Got a 2014 F150XLT 5.0 4wd. Went to start it yesterday and it was missing terribly. Sounded like half the plug wires were disconnected. Was able to get it to the Ford dealer this morning. After pulling an engine cover a mouse ran out. They found that it had chewed through a few wires. Causing a few cylinders to be inop.
Bad news # 1 they say it needs a new engine harness. $500
Bad news #2 not covered by warranty.
What are my options?
Thanks!

 

Insurance claim.

It's possible to be repaired, depending on how bad the damage is



Going forward you can use peppermint oil, and moth ***** to discourage critters from calling your warm engine home

 

I have that problem, here in Arizona, only in my case it's packrats. And, they love to chew on wires.

I made and installed some flashing LED blinker lights in both my truck and car. The lights supposedly make the engine compartment unpleasant to them. I also put the hood up om both vehicles when they are parked in my garage. Rodents like dark, warm, enclosed places for nesting purposes and these steps make my vehicles less inviting.

You might try something similar. Where there's one rodent, there's more. And, I've tried poison bait and that did NOT work. You could set mouse traps around your truck, but that would be a pain. I've done that and caught several mice that way, but more come and take their place.

- Jack

 

If the connectors are intact you should be able to splice in new wires using a good grade of wire, no Romex or Radio Shack trash. Match up the color code on the wires and I would SOLDER new wires in (NOT crimped), cover the joint with heat shrink and you should be good to go.

How long was the truck sitting?

 

Thanks I found an OEM engine harness from Ford for $150. Will try to fix myself.

 

Thanks again for all the helpful advice. I'm heading back to the dealer to pick it up. It's too bad you can't always trust those guys not to over charge you. I had the truck parked in an open equipment shed where I keep farm equipment. Prob not a good place

 

Having the same problems with my old 5.4l Expedition, in Northern Ca. The little SOB's have chewed holes in the small vacuum lines, the plastic wiring harness jacketing and what I believe to be in line jumpers (where 2 wires exit the harness, terminate into a 2 pin connector that has a grey mating plug with no wires coming out of it)


I'm now having transmission Neutral Safety Switch or wiring issues right now due to more recent visits from these suckers! I finally went out and got moth ***** since propping the hood up about a foot and parking where the exterior house lights would shine on the car, which resulted in wind blown rain filling up the no1 Plug well and causing a misfire! Lucky me...

 

Yep it's pretty agrivating. Once i get it fixed I'll try the moth ***** around the connectors to the fuel fuel injectors. They chewed the wires off almost flush with the connectors.
The dealer wanted $585 to swap out the engine wiring harness. Almost $300 was labor. It appears to be a plug-n-play type harness. Just ordered one from Ford for $150

 

300 in labor is about 2.5 to 3 hrs. Not that bad.......

 

Get a couple cats. Pretty soon you will have more cats than you can count if you feed the cats regularly. You can ask me how I know. The cat food will get expensive though. You would need to keep any mouse poison where the cats can't get at it, such as in an enclosed cab. I don't know if this would work in your situation, a serious suggestion though.

 

We have a similar problem in Florida but with hood rats and illegal aliens.

 

I have a couple of garage cats but I don't recommend them. They get on cars and scratch the hell out of the paint and leave hair all over. Especially
on the convertible tops, their hair is so embedded that even a vacuum cleaner won't take it off. A small dog like a Jack Russell or some kind of terrier might be a better bet. Snakes are good rat/mouse catchers but I'm afraid the OL would totally freak out!

 

Ha ha. Cats or rats a tough choice.
Thanks again for all the help. Should get the new wiring harness in a few days and decide if it's a DYI project.

 

My Son works at a garage, a week or two back he pulled out nearly a gallon of walnuts from HVAC system because a squirrel chew its way in and thought it was nice storage area.

Might not hurt to look into that insurance, you may get some residual effect from this for some time later...just a thought. You might want to check any other equipment that was parked in the same area?

Maybe build a enclosed garage/shop for your truck, closer to the house and farther away from the shed.