BS Left Me Stranded (Crank Sensor FAULTS)

[Scapino]

My BS (almost) left me stranded 50 miles from civilization

I’ve got a fishing cabin in ‘remote’ Canada. (GPS coordinates if interested: 48.830851, -89.387473) It’s been in my family for over 20 years. I’ve gone up there every year in my Sport Trac. My father would spend 3+ months up there with his F150. My brother goes up in his F450. This was probably the 4th or 5th trip up there in my BS Outer Banks. Last week I went to start BS one morning (for a trip into town for supplies) and all hell broke loose. Started really rough. Check Engine light obviously came on, plus the little Wrench light (not sure what that one means).

So I nursed it down the dirt road ok (about 40mph). Once I got to the paved road, at first it was kinda ok (I was able to do 50mph). But then it slowly went downhill from there. Best speed I could maintain was 25 mph on flat road. Up to 40 or 50mph down hills. But going up hills there were several times I didn’t think we’d make it (best I could do with the accelerator to the floor was 10 – 15mph).

So I limped it straight to the nearest (the only) Ford dealership. They said ‘multiple’ Crank Sensor Circuit codes. Upon inspecting the Crank Sensor they said rodents chewed through the sensor cable. See attached pic.

In 20 years of going up there we have never had a problem with rodents (in any of the lawn mowers, tractors, trucks, etc). But, I can’t say that the rodent damage occurred up there. I could been latent damage - that the cable just finally broke free from past damage. But, I’ve no clue if there is any other rodent damage just lingering…

So, I guess my question is this: I thought rodents chewing on car/truck cables was a thing of the past? I mean, I thought cables were protected from these sorts of things? How do I protect myself (my vehicles) from this???

The good news (I guess) is that the local dealer only charged $470 CAD to repair it (an hour labor to diagnosis it, an hour to repair it, plus $110 CAD in parts).

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[Escape2Bronco]

So, I guess my question is this: I thought rodents chewing on car/truck cables was a thing of the past? I mean, I thought cables were protected from these sorts of things? How do I protect myself (my vehicles) from this???

The good news (I guess) is that the local dealer only charged $470 CAD to repair it (an hour labor to diagnosis it, an hour to repair it, plus $110 CAD in parts).

Actually, just the opposite. Most of the wire insulation is now soy based instead of petroleum based. Critters especially mice and squirrels love the wires now.

I keep a trap set for them. Others have had luck with mothballs, mint scent, dryer sheets. I prefer the elimination method over the deterrent method.

https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a21933466/does-your-car-have-wiring-that-rodents-think-is-tasty/

https://www.broncosportforum.com/forum/threads/deterring-mice-from-the-bs-nesting-on-cabin-air-filter.9908/

 

[TCBSport]

My son's Fusion had the electric steering wiring eaten by mice and conked out the steering....could barely turn the steering wheel! He had to get new wiring and is trying to prevent a reoccurrence with peppermint spray.

 

[Wotan]

I had my GMC Sierra wires chewed on by rodents at Zion National Parks. I had to be towed into Cedar City to the GMC dealer to be repaired.

This is a big problem in Sequoia National Park, Read this:

https://www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/marmots.htm

 

[Dude]

Hadn’t seen this preventative measure before, great article!!

 

[Jill]

My BS (almost) left me stranded 50 miles from civilization

I’ve got a fishing cabin in ‘remote’ Canada. (GPS coordinates if interested: 48.830851, -89.387473) It’s been in my family for over 20 years. I’ve gone up there every year in my Sport Trac. My father would spend 3+ months up there with his F150. My brother goes up in his F450. This was probably the 4th or 5th trip up there in my BS Outer Banks. Last week I went to start BS one morning (for a trip into town for supplies) and all hell broke loose. Started really rough. Check Engine light obviously came on, plus the little Wrench light (not sure what that one means).

So I nursed it down the dirt road ok (about 40mph). Once I got to the paved road, at first it was kinda ok (I was able to do 50mph). But then it slowly went downhill from there. Best speed I could maintain was 25 mph on flat road. Up to 40 or 50mph down hills. But going up hills there were several times I didn’t think we’d make it (best I could do with the accelerator to the floor was 10 – 15mph).

So I limped it straight to the nearest (the only) Ford dealership. They said ‘multiple’ Crank Sensor Circuit codes. Upon inspecting the Crank Sensor they said rodents chewed through the sensor cable. See attached pic.

In 20 years of going up there we have never had a problem with rodents (in any of the lawn mowers, tractors, trucks, etc). But, I can’t say that the rodent damage occurred up there. I could been latent damage - that the cable just finally broke free from past damage. But, I’ve no clue if there is any other rodent damage just lingering…

So, I guess my question is this: I thought rodents chewing on car/truck cables was a thing of the past? I mean, I thought cables were protected from these sorts of things? How do I protect myself (my vehicles) from this???

The good news (I guess) is that the local dealer only charged $470 CAD to repair it (an hour labor to diagnosis it, an hour to repair it, plus $110 CAD in parts).

Off topic but as a Ford Canada retiree who worked with our dealers, I’m interested in which dealer you went to and where your cabin is located.

 

[Quashish]

Actually, just the opposite. Most of the wire insulation is now soy based instead of petroleum based. Critters especially mice and squirrels love the wires now.

exactly this! good going tree huggers!

 

[BourbonRunner]

This was posted on the JT forums last week, around 11,000 ft headed up to Imogene Pass. This Gladiator is used by the crews that maintain the road as a fuel station. If they didn't wrap it, it's a good chance they'd come out to find it a permanent fixture in the scenery.

I wonder how long these soy-based wires will last absent any critters chewing on them and will we still see MY 23/24 vehicles on the road in 10-15 years?

 

[Dude]

Soy wiring insulation has been in use around a decade or so. Good article, provides a counter point-of-view.

https://www.torquenews.com/1083/car-talk-helps-bust-myth-soy-why-rodents-are-eating-your-car-s-wires

 

[Escape2Bronco]

Soy wiring insulation has been in use around a decade or so. Good article, provides a counter point-of-view.

https://www.torquenews.com/1083/car-talk-helps-bust-myth-soy-why-rodents-are-eating-your-car-s-wires

I heard Rodents prefer Kikkoman Brand insulation.

 

[Escape2Bronco]

I can say that my 2006 Escape sat outside for many years and they loved to build nests in the cabin air filter but never touched a wire in it. In 2020 I installed a new HVAC system and the little buggers completely stripped the insulation of the control wires going out to the AC compressor.

 

[Scapino]

Soy wiring insulation has been in use around a decade or so. Good article, provides a counter point-of-view.

https://www.torquenews.com/1083/car-talk-helps-bust-myth-soy-why-rodents-are-eating-your-car-s-wires

The article states, "If you’d like to prevent your vehicle from being eaten by mice, start now by controlling the rodent population where you most commonly park your vehicle." Problem is, I don't have a rodent issue!! The BS is garaged in New Hampshire. It sits outside at work (in Mass). And in Canada, yes there are mice. But we've been up there for 20+ years without a problem like this. I'm not convinced that it was rodents that caused this...

 

[Dude]

…I'm not convinced that it was rodents that caused this...

That’s interesting. I looked over your other posts .. one question, did the dealership show you exactly where that Crank Sensor is located?

The condition of the wires shown in your posted pic are indicative of damage but I’m guessing you were not present when the dealership was diagnosing the issue and probably didn’t see the actual condition just as the Tech was looking at the installed Crank Sensor with a shop light before replacing it.

So probably impossible to know exact cause but what has you convinced it might not be rodent caused?

(Btw .. there are owners reporting wiring damage due to rodents .. your thought “rodents chewing on car/truck cables was a thing of the past” would not be correct in todays world)

 

[Scapino]

@All:
Thanks for the feedback and interesting comments. Couple questions:

1) I'm not convinced that it was rodents that caused this... I say that b/c we've never had this problem in 20+ years up there (Canada). My BS has been up there 4 or 5 times now.

Looking at the photo I included in the original post, the copper appears to be corroded a bit leading me to believe that this is not recent damage. I think what ever caused this occurred sometime ago and that the wires just finally gave way. Any thoughts on if this was rodents or something else?

2) Assuming that it was rodent damage, how do I know that there is not other latent damage just waiting for me to have another breakdown? What should a inspect (besides everything)?

3) Where is the Crank Sensor located? I can at least look around in that area for any other damage.

 

[Dude]

@All:
Thanks for the feedback and interesting comments. Couple questions:

1) I'm not convinced that it was rodents that caused this... I say that b/c we've never had this problem in 20+ years up there (Canada). My BS has been up there 4 or 5 times now.

Looking at the photo I included in the original post, the copper appears to be corroded a bit leading me to believe that this is not recent damage. I think what ever caused this occurred sometime ago and that the wires just finally gave way. Any thoughts on if this was rodents or something else?

2) Assuming that it was rodent damage, how do I know that there is not other latent damage just waiting for me to have another breakdown? What should a inspect (besides everything)?

3) Where is the Crank Sensor located? I can at least look around in that area for any other damage.

I asked you similar questions in my prior post .. thanks for this reply and you can ignore my prior post

I think knowing where the crank sensor is located would be helpful so you can look around to see f there is other damage or if would be possible something external like a branch could have caused the wire damage since you drive in the remote area

I had looked at the pic and didn’t see copper corrosion other than what would be normal due to exposed wiring .. looked to me to have been pulled or chewed

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