Cables Chewed by Rodents on Brand New Transit Custom

[adem hunter]

I have purchased a brand new 2022 transit custom and the cables have been chewed through TWICE by rodents.

This has cost me time, money and so much effort to sort.

The first time i thought i was unlucky but when it happened again i was very annoyed. Speaking to people and even a member of the Ford service team they have said the new transits cabling underneath the vans are made from soy protein and recycled tomato skin. I find this absolutely pathetic no wonder the cables keep getting chewed through.

I have been researching online how to stop this from happened and its resolved me to spray my cables with WD40 and every time i park the van i leave a pot of rat poison under the van. This is not what i expected from a brand new transit custom!! You buy brand new to avoid having problems especially when the first time i sent it in it had 150 miles on the clock!! I am so annoyed and upset this has happened and when i took it to the garage their answer was..well its quite common. Sometime needs to be done about this i cannot continue to feel like everytime i get out the van a rat could go underneath and chew the cables.

Someone get in contact and lets get this resolved.

[APW]

This has been going on for over a decade and is not just a Ford problem, it’s affecting all manufacturers due to environmental regulation changes for plastics in the wiring.

BTW: as far as I’m aware, this is an owner’s forum and has no official connection with Ford so I doubt they would reach out to you here!!
…. Although we do have a couple of Ford technicians who contribute regularly.

[wobblynobbly]

Check that no one has nicked your `cat' of the exhaust system

[Chrisp74]

Try this stuff?
https://rejel.com/din81s/
Does reference rodent damage, and stops the van going rusty!

[Alia70]

Had our wheelchair accessible Tourneo for 2 yrs.....cables underneath were chewed in August, and again last month so used rat tape on this. Took it out sunday and nothing registering in dash..no diesel despite 3/4 tank and wouldnt drive over 20mph

Rac looked and wiring in engine all chewed!

My husbands VW van and now his loan Peugeot also chewed.

Really dont know what we can do to stop this as using sprays to.deter and lights as drive quite dark.

Any ideas? Has anyone used a sonic repellent on engine that they can recommend.

Really need our van for our disabled son as hes at.college miles away and if i need to get him i have no confidence van wont break down on motorway. Even worse if i needed to get.to hospital quickly.

[metalworker0]

Going to sound stupid this but guarantee rodents will not touch your cables or wiring after this.
Rheumatism ointment ...such as "Deep Heat" meant for putting on skin, so should not harm cables, get it on your tongue ...and you'll know why rats will not want to go near it.
All the best..mark

[metalworker0]

Another product goes by the name of FIERY JACK
all the best.mark

[Alia70]

Another product goes by the name of FIERY JACK
all the <span class="skimlinks-unlinked">best.mark</span>

Thanks Mark
Ive spoken to ford today and its a new loom, adblue pipe then see frim there. They wont spray anything on wires for me and the rat tape used on the previous chewed wire under the van has teeth marks in as well!
Im at a loss as dont know if its a squirrel, rats or mice.
Bait traps nothing taken and nothing in squirrel trap!
My husbands Vw van also chewed like this as well

[metalworker0]

Well if you are not happy to go under there yourself, and try the idea above ..i don't see a solution.
if ford will not do it ...are they thinking they want to take more money off you for fixing the damage done by rodents in the future.

The other choice is an ultrasonic pest repeller ..on ebay anything from £5

NOTE THOUGH:

You are going under the vehicle to tie it in place
You will be buying a battery powered unit .
You will need to replace the batteries every ?
You will be looking ..at buying a unit that can be tied on with tie-raps and not one that you stick in the soil.

VERSIS
Going under there and daubing a bit of ointment on the wiring

all the best.mark

[RobsCAF]

I bought from new a 2022 custom in May last year.

Since then I’ve had 2 occasions with rodent damage to the wiring!! Plus another couple of warning lights that thankfully have been fixed under the warranty.

Each case of rodent damage has cost me over £500 to replace damaged meta sensor and wiring. Ford offer no solutions to prevent it happening again….

Very annoying, stressful and frustrating.

Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated.

[FJ111200]

Ford offer no solutions to prevent it happening again….

Very annoying, stressful and frustrating.

Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated.

They wouldn't, it's not their problem.
Rats like to be near a food supply so if you get rid of the food supply then you'll get rid of the rats. You also don't want to get rid of the rats with poison because you don't want one crawling off to die in the depths of the van somewhere because it will end up stinking for a bit.
Rats are on the increase because us humans are dirty creatures and rats like our wastefulness with food. Bird feeders can also be a source of food for rats because of the mess the birds create with dropped food.
A rat is ready to breed after 7 or 8 weeks and they have litters of about 7 or 8 so multiply that to see how the problem spreads.

[Pete 43]

Would it be a possibility to set up a trail camera to find out what is eating the wires?