Well, the rabbits are at it again...

[SD ///M4]

My Z4 M Roadster is our third car and spends much of its time sitting in the driveway under a car cover and connected to a CTEK charger. It's been occasionally driven recently up until the couple of heat waves we've had where the temps were in the mid-upper 90s.

I went out to check on it last week and discovered that rabbits have eaten through the cable that sits right on top of the S54 engine. Again.

The first time was a couple of years ago and I actually opened the hood and caught a rabbit chewing on the cable. I was able to drive the car to my independent guy and he fixed it. It's only a two-wire connection, so nothing complicated, and there was enough wire on the plug end for him to splice in another pair of wires, solder them, seal them with shrink tubing and then cover the whole thing in electrical tape. It didn't look that good but it was functional.

This time they ate completely through the wires. I was able to unplug the plug end, take off the right-angle plastic plug boot and I have enough wire remaining on the plug end to do this again. The cable is the one that sits right in the middle of the engine. It comes from the firewall area where it looks like it gets connected to a much larger wiring harness, so replacing the cable is probably not possible. The cable comes straight out toward the front, along the top of one of the fuel rails (?), through a keeper ring, then makes a 180 degree loop into the right-angle plug which plugs into the plug receiver that's perpendicular to the engine. I've searched realoem.com and can't figure out what system this cable is part of or what sensor it plugs into.

This time I want it to look as stock as possible so I need a couple of favors:
1. I need a good picture of the cable as it looks on the stock engine for reference.
2. I need a measurement of the length of the cable as it exits the small keeper ring above the left fuel rail all the way around until it enters the right-angle plug boot so that I can replicate this loop as closely as possible.

There appears to be multiple sources for the 1/4" corrugated flexible wire loom that covers the wires, and it's available in either solid or split. Here's one example: https://smile.amazon.com/Non-Slit-Po...0&sr=1-10&th=1. Any other suggestions on how to complete this repair and get back to stock appearance are appeciated.

Photos:
The first photo is is taken from the side, with the plug dissassembled and showing the bare wires. The cable would normally go under the black cable on the left, under the black module (what is this?) on the right, exit through the keeper ring to the right of the black module, make a 180 degree loop, and come back into the end of the right-angle plug boot.

The second photo is taken from the front. You can clearly see the keeper ring. The whole cable is covered with 1/4" flexible corrugated wire loom, from where it connects to a larger wiring harness until it enters the plug boot.

[racerbruce]

Those Little Sonz-A-Bitches....

[mrocket]

I took a few pics from my 06 M Roadster - one w/ a measurement of ~12".. hope this helps.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...9V?usp=sharing

[Huz-Z]

Where is Elmer Fudd when you need him!

[racerbruce]

Originally Posted by Huz-Z

Where is Elmer Fudd when you need him!

Amen!

[SD ///M4]

Originally Posted by Huz-Z

Where is Elmer Fudd when you need him!

Wascaly Wabbit!

[SD ///M4]

Originally Posted by mrocket

I took a few pics from my 06 M Roadster - one w/ a measurement of ~12".. hope this helps.

This is perfect, thanks! Shorter than I remember!

[wdb]

Boy, I sure don't miss those days. I had squirrels living under hoods, storing nuts in intake plenums, chewing through fuel lines. I also had groundhogs crawling up into the engine compartment for warmth. Now I have everything garaged.

Rabbits are very tasty, if you lean that way. Otherwise you might try have-a-heart traps. Good luck with the wiring!

[pungo]

I use a mint spray on my vehicles that don't get driven daily, critters stay away. YMMV

[SD ///M4]

Originally Posted by pungo

I use a mint spray on my vehicles that don't get driven daily, critters stay away. YMMV

After the last incident I got some mint sachets that I hung inside the engine compartment with small carabiners. Unfortunately, the scent got depleted and I didn't replace them. On my Home Depot list again. I'll look for the spray.

[rsutoratosu]

I breed rabbit... u wouldn't believe the amount of iphone / android charging cable people leave plug in at home and these guys just go through them.. Have you tried steel braided lines ?

I assume these are wild rabbits ? lol

[SD ///M4]

Originally Posted by rsutoratosu

I breed rabbit... u wouldn't believe the amount of iphone / android charging cable people leave plug in at home and these guys just go through them.. Have you tried steel braided lines ?

