Squirrel damage (wiring)

[Tex]

In case anyone needs to re-pin one of these connectors, it's actually quite easy if you have a thin enough tool. In my case it was a lockpick because that's what I had readily available, but a micro size flathead screwdriver or a pick or whatever will fit can do the job as well. You need to move the locking tab away from the pin and it'll easily slide out, I've highlighted a few tabs in this pic:

The wires on the opposite connector are color coded identically, so you shouldn't have any trouble getting the pinning wrong if you reference that, but maybe take a few pics regardless just to make sure before digging in. The total damage for mine is 15 factory wires that need spliced or otherwise repaired (13 on this connector and 2 on a different one), and three aux wires that I installed for lights and whatnot. I've got plenty of work ahead but it certainly could've been worse.

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[denneyt]

Back in the 90's the myth was that they used peanut oil in some form or fashion to lubricate either the copper conductor or the insulation as it was being manufactured, and that's why rodents were so attracted to it. That was back when everyone was still using petroleum based insulation on wiring instead of soy based. Could there be some credence to it now that they're plant based? Perhaps. Personally I think the vagrants just like to chew wires as a matter of instinct because they look like grass or small twigs, or they simply feel fun to nibble on, or they're masochists and enjoy electrostimulation play. Kinky little furries.

Most modern electrical sleeving uses soy in it in some form we may not notice the order but rodents can for sure.

 

[denneyt]

Well I'm no expert but that might be the problem. I dunno if I'll need a new wiring harness or if this is fixable, the wires are chewed down real close to the connector. If I can take the individual wires out with the pins it shouldn't be a problem, not sure if that's possible though.

For anyone taking bets I found a tuft of squirrel hair that got stuck between the lining and fender. Hopefully it was pubic hair.

I don't see any shielded wires so it should be fixable as long as there is enough to crimp on to wouldn't recommend soldering as it'll fatigue at the end of the solder.

 

[Snacktime]

Make sure to put some sticky traps under the hood till you get the bugger. Lots of work right there.

 

[Tex]

I don't see any shielded wires so it should be fixable as long as there is enough to crimp on to wouldn't recommend soldering as it'll fatigue at the end of the solder.

Yeah they're all standard wires, tiny gauge but standard. A butt splice isn't an option for many of them as they're too close to the edge of the connector for that, so I depinned them to see what I could do about the pin terminal itself. The crimp on those is way too permanent for me to pry them apart (and when you re-crimp stuff like that they rarely have the same strength), so instead I found that I could solder it directly to the pin while reusing the strain crimp, that much was able to be pried open. With the connector body, seal, and the rest of the wire loom providing vibration and strain relief, the soldered pins shouldn't fatigue like a standard terminal end would when soldered. I'd much rather go to town and buy new pins, but it's not exactly something that AutoZone has on the shelf...and that's a 10 mile walk anyway. So I've been soldering long enough leads that I can butt splice the remaining wires to, should actually be able to fire it up tonight if I'm lucky.

 

[denneyt]

Yeah they're all standard wires, tiny gauge but standard. A butt splice isn't an option for many of them as they're too close to the edge of the connector for that, so I depinned them to see what I could do about the pin terminal itself. The crimp on those is way too permanent for me to pry them apart (and when you re-crimp stuff like that they rarely have the same strength), so instead I found that I could solder it directly to the pin while reusing the strain crimp, that much was able to be pried open. With the connector body, seal, and the rest of the wire loom providing vibration and strain relief, the soldered pins shouldn't fatigue like a standard terminal end would when soldered. I'd much rather go to town and buy new pins, but it's not exactly something that AutoZone has on the shelf...and that's a 10 mile walk anyway. So I've been soldering long enough leads that I can butt splice the remaining wires to, should actually be able to fire it up tonight if I'm lucky.

If you take the pin down to a dealership they should be able to get you a pinned pigtail for that connector. Just bring one in with you.

 

[Packen8]

Take them to the Train Station.

With all the other Dutton travelers !! Lol

 

[Tex]

If you take the pin down to a dealership they should be able to get you a pinned pigtail for that connector. Just bring one in with you.

I'll probably order new pins online when I get around to it, these will work for the foreseeable future. If they don't last, well I'm basically a pro at this now, got a little assembly line going and everything lol

God I'm so glad this damage wasn't hiding above the transmission or behind the engine, it's one of the easier wiring jobs I've done on this Bronco, all things considered.

 

[Tex]

Found two identical violet/white wires coming from the loom to the connector and they're going to two different places. They were originally twisted around each other. I believe their circuits are VED23 and VCA03 on the pinout. All that I can tell is that there is a violet/white wire coming from the front driver wheel speed sensor, and all the other wheel sensors are color coded differently. I have no way of knowing which one of these two wires goes where, other than that I have a 50/50 chance of being right or wrong. Fun stuff.

 

[Snacktime]

Found two identical violet/white wires coming from the loom to the connector and they're going to two different places. They were originally twisted around each other. I believe their circuits are VED23 and VCA03 on the pinout. All that I can tell is that there is a violet/white wire coming from the front driver wheel speed sensor, and all the other wheel sensors are color coded differently. I have no way of knowing which one of these two wires goes where, other than that I have a 50/50 chance of being right or wrong. Fun stuff.

Forgot your down to one vehicle. Money on you randomly getting it right wires hooked up. Those wire looms are all over and your right it could have been much worse.

 

[Tex]

Forgot your down to one vehicle. Money on you randomly getting it right wires hooked up. Those wire looms are all over and your right it could have been much worse.

I got it wrong
No worries though, I swapped it around, cleared DTC's, and it's good to go.
Well, aside from missing a fender and all that.
Not that I want to do this again or anything, but it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.
Turned out to be pretty straightforward other than those two violet wires.
Had I claimed this on insurance and had it towed to the dealer, I'd be out the deductible and a Bronco for weeks probably while they sourced a new wiring harness. As it is, it only cost me 15 splices, some wire I already had available, and most of the day working on it.

 

[Tex]

Looks brand new doesn't it

 

[BeerRunner]

Not helpful to the conversation which seems to had resolved with a solution thankfully, but I wonder if a future with ether-loop wiring would see much less of rodents doing this or least make the troubleshooting much easier.

notably including the unique EV’s in revolutionary gigabit ethernet loop, or etherloop, which connects all of the Cybertruck’s high-speed controllers together. The result is a major reduction in wiring needed in the car, significantly reducing overall weight and communication latency.

 

[BroncocnorB]

You need to call in an expert

 

[Tex]

Happy New Year's my dudes, thanks for all the help

Not helpful to the conversation which seems to had resolved with a solution thankfully, but I wonder if a future with ether-loop wiring would see much less of rodents doing this or least make the troubleshooting much easier.

notably including the unique EV’s in revolutionary gigabit ethernet loop, or etherloop, which connects all of the Cybertruck’s high-speed controllers together. The result is a major reduction in wiring needed in the car, significantly reducing overall weight and communication latency.

I think that's the direction modern vehicles are going these days already...the current trend is to use individual modules located close to the components so they only need one large power wire and small gauge signal wires to control it with or send data. But in this case, Tesla is ahead in that they're replacing most of those signal wires with a simple two wire etherloop protocol that allows a lot of data throughput to be moved both ways. That means they could theoretically reduce a lot of the module to module signal wires down to just two, when there might have been dozens, and add some redundancy as well. However, there's still a lot of end point components that will need the same number of wires going to the module, you just won't need those wires duplicated going from module to module. For example, if you controlled the brake, turn, marker, and reverse light with a rear light module, you would only need three wires going from the BCM to the rear light module (power supply, two signal wires), and if it was integrated in the housing itself and grounded to chassis, those three would be the only wires you need. But, if you're trying to reduce wiring and you make a module for the fuel injectors sitting directly on top of the engine, you'd have those same three wires going to it, but each injector is still going to need individual wires to connect it to the module, so that only goes so far to reduce wiring. Most of these wires from what I can tell are signal wires from a component going to a module rather than module to module communication, so etherloop probably wouldn't have helped much there. As for troubleshooting, forscan will actually tell you if this or that sensor or component has an open or ground or short in it, but you're on your own as to how to find it. A lot of the DTC's I got said that the fuel pump or evap system or whatever had a wiring fault on it, which turned out to be completely accurate lol

If I recall, the cybertruck is also being powered entirely with a 48V system now, which is a really smart move. Having owned and worked on a number of 24V aircraft, I can attest to the efficiency and weight savings of a higher base voltage, and I don't understand why the auto industry is so stuck on 12V. It's easy to step down to 12V for plug in old legacy accessories, but new accessories designed for 48V would be a lot smaller, or a lot more powerful for a given size. Plus, if a rodent sank its teeth into a 48V wire, it would likely be the last wire it ever nibbled on. Thank god we've moved beyond the old 6V standard at least.

You need to call in an expert

Thought he only took care of gophers?

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