TL actually start knocking or overall running poorly? Given your cost, the cable replacement must list at 4-5 hours of labor. They must have had to remove the intake manifold or something (then again its obviously somewhere that the critters can get to it..). Sounds like if one lives or parks their vehicle where this can/or did occur they need to find a way to place a non-desirable "sheath" on this cable...

Damn the luck - time to leave the cat in the garage....

flambe

I have the same alleged problem. twice in two days. The cost to repair was $600. In contact with corp office about problem. Interested in info from anyone who has same problem

VTEC 2

yea, my knock sensor ate by mouse too..cost me $395 to repair it. I wonder how is those knock sensor taste? Doesn't any one want to take off ur sensor and try it?

kevd

Oh come on, Acura should take care of this under warranty for using "cheesy wiring"

direk_04TL

direk_04TL

thought id share this here ...

not so long ago my uncle was driving down a rural road when he needed to slow down on through a railroad crossing. so he depresses the brake pedal but much to his surprise, nothing happened!! so he flies through the railroad crossing ... quick thinking, he downshifted, and engine braked until he coasted to a stop. it turned out that one of his brake lines were chewed out by some critter!!

these wires and lines must taste like chocolate!!

Aegir

flying_dutchman

I haven't heard of this happening with an Acura product, but my neighbor's GMC Yukon/Denali/Whatever SUV's have been disabled twice by rodents chewing through electrical wires.

The solution: RAT ZAPPER 2000
[URL=http://www.ratmousezapper.com/index.html]

I have some backyard pets that attract mice and rats, plus I have two young kids so I didn't want to put poison or traps and risk injury (to the kids, not the rats). So out of curiousity I ordered the rat zapper and I can't believe how well it works. For about one week straight it killed mice and rats like a champ. Every morning I looked forward to waking up early to go out to the backyard and see what was inside, mice (sometimes more than one) and fat ass rats...Then, it all stopped. I was starting to go through withdrawals until I realized the food inside the trap was left uneaten, indicating I had won the war of the rodents!
The rat zapper makes a great holiday gift too, perfect for the man or woman who "has everything"...

missmyprelude

I actually don't keep more than 2 cars because of this (I only have a 2 car garage). When I had 4 cars (2 outside the garage), mice moved into the blower motors of each of them. I had to get them cleaned out twice each, and ultimately the blower motor needed to be replaced in one of them (they built a nest that burnt out the motor).

Not that it's related, but after I stopped parking cars outside my garage, they moved into my AC unit for my house. The following summer when I tried to start it up, it didn't work - they had chewed through the wires.

My point... it was very obvious what had happened (droppings or nest nearby, frayed wires obviously chewed, etc), and I would never expect a car manufacturer to fix the problem as a defect (after all, that's what the warranty is supposed to be covering - manufacturing defects).

Alan Barreuther

Here in the Great Southwestern Desert the pack rats love to live/eat/reproduce in car engine compartments. I had to get rid of some of my classic cars because their attraction to all things "wire" is amazing! They will eat anything, I do not think being soy based is the problem.

dsc888

Guys,

I was watching this Discover Channel show about high tension power lines one time and they said the electric companies have some lines that had rubber insulation coated with capsacin which is what's in Tabasco sauce. It's to prevent squirrels from chewing though the wires. I wonder if you can apply some Tobasco to the undercarriage of the car near where those critters want to nest. Food for thought!

dsc888

flambe

Do you have the name of this service tech who told you about the soy bean issue. Thanks

flambe

Here is a copy of the second letter I sent to Honda about the problem.




September 10, 2004


Thomas Elliott VIA FAX AND MAIL
Executive Vice-President
Automotive Operations
American Honda Motor Co.
1919 Torrance Blvd.
Torrance, CA 90501

Re: –2004 Acura TL
Case No.: B012004-09-07011


Dear Mr. Elliott:

As a follow-up to my letter of September 7, 2004, I have inserted in this letter the url of a bulletin board associated with Acura-TL.com website where various owners of the 2004 Acura TL have identified the same problem.

The url is: http://www.acura-tl.com/forums/showt...2&page=1&pp=25.

In reviewing this site, it is conclusive that the problem I have is not unique but is widespread across the county. According to one of the persons who posted a note, the problem is that the knock sensor wire and/or the connectors are a soy bean based product that attracts the rodents. An Acura technician told this information to him.

Acura cannot allow this problem to continue without either immediate action or though the intervention of the courts by way of a class action lawsuit.

Please contact the undersigned immediately to discuss this matter.

Very truly yours,

Pot80h

Sheesh! As if the black widows, tarantulas, scorpions and rattlesnakes weren't enough to contend with!! Thanks for the warning, Alan! I thought I was safe!

Oh, and on the Tabasco comment: Pepper spray (or bear spray) should work too!

ONAGER

Its already been said that to change it the upper intake and fuel rails have to be remove to fix this issue. so yes most of the work would be on labor. and if you look from the passanger side of the vehicle you can see the area in question, and if you know what your looking for might even be able to inspect it

VADER

I've owned my TL since June and am very happy, no major problems to speak of other than what happened to me the other day. Driving along and my emmissions/engine light comes on. Brought the car to my dealer (Hillside-LI), they ran tests and found out that evidently a mouse crawled up under the engine covers one cold night and decided to chew on my wires! My guess is that Acuras must taste good because the service guy has seen this before. Anyway they fixed it for free and put some hot sauce on the wires which should keep the rodents away (unless they like it hot and spicy).

subinf

yeah the rodents do enjoy underhood comforts. i was once filling up a washer bottle for a customer and a dead mouse floated to the top. a rather unexpected find.