Went to start my truck this morning and it had a rough idle. Tried to pull out from the driveway but the truck started shaking pretty bad. Pulled back in the driveway and shut the truck off. Turned the key back to ON and the CEL stayed lit, so I plugged in the code reader. P0357 (ignition coil g primary/secondary circuit malfuntion)

Made sense. So I opened up the hood, to find a hickory nut sitting next to the injector on cyl #7. I also notice that the wire that feeds into the COP on cyl #7 has been chewed through.

I've had issues with stupid squirrels storing nuts on the engine before, but not chewed wires until now.

Problem now is that the wires are chewed too close to the pigtail to splice back together, it's Sunday, and I can't get a replacement pigtail until tomorrow at the earliest, assuming I can find one at a salvage yard. Couldn't have happened at a worse time, need the truck to get my daughter to daycare and to get to work.

Sorry I didn't take pics of the situation, was just too pissed off when I found the problem.

 

Here's a smaller version of the squirrel that thinks my truck is its hangout. No chewed wires yet thankfully.
Unfortunately, our neighborhood cat just moved away a couple weeks ago and kept the population in check.

 

Dang, that sucks. As soon as you get the truck fixed you should get a good bb gun and sight it in. That'll fix your problem real quick.

 

That's a chipmunk. You should name it Alvin.

 

Aw, so cute. I just want to... go... pet... him.....OUCH!! THAT LITTLE SUMBITCH!!!!

 

2 words.....Desert Eagle. Enuff said.

 

I prefer .44 mag Super Redhawk myself.

It's an ongoing problem around here during non-winter months. I almost always find hickory nuts sitting on my engine when I do oil changes.

 

Try putting a few mothballs in 2 breathable mesh bags and hang them somewhere low in the engine compartment one on each side of the engine. Rodents don't like the smell. One of my coworkers swears Bounce sheets work as well. When he parks his 5th wheel in the fall, he spreads out the Bounce sheets and has not had a problem.

 

.50 cal. That will get rid of your rodent problem.

 

[christmas music]Hickory nuts roasting on a warm, Ford engine... [/christmas music]

 

Thats enough about the Desert Eagle and .50 ca l. Why don't we just all go out and get a cannon. Cannon=dead squirrel and no where for a rodent to create a problem=solved . Perfectly legal, its in the gineva convention

 

I am pretty sure we can get a flux capacitor and go back to the future to get a ray gun. How awesome would it be to shoot one of them with a ray gun?

 

Yep, kill it and grill it all in one action.

 

Until they fight back

 

By that point they are spending all their time and resources upgrading their military in a constant arms race and wont have time to chew on spark plug wires or hide nuts in engine bays. Then we introduce a bunch of highly trained armor clad cats under constant control as leverage towards a peace agreement. Problem solved.