Thought I would share my recent experience with a random engine "problem" with everybody.
Was on travel all last week (Mon-Fri). Came back home and went to start the Z Saturday. Car started ok at first then sputtered and started to feel like it had no power (check engine light came on). Drove it down the block and back to my garge. Car would not get up past 3,500 - 4,000 rpms in first. I was freaking out at this time!
What could it be? Bad gas? Loss of compression, bad pison rings? Fuel starvation? On and on I kept thinking the worst.
Got the wife to come out to start the vehicle several times for me so I could pinpoint a strange sound (after blipping gas) coming from the driver's side of engine. After about 5 mins. of looking around the engine bay and listening for the strange sound, I finally stumbled upon this...
Turns out that while I was away a rodent got in my engine and chewed away at this harness near the driver's side firewall (VVEL sensor?) and part of some tubing that carries coolant. Next to my car I noticed a box of birdseed that my wife put out in the garage that the rodent got into.
Luckily it only ate the two wires. I promplty spliced in two new 20AWG wires (see image below) and and epoxy & taped the partially chewed coolant hose.
Cleaned up the repair by placing a new plastic corrugated conduit around the wires and taped it all up. Not exactly sure what the two wires (green & yellow) are, but I believe they provide pwr/gnd/signal to/from the VVEL sensor which would explain the loss of power, i.e. the ECU was confused and the VVEL stepper motor was stuck at the position which would not allow the valves to open all the way.
Very glad I was able to quickly pinpoint the problem and fix it myself. Lessons learned here: 1. Never leave food out for rodents near your car, 2. Put rodent poison/traps out in the garage near the garage door, 3. When car has been sitting for a while and an issue occurs during restart, inspect for rodent damage around engine.
Don't know why this stuff is so enticing to those critters, but I've had this happen years ago when a squirrel took out all the wires in my main engine harness in my Jeep while parked in the city for a week.
Hope this experience will be helpful to others experiencing weird random engine failures
