It's Saturday May 9th 2026.. What is Everyone doing this weekend?

Honey do list. Put a tire rack up on the wall to hold the paddles when not in use. Barely fits them. Mowing and pulling weeds. Installed a couple of light fixtures.
 
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A couple of months ago I turned the Tundra on for it's Bi-weekly romp around the neighborhood and the dash lit up with lights. After some research, I found the Knock Sensor wire was likely chewed up by rats or mice (very predominant in all areas I've lived). So... I spent some time gathering all of the parts for that fix and whatever may be going on in there once it's apart.

Once the intake manifold was pulled, I verified that it also had the dreaded Valley Plate leak (was losing some coolant - sealant around the valley plate either breaks down over time or it was not sufficiently installed from the factory - no one knows or cares) so that will get handled as well.

Parts were under $600 (just gaskets and hoses but got new knock sensors since it has 170k miles)... it's all mainly just labor, cleaning and devising some physical way to keep the rats or mice out of there in the future. All in all it's been a great truck, the most reliable on this website by far and just needs a bit of attention.

I should be done with this mess by tomorrow...

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A couple of months ago I turned the Tundra on for it's Bi-weekly romp around the neighborhood and the dash lit up with lights. After some research, I found the Knock Sensor wire was likely chewed up by rats or mice (very predominant in all areas I've lived). So... I spent some time gathering all of the parts for that fix and whatever may be going on in there once it's apart.

Once the intake manifold was pulled, I verified that it also had the dreaded Valley Plate leak (was losing some coolant - sealant around the valley plate either breaks down over time or it was not sufficiently installed from the factory - no one knows or cares) so that will get handled as well.

Parts were under $600 (just gaskets and hoses but got new knock sensors since it has 170k miles)... it's all mainly just labor, cleaning and devising some physical way to keep the rats or mice out of there in the future. All in all it's been a great truck, the most reliable on this website by far and just needs a bit of attention.

I should be done with this mess by tomorrow...

View attachment 183564
Getting closer! Some more cleaning, then the FIPG application, curing and reassembly. At least it's mainly labor. After this, I get to deal with that oil leak on the DS valve cover...

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A couple of months ago I turned the Tundra on for it's Bi-weekly romp around the neighborhood and the dash lit up with lights. After some research, I found the Knock Sensor wire was likely chewed up by rats or mice (very predominant in all areas I've lived). So... I spent some time gathering all of the parts for that fix and whatever may be going on in there once it's apart.

Once the intake manifold was pulled, I verified that it also had the dreaded Valley Plate leak (was losing some coolant - sealant around the valley plate either breaks down over time or it was not sufficiently installed from the factory - no one knows or cares) so that will get handled as well.

Parts were under $600 (just gaskets and hoses but got new knock sensors since it has 170k miles)... it's all mainly just labor, cleaning and devising some physical way to keep the rats or mice out of there in the future. All in all it's been a great truck, the most reliable on this website by far and just needs a bit of attention.

I should be done with this mess by tomorrow...

View attachment 183564
Stuff some steel wool where the rats like to go.
 
Stuff some steel wool where the rats like to go.
That is the exact plan! I was going to fabricate a tight mesh shield of sorts to close the gap front and back but with what I see, Steel Wool should work just fine, save me a lot of time and I have a huge box of it. 🤘
 
This absolutely absurd and labor intensive job is done! Everything is back together, Knock Sensor harness is now wrapped in material that should prevent the rodents from controlling their teeth growth, on it. Steel Wool is stuffed in all cavities that would allow them to enter that area again. Now, time for a week long Detail. Next to my Daughter, this thing is my baby and deserves better. Didn't locate the sound deadening foam that is falling a apart in time... will come back to that some other day/week/year.

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I understand your pain bother, I have a house in the desert and mice/rats/squirrels get into anything that sits more than a day outside. Tractor, quad, etc and nightmare in the engine area and even had some rodent fill the exhaust and air box of my utility quad with dry horse pellets and dry cat food.
 
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