I assume these are wild rabbits ? lol

Yes, I have a one acre property on the edge of a canyon preserve, with the canyon preserve to my west and south sides. The rabbits come up from the canyon at dusk and spread down the street, munching on the neighbors' lawns on our cul-de-sac. When a car comes down the street at night, they all make a beeline for the canyon, running across my property, and sometimes underneath the Roadster.

The last time this happened, I had just had the hillside cleared of brush, eliminating the rabbits' food and shelter. It was shortly after that when I found the first rabbit sitting right on top of the engine, munching away at this cable.

[rsutoratosu]

Know what helps ? snakes, get lots of snakes...

jk they'll start staying in ur engine bay too..

[SD ///M4]

Originally Posted by rsutoratosu

Know what helps ? snakes, get lots of snakes...

jk they'll start staying in ur engine bay too..

Just had a rattle snake in the backyard last week. I've killed 3 rattlers on our property and one in the street in front of the house. I'm sure that there are many more on the hillside! We've seen a few king snakes over the years. Coyotes are the biggest threat to rabbits here. We've had coyotes regularly go through our yard to get to the canyon, all captured by my Arlo cameras. When the rabbit sightings are up, the coyotes show up next. It's a regular circle of life...

I forgot to mention in my original post that the neighbors across the street had rats eat parts of the wiring harness in their X3. It was at the dealer for at least a week getting that fixed. It must be something in the German wiring harnesses because the daughter of the neighbor across the street leaves her two FJs on the street and in the driveway and the next door neighbor leaves his GMC pickup truck in the driveway and neither of them have had a problem.

[Oldmcst]

Originally Posted by SD ///M4

My Z4 M Roadster is our third car and spends much of its time sitting in the driveway under a car cover and connected to a CTEK charger. It's been occasionally driven recently up until the couple of heat waves we've had where the temps were in the mid-upper 90s.

I went out to check on it last week and discovered that rabbits have eaten through the cable that sits right on top of the S54 engine. Again.

The first time was a couple of years ago and I actually opened the hood and caught a rabbit chewing on the cable. I was able to drive the car to my independent guy and he fixed it. It's only a two-wire connection, so nothing complicated, and there was enough wire on the plug end for him to splice in another pair of wires, solder them, seal them with shrink tubing and then cover the whole thing in electrical tape. It didn't look that good but it was functional.


This time they ate completely through the wires. I was able to unplug the plug end, take off the right-angle plastic plug boot and I have enough wire remaining on the plug end to do this again. The cable is the one that sits right in the middle of the engine. It comes from the firewall area where it looks like it gets connected to a much larger wiring harness, so replacing the cable is probably not possible. The cable comes straight out toward the front, along the top of one of the fuel rails (?), through a keeper ring, then makes a 180 degree loop into the right-angle plug which plugs into the plug receiver that's perpendicular to the engine. I've searched realoem.com and can't figure out what system this cable is part of or what sensor it plugs into.

This time I want it to look as stock as possible so I need a couple of favors:
1. I need a good picture of the cable as it looks on the stock engine for reference.
2. I need a measurement of the length of the cable as it exits the small keeper ring above the left fuel rail all the way around until it enters the right-angle plug boot so that I can replicate this loop as closely as possible.

There appears to be multiple sources for the 1/4" corrugated flexible wire loom that covers the wires, and it's available in either solid or split. Here's one example: https://smile.amazon.com/Non-Slit-Po...0&sr=1-10&th=1. Any other suggestions on how to complete this repair and get back to stock appearance are appeciated.

Photos:
The first photo is is taken from the side, with the plug dissassembled and showing the bare wires. The cable would normally go under the black cable on the left, under the black module (what is this?) on the right, exit through the keeper ring to the right of the black module, make a 180 degree loop, and come back into the end of the right-angle plug boot.

The second photo is taken from the front. You can clearly see the keeper ring. The whole cable is covered with 1/4" flexible corrugated wire loom, from where it connects to a larger wiring harness until it enters the plug boot.

I use moth balls when I store my car over the winter to keep the mice away. Probably would work on bunnies too.
When I was a kid we hunted rabbits. Mighty good eatin' IMHO.

[pungo]

soy-based wire insulation. Going green has its consequences, critters eat it.

[ShakyDog]

Groundhog got in my garage and munched on my TPS monitor cables. Spent all kinds of time trying to turn off the light and when I took it in for service they told me the great news.

Steve