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Squirrel wiring damage 2024 RT

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151 views 5 replies 4 participants last post by  Cbayman  
#1 ·
I chased a squirrel out of my wife's 2008 Prius and it jumped under my Ridgeline. I thought I got it out but the next morning I had a TPMS not working and 'keyless access system not working' errors. I have spent about 6 hours taking off panels in the engine compartment and in the cabin looking for damaged wiring but have not found any yet. These won't clear so there is probably a real issue to fix.

Does anyone have any suggestions where I should look for chewed wires that would affect both of these systems?

I'm usually good at finding and repairing packrat chewed wire harnesses but can't find what needs to be fixed. I have years of experience repairing small aircraft harnesses as well as pack rat damage to cars and trucks. I just can't find anything to fix. There are no damaged harness wires that I can find in the engine compartment or cabin.

I'd like to know where the antennas are for these systems so I can check - but probably somewhere these two systems have a cable assemble in common?

Thanks,
Jim
 
#2 ·
I'm a journeyman avionics technician but won't be much help....the two systems you cite seem unrelated and I'm not sure where they might have some common connections. Not to be obvious, but I'm assuming your battery is fully charged ? I'd be tempted to disconnect it for a 1/2 day and reconnect and check OBDC codes.
 
#3 ·
Interestingly, there is a single electronic module called the Keyless Access/TPMS Control Unit. This module has been known to be troublesome, although the issue typically manifests itself with the dash appearing to go berserk. The issue in that case is usually that the module was not properly conformal coated. The coating protects the circuit board and keeps contamination or dendrites from causing fine pitched components from coming into contact. This usually takes some time for the problem to manifest, so I guess I'd be surprised if this is the problem you're having. It's just interesting that you're having problems with both the keyless access system and the TPMS system and there is one module for both of those systems. So maybe the problem is in the wiring harness leading to that module.

The module is inside the cab located behind your glove box. Most people have had to remove the glove box to gain access to the module.

Here's a picture of the Keyless Access/TPMS Control Unit:

Although pretty long, that thread has lots more pictures.
 
#5 ·
Thanks,
I'll check this out. Having been in electronics contract manufacturing for almost 18 years, I am very familiar with different conformal coatings and also the many ways they can be wrongfully applied. Unless the squirrel relieved themselves on the board it's probably not the coating, but having both functions in one module it's a good chance that is the chewed harness area. This is great information, thanks, I'll report back.

I'm very hopeful about this 'lead'.

Thx,
Jim
 
#6 ·
Check fuses in the 2 under hood fuse boxes. Start with fuse A26. Also do a survey of all the equipment, windows, home link, sun roof etc as this will give you a clue of what circuit is impacted. Plug in a scan tool, if it’s not powered, then check the A26 fuse and circuit. If it is wire damge, most likely it’s somewhere under the hood.