brock71

I have a 2012 EcoBoost. This morning my dog alerted on the front of the truck. Investigated to find a raccoon and a squirrel under the hood. The squirrel had a nest by the brake fluid reservoir. He made room by chewing off the wires going to the brake reservoir AND he chewed sever wires off in a large wire harness going toward the rear down the back of the front wheel well. There were two large harnesses. The one with the big connector seems OK. The other one, about an inch in diameter and loaded with many small gauge wires, is chewed. Anyone know what signals are in this harness?
I am getting a brake warning light and a orange wrench symbol in the vehicle message center.

My question is dare I drive to the dealer for repair ?
And
Wonder how much this might cost....?
John

jhanna

Tothemax

Dealership or an automotive electrical shop.

antony1103

I wouldn't drive it if i didn't know exactly what the wires were controlling. Do you have a shop/helms manual? There are wiring diagrams buried in there that will point you toward what the wires are carrying. Without more info on what components those wires are leading to (actual fuse box locations or control modules, not just harness locations), I'm afraid I'm not much help.

If the chewed wires are simply connected to a removable harness, I imagine you can find prices for that particular harness online to get an idea of cost. You could simply replace it yourself or have the dealer do it for an hour of labor or so. If the wires are connected to a permanent harness, it'll have to be rewired. If you have some electrical knowledge, all the info on the wire SHOULD be printed on the insulation, so its just a matter of splicing in fresh wire. Even heavy gage stuff is fairly cheap. A dealer or shop would probably charge 1-3 hours of labor depending on how many wires need fixed.

My wild *** guess on cost (assuming $100/hr labor with a 1 hour minimum)... Simply replacing a removable harness: $30 for the harness and $100 for labor. Rewiring a dozen small wires or so: $10 for bulk wire and $300 for labor. Obviously you can save on labor if you DIY.

Keith460

iTrader: (1)

I would just turn that into my insurance company. Wiring harnesses are expensive but easy to replace since it is just plug & play. Doing it yourself is time consuming and can lead to frustration so you have to ask yourself "Is it worth my time, expense and effort?".

dhonnoll

Get even, eat the squirrel.

dhonnoll

Seriously though, I would look for a used harness on ebay and just follow the whole harness out and replace it whatever it is. I found out the hard way, 1 wire can stop you in your tracks. I wanted to shove a couple of wires along side the existing harness from engine bay into cab passenger side. I cut the wire tie and my knife slipped. I cut a purple with white I think, purple with something. I said eh, probably just lost a speaker, a door lock, a window I'll go check it out. Maybe the radio, or radio clock. I fired it up, tested everything huh that's strange all the accessories work. Went to put it in gear and went to put it in gear and. DAD GUM IT! cut the brake lights wire, you are going NOWHERE without that.
My dad had a 2011 SCREW 3.7L squirrels ate the wire harness 2x and he never got the gas mileage he was supposed to get. He got like 23 or 24mpg on the highway and that went to like 19. He traded it. I don't think it was his wire harness no CEL. I think he even replaced one whole harness that they chewed into. Let the dogs run loose keep them squirrels and critters out of your truck man.

dhonnoll

replaceing a whole wireharness may sound like a daunting task but if you take a bit of time undoing connectors it is usually pretty simple and fool proof. I mean you almost CAN'T plug anything in wrong as all the connectors are keyed. you might get plug wires in the wrong order but if you route the harness right, they should all just fall right into place and be ALMOST impossible to do that even. Sorry to hear about it. you might even be covered labor and wiring and all, file the claim do the work your self and you might just get it replaced for a used harness and put some jingle in your pocket. Depending on what harness it is. Insurance is going to pay out for new aftermarket if available or new OEM IF they determine it can't just be repaired that is.

rrp0968

I would let the insurance company handle it.

jdunk54nl

Careful with this, a lot of these harnesses are truck specific these days, so unless you can find a near identical truck, you might be missing important connections. Gone are the days where the wiring harnesses are just thrown in each truck with every wire in the bundle no matter the options on your truck.