We spent part of the winter of 2023 at Palm Creek Resort in Casa Grande. We were there for about 6 weeks, then Austin, TX for about 2 weeks. We had no troubles with the truck while in AZ and TX. On the way home in March, we both thought we could smell something strange in the truck heater.
We got home and the truck sat on the driveway for about a week. I started it up to move some furniture for a friend and was surprised to see a ton of warning lights and even some of the dash display was off. I opened the hood for a quick look to see if I could see anything wrong. Boy, was I surprised.
I was talking to David at HPL about the rodent damage and he informed me about Pack Rats in the US Southwest. That little bugger rode all the way back to IL in the air intake of the A/C system, but didn't do any damage until we parked in IL. We smelled his pee on the way home.
I found the pack rat a couple days after the truck was fixed, because it warmed up into the 70s and the smell of a dead pack rat is awful. It did take a while to find it in the cavity under the wipers. Of course, right where the heater fan pulls air into the cabin. Ugh, that was awful.
The total cost to replace the end on the wiring harnesses and replace two sensors he chewed the wires off, was about $1k.
When we go back to anywhere in the Southwest, I have a plan. Peppermint oil, which I will post about later.
We got home and the truck sat on the driveway for about a week. I started it up to move some furniture for a friend and was surprised to see a ton of warning lights and even some of the dash display was off. I opened the hood for a quick look to see if I could see anything wrong. Boy, was I surprised.
I was talking to David at HPL about the rodent damage and he informed me about Pack Rats in the US Southwest. That little bugger rode all the way back to IL in the air intake of the A/C system, but didn't do any damage until we parked in IL. We smelled his pee on the way home.
I found the pack rat a couple days after the truck was fixed, because it warmed up into the 70s and the smell of a dead pack rat is awful. It did take a while to find it in the cavity under the wipers. Of course, right where the heater fan pulls air into the cabin. Ugh, that was awful.
The total cost to replace the end on the wiring harnesses and replace two sensors he chewed the wires off, was about $1k.
When we go back to anywhere in the Southwest, I have a plan. Peppermint oil, which I will post about later.
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