Cars and Rodents

For the last month we've been dealing with an intermittent "check engine" light in the Honda. It first came on before we went to ZOE last month, and we took it into the shop. Their diagnostic said it was a bad gas cap, so we replaced it and headed to ZOE. On the way down, it came on again, so we took it back in when we got back, and they replaced a couple of solenoids. The next day it came back on once more, so we took it back yet again and they replaced a third solenoid. Two days later, it came on again, so the local Honda specialist we were taking it to refunded us some $$ and recommended we take it to Walnut Creek Honda (one of the dealers in the area).

In the mean time... while all this was going on, we also had a large (rat size) field mouse in the garage, and it was chewing plastic and rubber hoses under the hood. Really did some damage... but I caught him in a rat trap and ended his reign.

We dropped the Accord at WCH Sunday evening so they could begin checking it out and hopefully solving the mystery. After a day and a half of tests and cleaning out emissions hoses, they decided the only thing left to do was drop the gas tank and check the hoses that are connected to the top of the tank. Meanwhile, the cost of this venture continues to escalate.

We had the option of just leaving it alone, but in CA, you can't pass your smog test every two years if the "check engine" light is on. Now we just had it "smogged," so we'd have 2 years... but then it might not be able to be fixed... who knows. