| SuperTech |
Another little thing I've been curious about recently...and I've seen it enough now that I'm sure some of you here on this board have experienced it too.
So what happens is this...for whatever reason (be it having food in the garage where you park or soemthing else), rodents sometimes take up residence under the hood of your MDX. Evidence of this is first seen by seeing the droppings and urine stains on the intake cover or battery. They like to hang out, sometimes storing nuts too, under the intake manifold in the "V" of the engine. It stays warm there the longest. While they're down there, they see a wire the gnaw on for their amusement. This wire goes from the main engine harness to the knock sensor. Once this wire is chewed through, you get a check engine light and reduced power. The computer protecting the engine since it can no longer detect pinging.
What I'm curious about for those of you that have had to deal with this, is how many hours of labor you were charged to have the "sub-harness" replaced. |
|
|
| andreseng |
SuperTech
I don't recall seeing this one posted. I know I have seen instances where the rodents have gotten into HVAC and subsequently met their demise in the blower fan. I'm sure those must be fun to clean up.
G |
|
|
| Splitwindow |
| Haven't had a problem with MDX, but a rat chewed one of the wires from the air flow sensor on my Z06 vette causing erratic idling. Fortunately it was only one wire and I was able to locate it and solder it. |
|
|
| SuperTech |
quote:
Originally posted by andreseng
rodents have gotten into HVAC and subsequently met their demise in the blower fan. I'm sure those must be fun to clean up.
Those are the days when I swear I don't get paid enough. And the smell! Oh...the smell! I'm glad I'm nto the one who's driving it home afterwards. |
|
|
| shootist |
quote:
Originally posted by SuperTech
Those are the days when I swear I don't get paid enough. And the smell! Oh...the smell! I'm glad I'm nto the one who's driving it home afterwards.
Sorry for going off topic, but the SECOND mouse that died inside my new stovetop bit into a 220 wire before it died. $450 later, the cooktop was working again. |
|
|
| pianoman41 |
Many years ago, my mom complained her '86 Grand Am was acting funny so while under the hood I happened to remove the air cleaner cover. There was a huge nest and a couple dozen nuts and corn kernels pluging up the air intake. No mice in sight though.
And my mother-in-law recently had to remove a mouse from her HVAC vents in her '04 Toyota Camry--twice. When you pop open her hood, on the underside you see all these sections of the noise deadening material chewed away, all lining up with components the mouse could stand on to reach it while the hood was closed. Apparently he was quite busy, chewing off the material and then lining his nest behind the glovebox in the ductwork. The mechanic said it was quite impressive in there. |
|
|
| dale100 |
My 2005 Acura TL got the rodent damage under the intake manifold. The dealer says they fix about two of these per month. Acura even came up with replacement wiring that contains pesticide to discourage the critters. Fix cost is estimated at around $450, but could be more. The knock sensor is disabled and the engine could be damaged if using gas with less than recommended octane?
If this is so common, why doesn't Acura have a recall to put in a screen or something? I wonder if they check this area when the car comes off the boat as they assume that it happened after the customer get sthe car. It is more likely that rats on the boat would get in there, as opposed to inside a heated garage. |
|
|
| G. COLTON |
"It stays warm there the longest."
You have it right SuperTech. That is why they are in there.
G |
|
|
| one4gatr |
quote:
I wonder if they check this area when the car comes off the boat as they assume that it happened after the customer get sthe car. It is more likely that rats on the boat would get in there, as opposed to inside a heated garage.
No boat here. Mine came via rail car. I am not sure how many TL's come via boat perhaps someone here can enlighten us. Reminds me of this old thread... ahhh the old days....
http://www.acuramdx.org/forums/show...in+vin+tracking |
|
|
| G. COLTON |
Inside the heated garage is where you are going to find the little critters. They are smart enough not to stay out in the cold.
G |
|
|
| SuperTech |
Not sure if boats are used to ship an MDX from Canada or a TL from the middle of the USA...I could be wrong though.
There is a new and improved sub harness with a hardened protecter around the wire and is chemically treated. All '06 engines got it, and all replacements done will use this new part.
Our best guess as to how a rodent finds its way in there is possibly from parking a car in a garage where there is dog food or something else that might attract them. The car pulls in, and the engine is nice and warm there for a while. It makes a tempting place to hang out for a while and hide. Another thing that goes hand in hand is when I see lots of leaves and pine needles on the cowl. Meaning the vehicle is parking outside in wooded areas a lot. And there's that nice warm place to camp out for the night. I kid you not...I have found dozens of nuts in the bottom of the manifold there like that rodent was planning on setting up shop forever there. |
|
|
| MGTD |
Just before Xmas a mouse got into the heater squirrel cage and broke the fan. It caused all sorts of noise and rattles. The dealer had to replace the fan and motor ($250).
Then a month later another mouse met its demise in the fan motor. This time it was only $100 to extract the remains as it did not break any parts. |
|
|
| Rick Natividad |
I'm glad to see this post coz I was embarrassed to find out that I had a RAT in my MDX. I bought my MDX in Alabama and lived there for a couple of years. I gathered the mouse hitched a ride on my DX and decided to live under the 3rd row seats. Did not find the mouse, I assume he froze his ratass when we moved to Virginia. The service technician when replacing my cabin filter discovered the accumulation of cotton and saw all the remnants of my MDX mouse shelter.
I guess, next time i buy an acura i need to get the ORKIN extended warranty, cheers, |
|
|
| XStatic |
quote:
Originally posted by SuperTech
There is a new and improved sub harness with a hardened protecter around the wire and is chemically treated. All '06 engines got it, and all replacements done will use this new part.
Good plan, wonder why it took them so long to realize that there is a good chance a SUV like vehicle was going to be parked on a regular basis in a rural or wooded area :rolleyes: |
|
|
| losangshopper |
SuperTech -- Mice chewed the wire to our knock sensor after I parked one day at work in the rain (MDX 2001). Engine light came on, and Acura dealer identified it was the wire to the knock sensor, and pointed out the little mice feet marks under the hood. Part = $40, Labor $800 is the quote we got here in Los Angeles.
The dealer said this is becoming more and more common, and said we were lucky it was only $800, and showed me a totally chewed wiring harness off another Acura that is costing the guy $3,000 in labor.
The real problem is you can spend all that and it can happen again the very next day! It is not covered by warranty and he said "It's not Acura's fault."
So I am VERY INTERESTED in your comment:
"There is a new and improved sub harness with a hardened protecter around the wire and is chemically treated. All '06 engines got it, and all replacements done will use this new part."
My dealer did not mention this. I'd like to know how I can find more information about this chemically treated/hardened replacement part that was going into effect in '06. Did it happen? Did it work? Where can we get it/find out about it? We'd appreciate any help.
Until then, we are going to try the homemade remedies (ShakeAway rodent repellent hung in nylon stockings will be our first attempt--contains predator urine of fox and bobcat to supposedly keep rodents away.
Thanks in advance to anyone for help...:confused: |
|
|
| dan596 |
| I wonder if this is a Honda design flaw. We have 4 cars in our driveway each used equally as much. The 01 Honda Civic and 04 Acura MDX are the only ones with mouse evidence. And in both the critters have been invaded into the cabin and used the glove as a lavatory. The Pontiac and Volkswagen have been touched as far as we can tell. Now some may say it's just good taste on the part of the mice, but I'm thinking maybe Honda doesn't screen off the fresh air intake adequately enough. Real frustrating when you need to sneeze or wipe something up only to find the spare napkins in the glove box are covered in mouse goo. I've even resorted to putting mouse traps in the car and have caught 3 to date. |
|
|
|
