Help!!! Vacuum Switching Valve wires are cut! (1 Viewer)

[encrypttie]

Hey everyone, I took off the engine cover last night to clean it and realized that the vacuum switching valve wires are cut. Not sure who's done it or when it happened.

I was wondering what the effects would be and how come I've not gotten any DTCs because of this?

 

[4gotalot]

Look for more indications of rodent nest material and chewed wires under/around the foam and down below left and right of the intake manifold.

It looks like there is enough wire remaining to solder and cover with shrink wrap. Installing new pins would be the right way do fix it but there may not be enough slack wire in the bundle and finding the right pin release tool may be a lot more work than needed.

 

[encrypttie]

Look for more indications of rodent nest material and chewed wires under/around the foam and down below left and right of the intake manifold.

It looks like there is enough wire remaining to solder and cover with shrink wrap. Installing new pins would be the right way do fix it but there may not be enough slack wire in the bundle and finding the right pin release tool may be a lot more work than needed.

Thanks for the quick response. I will look for more chewed wires... There is not enough slack, so I have to solder...

Do you know what's the side effect of this not being connected?

 

[gaijin]

Hey everyone, I took off the engine cover last night to clean it and realized that the vacuum switching valve wires are cut. Not sure who's done it or when it happened.

I was wondering what the effects would be and how come I've not gotten any DTCs because of this?

View attachment 3163330

However you decide to repair/replace those severed connections, I'd suggest temporarily splicing the wires together and see what happens.

It looks to me like a clean cut - as would be done with a pair of wirecutters. But why would anyone do this? Maybe because there was a code thrown when the wires were connected and the cheap (and incorrect) "fix" was to simply take the offending unit out of the equation.

Just my US$0.02

 

[4gotalot]

Thanks for the quick response. I will look for more chewed wires... There is not enough slack, so I have to solder...

Do you know what's the side effect of this not being connected?

I don't know what system it belongs to and I cannot look for it in my location right now.

 

[eatSleepWoof]

+1 to that being a clean, mechanical cut. Also quite idiotic, given that there's a quick-disconnect half an inch away. No idea about the consequences.

 

[TeCKis300]

I believe that's the VSV for the Acoustic Control Induction System (ACIS). You'll loose some power and efficiency without that, but probably not critical and you probably don't even have CEL?

 

[encrypttie]

I agree they do like clean cuts, and my first thought was that someone was trying to hide something or trying to get the engine to behave differently.

I soldered the wires and covered them with heat shrink and wrapped them with electrical tape.

Connected the connector, the biggest difference that I noticed is how much quieter the engine is running at idle. Previously when I started the engine it would be so loud, now it’s not as loud. Will post any other changes that I notice.

 

[TeCKis300]

I agree they do like clean cuts, and my first thought was that someone was trying to hide something or trying to get the engine to behave differently.

I soldered the wires and covered them with heat shrink and wrapped them with electrical tape.

Connected the connector, the biggest difference that I noticed is how much quieter the engine is running at idle. Previously when I started the engine it would be so loud, now it’s not as loud. Will post any other changes that I notice.

Nicely done. Sounds like you've got it covered. Just FYI, as you soldered the connectors, make sure there's sufficient strain relief on the wires so that the junction of wires to solder are supported. Wires can often fail right where they meet hard joints as the stress riser from vibrations are focused on the junction.

 

[bloc]

Similar damage, part numbers posted in here for repair wires if you want to take the strain off those wires, teckis had a good point.

I’ve started using open barrel splices for harness repairs specifically to address the strain relief issue. I know we are all taught solder is best but that’s not how harnesses are built to survive in high-vibration environments.

Connectors

P0441 code. Found rodents had chewed two wires. Cannot locate one of the plugs. They are identical except location of jetway. 11149 and 11156 are embossed on plugs

forum.ih8mud.com

 

[Sandroad]

That’s rodent teeth damage, not wire cutters. They have extremely sharp teeth and gnaw on lots of stuff. There’s very likely other evidence of their presence.

 

[encrypttie]

Thanks for the note about the possibility of the solders failing. @bloc do you mean you use open barrel splice as strain relief?

I couldn't use any sort of splice since the length of the wire that goes into the connector was only ~2-3mm. That's why I soldered them.

I found a connector that comes with wires pre-installed. May be I can use that and use a splice to connect the wires.

I looked at the other thread, I don't see any signs of rodents having chewed anything else... But it's quiet possible that a rodent got in there and chewed the wires. The cut was so clean though! )

 

[bloc]

Thanks for the note about the possibility of the solders failing. @bloc do you mean you use open barrel splice as strain relief?

