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T6 Cali Chewed Cables

J

John Stevenson

Messages
46
Location
London
Vehicle
T6 Ocean 204
Cautionary ongoing tale......

Drove our 4 month old T6 Cali one day a couple of weeks back and filled up with diesel and when I turned the engine over after filling up the oil sensor light came on as well as the catalytic converter light and the start/stop also had an error. No loss of performance in the vehicle so I thought just warning errors or teething problems with the new car. We were off to Italy the next day so after checking with the AA they said it should be ok to drive. 1000 miles later and back in the UK with no problems took it to the van centre workshop for a checkup. Still under warranty so should not be an issue....

Turns out something (rats of foxes) had chewed through some sensor wiring. The oil level sensor loom and also 2 exhaust sensors (exhaust gas temp sensor + nox sensor). Not fixable under warranty as it was an 'external influence'. £1000 inc parts and labour. Obviously I was not best pleased as we have no control over this and that as its a camper van that it might sometimes be in rural areas and animals might be attracted to the warmth of a cooling down vehicle when parked.

I duly logged a call with VW customer care and after 2 days have agreed as a good will gesture to fix it under warranty as the car is so new. But any future occurrences would not be paid for.

These wires do seem rather exposed under the car so my question to VW now is that while you cannot plug up every hole in a car why are such important wires so badly exposed under the vehicle. When I pick up the car I am going to take a look at exactly how exposed they are and see what VW and the dealer are prepared to do to try and mitigate this. Obviously we cannot be slapped with a £1k bill every time some animal decides its hungry.

I saw a thread on here and this happened to other people and there are some suggestions.

I will keep you posted.....
 
You read this kind of things also on the forums with the big white campers as they usually stand still for months outside under a tin roof as they don't fit a garage.
They say many times "weasels" and "ferrets" caused this ( don't know if the translation is correct)
Having this on a brand new 6-er is a nightmare!
 
You read this kind of things also on the forums with the big white campers as they usually stand still for months outside under a tin roof as they don't fit a garage.
They say many times "weasels" and "ferrets" caused this ( don't know if the translation is correct)
Having this on a brand new 6-er is a nightmare!

It is indeed. First hurdle is that VW have agreed to pay. I would say that this is a design flaw. These cables should be protected more. As far as I could tell these particular cables are very exposed. Some strengthened tubing with tie wraps might help. Seen that on one of the threads.
 
Does anyone know what's in the cables that makes them so attractive to small animals?
 
These wires do seem rather exposed under the car so my question to VW now is that while you cannot plug up every hole in a car why are such important wires so badly exposed under the vehicle. When I pick up the car I am going to take a look at exactly how exposed they are and see what VW and the dealer are prepared to do to try and mitigate this. Obviously we cannot be slapped with a £1k bill every time some animal decides its hungry.

I saw a thread on here and this happened to other people and there are some suggestions.

I will keep you posted.....
Thanks for posting this - not something I had thought of... Any idea where it happened? At home or whilst away?
 
Mice and Rats eating through cables is a surprisingly common problem. it is most common on vehicles that are not used day to day. I have a BMW Z4 that goes into storage over the winter months and I am very careful setting traps/poison in my garage as I have been a victim of both cables and insulation being on a rats menu. I also have a pal who part owns a Porsche dealership and he tells me that particularly over winter months this is a real problem. So its not just VW's. Storage outside is the worst case I would guess. No easy solutions.
 
Does anyone know what's in the cables that makes them so attractive to small animals?

I was hoping VW had stopped using the bacon flavoured cables for the T6 but it seems not.

Rodents tend to sharpen their teeth, and find the pvc on cables a pleasant texture apparently for doing this. It does seem a design flaw to me to be honest. I also suspect it would be far cheaper for a auto electrician to fix these cables than VWs extortionate prices quoted above.

Apparently for bigger cables this is now a common theory too:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/mar/12/animals-powerlines-sky-wildlife
 
I was hoping VW had stopped using the bacon flavoured cables for the T6 but it seems not.

Rodents tend to sharpen their teeth, and find the pvc on cables a pleasant texture apparently for doing this. It does seem a design flaw to me to be honest. I also suspect it would be far cheaper for a auto electrician to fix these cables than VWs extortionate prices quoted above.

Apparently for bigger cables this is now a common theory too:
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/mar/12/animals-powerlines-sky-wildlife

Ooo bacon, the maple kind ?
:bananadance
 
Warning lights came on for oil sensor and stop/start. Took it to the van centre in Ballieston, Glasgow and they sent through this picture which they suggest was caused by vermin. It will cost £200 to fix!
Clever little devils must climb up the tyres and then into the underbody. We haven't used the van as often recently and have paid the price. Options - 1 -use the van on a regular basis; 2 - trap some mice; 3 -combination of 1 and 2.

Anybody got any other options?

Chewed wires.jpg
 
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