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Rodent Damage on my Hyundai Santa Fe XL!

7K views 17 replies 10 participants last post by  GrantLouie 
#1 · (Edited)
I just had some rodent (squirrel?) chewed up my main engine wire harness and other cabling including the engine cover's foam insulation. Total repair estimate is $4500!
2 wire harness, sensors and engine cover will need to be replaced, estimated 12 hour repair job.


Has anyone else had rodent damage on their Santa Fe's? I guess the rodent must of been cold and hungry? It chewed up the cover's insulation underneath and any wiring it got in it's way to make himself a resting area I believe. The scary part was I was able to drive with the existing damage on the highway, until I smelled something burning and decided to check out what was wrong under the hood, then had it towed. Don't know how it got away with no engine light or anything, one of the cables was completely chewed right off down to the metal engine plate/block.


Thank goodness for comprehensive insurance coverage. Never thought a squirrel can do so much damage. A good reason for me to clear out the garage and park it inside now after my repairs are done. I have to wait 2 weeks for the parts to come from Hyundai Corp.


Warning for others who park their cars outside in the cold over night with a warm engine, check under the hood before you drive out in the morning!
 
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#2 ·
Wow, sorry to hear about the rodent chewing up your SF Grant, dammm squirrel lol. My buddy has a Sonata and he got 2 mouses running around and chewing some of his air vents and shitting everywhere throughout the car. Finally caught them 2 days later with a few mouse traps but it wasn't pretty. We have a remote starter and don't know if that would scare any rodents away in the winter time but hopefully we don't run into them ever lol. GL on fixing it and let us know how it turns out.
 
#3 ·
$4500 wow! We have red squirrels running around here and this past fall I noticed muddy paw prints all over the engine compartments of both our SF and Malibu. One day I noticed a red squirrel climb up onto the front tire and disappear presumably into the engine compartment. Fortunately I found no damage. I set up some rat traps and caught 2 of them.

Years ago when I had a full size Chevy van, one spring I popped the dog house over the engine and found that a squirrel (presumably) had built a nest of straw and twigs on top of the intake manifold!
 
#5 ·
I just had some rodent (squirrel?) chewed up my main engine wire harness and other cabling including the engine cover's foam insulation. Total repair estimate is $4500!
2 wire harness, sensors and engine cover will need to be replaced, estimated 12 hour repair job.

Has anyone else had rodent damage on their Santa Fe's? I guess the rodent must of been cold and hungry? It chewed up the cover's insulation underneath and any wiring it got in it's way to make himself a resting area I believe. The scary part was I was able to drive with the existing damage on the highway, until I smelled something burning and decided to check out what was wrong under the hood, then had it towed. Don't know how it got away with no engine light or anything, one of the cables was completely chewed right off down to the metal engine plate/block.


Thank goodness for comprehensive insurance coverage. Never thought a squirrel can do so much damage. A good reason for me to clear out the garage and park it inside now after my repairs are done. I have to wait 2 weeks for the parts to come from Hyundai Corp.


Warning for others who park their cars outside in the cold over night with a warm engine, check under the hood before you drive out in the morning!
Martens and weasels love to eat wiring. I'm sure BC has plenty of each.
 
#9 ·
Mice got into my Supra last winter and had a field day. THey haven't done any damage, but I thought animals didn sh:eek:t where they ate! OMG, the SMELL!

I put a box of mothballs in it this winter, it's supposed to keep them out and it is also making it smell...uh...different. I go out every 2-3 days and open it up and then close it after dark. Activity will keep them away.

To the OP: How long did the car sit? Usually activity every few days will make them look for a quieter place to nest...like undr the siding of the house...:eek:
 
#10 ·
Mice got into my Supra last winter and had a field day. THey haven't done any damage, but I thought animals didn sh:eek:t where they ate! OMG, the SMELL!

I put a box of mothballs in it this winter, it's supposed to keep them out and it is also making it smell...uh...different. I go out every 2-3 days and open it up and then close it after dark. Activity will keep them away.

To the OP: How long did the car sit? Usually activity every few days will make them look for a quieter place to nest...like undr the siding of the house...:eek:
Where are you putting them,in the engine compartment?

Mothballs do work though,I can tell you from experience.
 
#11 ·
I drive the car everyday, but the last week it got pretty cold outside and i guess the squirrels wanted to stay in the warmer engine compartment. I'm going to clear the garage to park inside and i don't want to risk this happening again.
 
#16 ·
Yes, I had it towed through the Hyundai road side assistance program. I didn't find out until I drove to work that morning and decided it should be tow to the closest dealer.


The thing is it liked the santa fe the best, we have a new 2014 Elantra and 2011 Mercedes B200 parked right beside each other and no damage on those vehicles?
 
#18 ·
I finally got my XL back from the dealer. I missed my car. It was at the shop for 6 weeks because it took that long for the $2000 wire harness to be made and delivered from Korea. Total damage was $4500, covered by car insurance, $300 deductible.
When I drove it home tonight it went directly into garage, now all is good.
 
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