I couldn't use any sort of splice since the length of the wire that goes into the connector was only ~2-3mm. That's why I soldered them.

I found a connector that comes with wires pre-installed. May be I can use that and use a splice to connect the wires.

I looked at the other thread, I don't see any signs of rodents having chewed anything else... But it's quiet possible that a rodent got in there and chewed the wires. The cut was so clean though! )

No I use open barrel splices for the connection itself. I also generally order the wire segments listed in the other thread so I have plenty of material to work with. The connectors aren’t difficult when you see how they work, and all you need is a small jewelers screwdriver. I’d have to dig up the thread with pictures but a squirrel got into my engine bay and chewed over a dozen important ignition, ABS/VSC, radar parking, ground, and other wires turning my dash into a Christmas tree.

I stumbled on an in-depth write up of how racing car harnesses are built and the reasons for the design choices they use. Crimp is superior when vibration is present.

The open barrel splices keep the splice diameter down so simple glue-lined shrink wrap can slide over for physical support and water resistance.

What you did will no doubt work well, possibly for the life of the vehicle. This not being a critical function to get home means you could easily just leave it.. but if you lean OCD like me, there are ways.

 

[encrypttie]

No I use open barrel splices for the connection itself. I also generally order the wire segments listed in the other thread so I have plenty of material to work with. The connectors aren’t difficult when you see how they work, and all you need is a small jewelers screwdriver. I’d have to dig up the thread with pictures but a squirrel got into my engine bay and chewed over a dozen important ignition, ABS/VSC, radar parking, ground, and other wires turning my dash into a Christmas tree.

I stumbled on an in-depth write up of how racing car harnesses are built and the reasons for the design choices they use. Crimp is superior when vibration is present.

The open barrel splices keep the splice diameter down so simple glue-lined shrink wrap can slide over for physical support and water resistance.

What you did will no doubt work well, possibly for the life of the vehicle. This not being a critical function to get home means you could easily just leave it.. but if you lean OCD like me, there are ways.

Haha I am super OCD. I found a connector on eBay that comes with the wires pre-attached so I will have more wire to work with. I'm not sure about the quality of the connector though since it's from eBay.

After seeing this for the first time I am thinking about getting anti rodent wire sleeves and wrap them around some of the important wires. It would suck not to be able to start the car or drive it when I am in the middle of nowhere all alone by myself and my girlfriend...

 

[bloc]

Haha I am super OCD. I found a connector on eBay that comes with the wires pre-attached so I will have more wire to work with. I'm not sure about the quality of the connector though since it's from eBay.

After seeing this for the first time I am thinking about getting anti rodent wire sleeves and wrap them around some of the important wires. It would suck not to be able to start the car or drive it when I am in the middle of nowhere all alone by myself and my girlfriend...

Trust me, I went scorched earth on the squirrels after that adventure. Thing is it is practically impossible to get to every wire that is important. For example a common source of problems is the knock sensor harness under the intake manifold, where they like to nest. To me it’s hard to justify pulling the intake just to wrap wires. And that is much easier to get to than other parts of the harness..

Plus much of the harness won’t actually prevent the car from running at all.. but limp mode is a good likelihood.

When camping I usually lift the hood and often remove the engine cover. Letting things cool down quickly and seem less “cozy” can help avoid nesting. Then you get into the relatively widespread suspicion that it is an inherent issue with Toyota and their soy-based wire insulation.. iirc there may be a class-action suit about this. Not that it’ll get anywhere..

 

[encrypttie]

Trust me, I went scorched earth on the squirrels after that adventure. Thing is it is practically impossible to get to every wire that is important. For example a common source of problems is the knock sensor harness under the intake manifold, where they like to nest. To me it’s hard to justify pulling the intake just to wrap wires. And that is much easier to get to than other parts of the harness..

Plus much of the harness won’t actually prevent the car from running at all.. but limp mode is a good likelihood.

When camping I usually lift the hood and often remove the engine cover. Letting things cool down quickly and seem less “cozy” can help avoid nesting. Then you get into the relatively widespread suspicion that it is an inherent issue with Toyota and their soy-based wire insulation.. iirc there may be a class-action suit about this. Not that it’ll get anywhere..

Opening the hook and removing the cover is smart. I found a device in another thread that's supposed to deter rodents. It's called MouseBlocker. I don't know if it actually works or not though.

 

[TeCKis300]

I've had one of these ultrasonic deterrents for a few years as I'm often in the boonies camping. As I understand it, these do work as deterrents. Though long term, they may not be as successful if localized rodents get use to the distraction?

Amazon product ASIN B07LCKBGY8