DRUSA
Senior Member
- First Name
- Dan
- Joined
- Jul 12, 2020
- Threads
- 4
- Messages
- 581
- Reaction score
- 782
- Location
- Palm Springs, CA
- Vehicle(s)
- 2023 Civic Type R 2000 Honda S2000
I had to do 4 rodent repairs this week. The cost really depends on the dealership and how the work is being paid for. If it's an out of pocket repair, I will typically repair the damage. If it is an insurance claim, we will typically replace the entire harness. Replacing the entire harness is the proper repair Honda would like see done every time but that will usually be to the tune of a few thousand dollars for something I can fix with a soldering iron and some shrink tubing. We keep the old insurance job wiring harnesses as donor parts for rodent repairs for the customer pay cars.
The Honda rodent tape does not have poison laced in it, despite having a little cartoon print of a dead rat on the tape. It is laced with capsaicin, the same stuff in hot peppers and pepper spray. I have seen just about every "rodent deterrent" used ever. Bars of soap, drier sheets, the little electronic chirp boxes. The soap bars do not work, I've seen the rats eat the soap too lol. The drier sheets sometimes work. The chirp boxes do seem to work. They are INSANELY annoying though.
If you had a rodent repair done be sure to clean the engine bay very well with some degreaser/cleaner like a simple green or similar. You want to clean the engine bay of any remnants of rodent droppings and scents. If you don't, they will return. I've had it happen to customers several times, rodents eating the repair the very next day.
Honda doesn't warranty this as it's considered an "act of god" type failure, it's not a design flaw that is meant to attract the rodents. I've seen the rodents chew under-hood insulation covers, intake boots, cv boots, they eat anything. Just about all manufactures use this soy based wiring insulation now. Honda, Toyota, Subaru, Kia, Hyundai, the list goes on. They've made this jump because it is cheaper than oil based but mostly due to the environmental green movement. Oil bad, soy good.
The Honda rodent tape does not have poison laced in it, despite having a little cartoon print of a dead rat on the tape. It is laced with capsaicin, the same stuff in hot peppers and pepper spray. I have seen just about every "rodent deterrent" used ever. Bars of soap, drier sheets, the little electronic chirp boxes. The soap bars do not work, I've seen the rats eat the soap too lol. The drier sheets sometimes work. The chirp boxes do seem to work. They are INSANELY annoying though.
If you had a rodent repair done be sure to clean the engine bay very well with some degreaser/cleaner like a simple green or similar. You want to clean the engine bay of any remnants of rodent droppings and scents. If you don't, they will return. I've had it happen to customers several times, rodents eating the repair the very next day.
Honda doesn't warranty this as it's considered an "act of god" type failure, it's not a design flaw that is meant to attract the rodents. I've seen the rodents chew under-hood insulation covers, intake boots, cv boots, they eat anything. Just about all manufactures use this soy based wiring insulation now. Honda, Toyota, Subaru, Kia, Hyundai, the list goes on. They've made this jump because it is cheaper than oil based but mostly due to the environmental green movement. Oil bad, soy good.
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