Strange wire and box found in driver's footwell (1 Viewer)

[08Lexx]

So I noticed a strange red wire dangling near the interior fuse box on the drivers side. I decided to follow it and after I took off all the kick panels I was presented carnage.

The gray connector looks like it was destroyed by something or someone and on top of that, the gray wire was tapped into by that strange red wire I started following. The red wire leads to this black box that has an inline fuse. The box has no marking, doesn't appear like it can be opened, and has some weight to it.

I followed the wires coming out of the box and it goes up the A pillar and disappears into the headliner going towards the middle/rear of the truck. I literally have no idea where it ends up.

That gray wire that it is tapped into is for the rear view mirror. So I'm assuming they did it to get ACC power? Shockingly I have no shorts or blown fuses and all the electronics work on the truck. I also checked and no other connector or wires have any damage as far as I can tell under the dash and in the engine bay. So I have 2 questions for everyone:

1. Does anyone have any idea what this box/wire is for? And short of dropping the headliner, how can I trace the rest of it?

2. Is this animal damage or was this a person playing with wires for the first time? or both?

 

[yOHda]

Remnants of a remote car starter or a tracking system by a dealer?

 

[coleAK]

Looks like there was rodent damage at some point. It could be coincidental. It is the same spot as this mystery box for the mystery box could’ve been put in as a result of the damage.

 

[04UZJ100]

Ejecto seato, cuz!!!!!

 

[customcruiser]

WTF

 

[PDoyle]

Are you married ?

 

[08Lexx]

So mystery kinda solved. I dropped the overhead DVD player and found this:

The backet is missing the original 4 screws, instead wood screws are holding it in place.

The factory harness is mangled and the mystery wires from the black box are connected to it.

I ripped the wires out (coincidently I've been searching for this annoying rattle in the ceiling for months) and put everything back together. I still have no idea what this thing does.


Now I can focus on repairing the rodent damage on the footwell harness. Thankfully its the drivers side door harness so I was able to fish everything out to get some working room. Makes me wonder what happened first, the rodent or the ghetto wire job.

 

[08Lexx]

Are you married ?

Yea but my wife has zero handyman skills. Might actually explain the poor install job

 

[linuxgod]

My guy says this was some half-assed hack to replace the DVD player with something aftermarket. When the PO sold they removed that and put the original back in.

That wiring is such an awful job tapping the original wire that I can’t tell if it’s rodent damage or a 4 year old shredding wires trying to splice something. I’m wondering if there were other taps that got removed. It does look like mouse carnage tho

 

[08Lexx]

My guy says this was some half-assed hack to replace the DVD player with something aftermarket. When the PO sold they removed that and put the original back in.

That wiring is such an awful job tapping the original wire that I can’t tell if it’s rodent damage or a 4 year old shredding wires trying to splice something. I’m wondering if there were other taps that got removed. It does look like mouse carnage tho

I think that's exactly what happened but they took out the OEM one and left the aftermarket in. I've never realized it wasn't the OEM player, it's an Advent and looks nothing like the pictures of the OEM player I just found online.

Only took me 5 years of owning this truck to notice this lol

 

[Artie]

So mystery kinda solved. I dropped the overhead DVD player and found this:

The backet is missing the original 4 screws, instead wood screws are holding it in place.
View attachment 3591943
View attachment 3591945

The factory harness is mangled and the mystery wires from the black box are connected to it.

View attachment 3591944


I ripped the wires out (coincidently I've been searching for this annoying rattle in the ceiling for months) and put everything back together. I still have no idea what this thing does.


Now I can focus on repairing the rodent damage on the footwell harness. Thankfully its the drivers side door harness so I was able to fish everything out to get some working room. Makes me wonder what happened first, the rodent or the ghetto wire job.

View attachment 3591951

This almost ruined my breakfast.. needs. NSFW blur. Wow.

 

[lx200inAR]

I think that's exactly what happened but they took out the OEM one and left the aftermarket in. I've never realized it wasn't the OEM player, it's an Advent and looks nothing like the pictures of the OEM player I just found online.

Only took me 5 years of owning this truck to notice this lol

Interesting, if you are missing the OEM system, then they must have bypassed it to keep the rest of your audio system working. It would probably take 2 pairs wires being removed from a plug and tied together to accomplish that (there is a comms bus that has to be "jumpered" past). Might be good info for people looking to bypass failed systems. Also, probably good for you to pay attention to, because you may find your head unit inoperable if you disconnect whatever bypass is in place. I think it might also be likely that it's in it's own plug, so you might look to see if there is another plug shoved up in the roof cavity.