Rats ate a few of the wires on my 2013 Honda Fit.

It took me a while to figure out what happened and how to fix it. I hope this post helps someone.

The car ran OK until one day I started it up and noticed the Malfunction Indicator Light (check engine light) remained on, and the “D” indicator light on the dash that normally indicates the transmission is in Drive was blinking no matter what gear the transmission was in. When I tried to drive the car, the transmission shifted so roughly I immediately parked it. The DTC code was PO962. The Honda Fit Service manual stated this meant there was something wrong with the automatic transmission Pressure Control Solenoid Valve A Circuit. Here’s a quote from the manual: “This code is caused by an electrical circuit problem and cannot be caused by a mechanical problem in the transmission”.

I found this somewhat reassuring, as I don't have a plan when it comes to fixing an automatic transmission except I'll fish it out of the car and put in another one. I assumed that whatever the electrical problem was, it couldn't possibly be as bad as replacing a transmission.

I removed the air cleaner case so I could see the solenoids on the top of the transmission. An animal had chewed up the wires leading to solenoid A, right up to the connector. I decided it was a rat based on the size of the droppings elsewhere in the engine compartment. I cleaned out the entire engine compartment and found a rat nest hidden in the cowl. No wires were damaged anywhere else. There were some droppings near the oil cap.

The area where these transmission solenoids are on the Honda Fit may be a preferred rat snacking area. The rats have a nice flat area on top of the transmission to relax on, the air cleaner case above them makes them feel protected, and there are a number of wires leading to the transmission all ready for them to munch on. Honda hasn’t lost any lawsuits yet, but it is looking like they made wires that taste good to rats on this and many other cars.

I researched a bit and discovered that people are paying a lot of money to get problems like this fixed. I decided to repair the problem myself. Since the rat had chewed up the wires right up to the connector, I decided that the best repair would involve getting another connector. I discovered that Honda does not sell individual connectors or list a part number for them. They sell engine wiring harnesses.

One reason rat wiring damage can be so expensive to repair is that mechanics just pull out the entire wiring harness and replace it with a new one rather than solder in a few wires, especially if they have to fool around finding a connector that has been damaged. Honda wants $550 to $800 for the harness that was damaged on my Fit. The wiring harnesses on Fits have prominent part numbers taped to them. I found that if I entered the part number from the damaged engine wiring harness into Google, a few of them showed up, used, for sale on eBay. I ordered one for $100. There were a few more for sale for $170 - $250.

But I wanted to start the repair right away. I felt I could cut into the damaged connector housing to expose enough wire so I could solder wires to replace what the rat had chewed up, but I knew a better repair would be to get another connector. I ran across a listing on godaca.com that looked identical, but ordering from them would arrive later than the eBay harness I had just ordered. If you’ve got the time, searching on godaca.com will eventually bring up a photo of whatever connector you are looking for, as well as an SKU number for it that you can use to look on the internet for where to buy it. I found someone listing brand new connectors of the type I needed on eBay, but they were shipping from Taiwan. I didn’t have time.

A problem was that the wreckers near me didn’t have any Honda Fits. I figured Honda may have used identical connectors on some older Hondas that the wreckers did have in stock. I searched on eBay for “Honda connectors”, and looked at the photos to see if something matched my rat damaged connector. I found one that looked exactly the same. It was advertised as a 2006-2011 Honda Civic Valve Purge Solenoid connector. Youtube had a video showing exactly where this Purge Solenoid is on Civics. The Pick-a-Part wrecker nearest me said they had a few 2006 Civics. I visited the yard and sure enough, the connector was identical. They wanted $4.

I’m going to repair my harness with this connector. When the harness I bought on eBay arrives, I’ll keep it for a while as insurance. With a whole harness in reserve, wherever the rats strike next, if they do, I’ll have the wires and/or connectors ready to go for the repair.

The problem with repairing rat damaged wires is the rats are still out there. What’s to stop them from stopping by for a snack whenever they feel like it?

I’m going to wrap the accessible parts of the engine wiring with a steel wool/cloth mixture that looks like it would not be appetizing to rats, then wrap this with the Honda electrical tape that is saturated with capsaicinoids, the chemical that provides the heat in chili peppers. I've heard there are some hard core rats who live to eat Honda Rat Repellent tape. If the rats make it through the chili pepper electrical tape, I’m hoping they won’t like the steel wool. I’m also going to spray the engine compartment with Rodent Defense spray. I’ll put some Victor LED and ultrasound emitters in the engine compartment as well. Rats are supposed to not like lights and ultrasound. I’ve got some rat traps I’ll set right in the engine compartment, and on the property. If the rats damage the wiring in spite of all this, I’ll have the eBay wiring harness standing by.

I went to the trouble of figuring out how to find a connector, harness, and rat repellent products because I am not that optimistic that I won’t see damage again.

I checked my 2002 RAV4 that is parked right next to the 2013 Honda Fit for signs of rats, and sure enough, rats have been hanging out in the RAV4 engine compartment. But the thing is, the rats have shown no interest in chowing down on the 2002 RAV4 wiring. I’m beginning to think there is something to the stories that car manufacturers changed the composition of the insulation on their wiring sometime in the mid 2000’s to something rats find appetizing. If this problem becomes persistent I’ll have to get rid of the Honda Fit. The manufacturers claim that because rats sometimes also damage wiring on vehicles that don’t have especially delicious wiring they are off the hook, but I think this may catch up with them. In the meantime, I don’t think I’m interested in owning that new of a car any more.

 

 

Might NOT be true....
Because I can't even remember where I heard it now.
But somewhere in my mind, I think I heard that many auto manufacturers went to a more "Eco Friendly" and recyclable covering for the wires in their vehicles that are actually soy based as opposed to petroleum/vinyl.
Rumors are ALL vehicles that contain the soy based wiring are more at risk for rodent attack. It's NOT just the Fit.
Some people have gone to great lengths trying to rodent proof their vehicles.
It's sadly a too common problem.

 

Don't forget the deer cam!