Hi everyone. As the title says "rats ate my wiring harness"

I probably deserve this as I allowed my beautiful xj8 to sit in the garage for 2+ years.

The odd thing is I parked it 2 years ago because the dealership couldn't figure out why my front end was shaking at speeds above 35mph. A couple weeks ago I pulled it from the garage. She fired right up as if she was a daily driver. That's when I noticed rats had gotten under the hood as they had chewed a couple smaller coolant lines. Fixed that issue then dumped a couple hundred $$$ into her. I changed the oil, started her up and let her run a few minutes. Next day, crank but no start which led me to this awesome forum. I thought it was bore wash initially and after a couple frustrating days of reading forum after forum and going through the bore wash procedures i eventually concluded it's not bore wash. In the process of dumping oil into the plug bores I learned the plugs weren't getting spark. Next logical step is to check the crank sensor. That's when I found the rat nest nightmare. Is this the moment where I throw in the towel and just lick my wounds? Someone please give me a word of encouragement. Thanks everyone

 

Well, I guess it all depends how deep the love goes.
The fact she ran after 2 years, even shortly, is a good sign, and maybe you just disconnected something while working on the little stuff afterwards.

If it was my car, I should slowly work my way through the engine, clean up and repair where needed.
These engines are rather simple, and there are not a whole lot of wires and hoses involved, plus they are all rather visible.
Replacement wire looms should be available from breaker yards, or maybe from one of the members here on the forum.

Then, with the engine running again, I am sure some on this forum will love to put their teeth in your shaking problem.
Enough encouragement?

 

The shaking problem ended up being the brake caliper. It wouldn't disengage. I appreciate your words of encouragement. I halfway want to cut ties with this car because I've only been able to put a few hundred miles on the car since I've owned it. But, I don't know, there's just something about jaguar that makes me a gluten for punishment.

 

Yeah, you need a certain amount of dedication, besides of some luck.
This forum has quite some members who run from one into the other, and I admire their energy to keep going.

But having said that, if the base of the car is ok, if you got time, and if you can do some stuff yourself, these cars are paying back big time.

Just work logically through system after system, and repair, improve or replace where needed.
This real issues on these cars are rather limited, and in the meantime well documented in this forum.

 

On a 99', the crank sensor has an electrical connector right at it. If you can at least evict the nest, unplug the crank sensor and repair the broken wires even with some butt connectors as a temporary fix until you can get it on a lift to have wires soldered in place with heat shrink tubing around it, it'll be fine. The fact that you had it parked for 2 years and still runs says a lot. If you just really don't want to spend another dime and don't really think you want to drive it again, then sell it and let someone else enjoy it.

 

Depending on the weather, sometime this week I will get the 4000psi 8gpm hot water power washer, strong degreaser, bleach and pump up sprayer out, disconnect both terminals at the battery and discharge any remaining electricity within the capacitors, remove the coil packs and give her a deep cleaning to remove the smell of rat and disease from the engine compartment. I think the smell is what is most discouraging from working on the car at this point. If I have to I'll repeat this process until the smell is fully gone. From there I should be able to get my nose close enough to meticulously be methodical about doing the best hack job possible. I would like to do it the right way and replace the entire wiring harness but my skill set and experience level aren't quite there. I'm not entirely sure what that would fully entail? Would I need to pull the motor to replace the wiring harness? There aren't many videos available on YouTube. Thanks everyone

 

I should be very careful with a power washer on the engine, there are more than one thread of people having (insolvable) electric problems after water increase in main components.

I see your point, and don't have an alternative solution right now, but just want to warn you on the power washer first.

 

I agree with Eric. Shop vac crude out, plenty of ventilation, roughly 50/50 bleach and water in spray bottle. Maybe go over areas with hot water damp cloth after diluted bleach had sat for 5 or so minutes?? These are just some ideas. I know it sounds like a lot of work but, it's not even sellable at this point.

 

Thank you Eric and Boost. I will update this thread when the smell is gone. I find that with electronics, so long as there isn't any current in the system that could potentially short the ECM water will only damage components that are made from organic materials. I'm for sure going to let it completely dry before reconnecting the battery. No worries.

 

It's the many connectors that don't seal because of age getting wet that causes most of the pressure wash problems. A friend had to replace his abs module due to a short resulting from driving in heave rain.

 

Or...you could try getting friendly with your local aircraft mechanic...and using varsol rather than water...

 

Update.

I took everyone's advice and elected not to power wash the engine compartment and instead vacuumed out the nest and got busy solving the wiring harness puzzle. She's running. Took me the whole day but she fired right up. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to go back in and correct the coolant leak I created at the hose going into the heater core but at least now I know I'm not going to have to scrap her. The restricted performance code is still there but I consider today a win.

 

Oh man, that is good news, and a whole lot quicker than expected.
And glad you took the advice, I already gave up on the car ...

While you are in the heater hoses, be sure to check if you got heating inside the cabin.
Now is the right time to reverse flush the heater core in case it is blocked.

 

Don't laugh at this but.......

Check with your insurance company, animal damage may be a loss covered under your comprehensive like fire or theft.
Vector

 

I don't think he'd have insurance on a car that's been sitting in the garage with two years. But it's nice to know that the insurance may cover animal damage.