Damn rodent ate my fuel lines
 

Yeah, so this morning I went outside to start the car, and smelled gas shortly after. Lots of it. By the time I realized what was happening, I had sprayed a quart or two of gas all over my engine bay and driveway. I shut the car off and opened the hood, only to have gas run all over the paint on the fenders and front bumper. Damn. I was gutted.
My first thought was that something in the fuel injection system had let go, but found the problem as soon as I started looking... A mouse or other soon to be dead small rodent had chewed through one of the high pressure lines leading from the body to the fuel rail, and had been working at the other one. Strangely enough, the low pressure line that runs right between the two higher pressure ones hasn't even been touched.
Luckily, I had about 1' of 5/16" brake line laying around. I was able to bend up a temporary fix with some high pressure hose clamps, but I'm not real comfortable with it.

I have a couple of questions.

1. Do we have a parts list or fiche of some sort here? I tried a quick search, but didn't see what I was looking for. If not, is there a way I can access one without having to pay for access to the shop manual? I'd like to be able to go to the dealer with part numbers rather than just a description.

2. The quick disconnect on the fuel line at the fuel rail... This particular clip is new to me. I'm not sure which tool I will need to pop those clips. Anyone know for sure?

Thanks for any help.

Shoot that animal! :I

I'd like to, but in all honesty, I'm not even sure it happened here. I've never had a problem with mice before. The car sat at the port in Vancouver for 2 or 3 weeks, and another week or so at the rail yard in Toronto. It could be that it got chewed on there and it just took a few days with some pressure on it to pop. I'll try to stop by the dealership today and see what happens.

Why wouldn't you just take this in and have it done under warranty? If you have a decent dealership, they won't f it up.

http://www.crazyfunnystuff.net/wp-co...t-roadkill.jpg

We can only hope this happened soon after........

Because warranties don't cover rodents, duh. I shouldn't post before I'm actually awake.

Brett

Self Trolling: Mission Accomplished!

:bellyroll:

damn, I can't imagine these lines are cheap.

Maybe wifey or an angry ex-girlfriend?

Pics of fuel line? That rodent has to have a pretty strong jaw to chew through a high pressure line.

Brett: I didn't take it in 'cause I don't want to be without my car for weeks while parts come from Japan, when a simple fix like what I did (and will re-do tonight with some better materials) will keep me going for the time being. There is no Scion dealer within 2 hours of my home. The local Toyota dealer's family also owns Toyota, Scion, and Lexus dealerships a couple of hours away, so they set up the purchase deal on the car. I hope they will be equally willing to help with any warranty issues as they pop up. The actual dealer who sold me the car thinks that this was well on it's way before I took delivery, and eventually gave out and popped, and that they should cover it.

Jeebus: Two lines, $236 each before tax, suggested list. About $140 each dealer cost. Not in stock anywhere in North America, and no estimated delivery time. Pretty much what I figured, and part of why I didn't have it towed in.

civicdrivr: Sorry, high pressure hose. 5/16" I.D. dual wall with a fibreglass braid. It's pretty soft stuff, much like old-school fuel line hose, but rated for a higher pressure. It is pretty obvious from the teeth marks that it was a small rodent. That, or someone really hates me and put a LOT of effort into making it look like teeth marks.

Your comprehensive coverage should take care of this. Same thing happened on my LS430 and geico covered the repair bill.

I thought about this as well, but I don't think it is worth making a claim. My deductible is $300 and the parts will be $500ish. I would imagine with labor the cost would be $6-700, but I'd rather do the work my self. I'll see what the owner and sales manager have to say in the next day or two.

They aren't. Fuel lines and electrical insulation on new cars is more "Eco-friendly", but the changes made to do this seem to make them more appetizing to rodents.

I see rodent damage alot at my dealer usually they chew up the wiring or get into the ventilation systems to make a nest, nest in the engine bay for warmth & I've seen them chew up washer fluid lines but this is the first time I've seen fuels lines get chewed up.
Hopefully the dealer can help you out if not your insurance should cover it thank god it didn't get into your interior.

To me that's a no brainer. Pay 300 or pay 500 and your time.

I don't trust insurance companies... With my luck, I'd end up paying much more than the $200 in raised rates over the next year or two. Thieves.

I spoke to the service manager this afternoon and they are going to cover it.
It sounds like the water leaking into the reverse lights (not the tail light issue) won't be a problem, either.

I also had a similar case, it's not very cool. Rodents ate $ 2,000 worth of wires in my car. I didn't seem to do anything, but they didn't show up again. But now I have new guests and they are bats. I don't think they're interested in the wires, but their presence bothers me. Besides, I have children, I would not want them to be afraid or catch some kind of infection. They are at this age all in the mouth drag.
I decided to hire a bat removal company waiting for them to remove the bats and the consequences of their stay here. It turned out perfectly.

Bot?

Check back in a week for the link. There's been a couple setting up for something to do with pest control.

Yep. Saw that one yesterday. They are getting smarter though and stopped driving "Man" and have even started using avatars! Not so easy to pick out.

Oh, I still think the fail the Turing test hard.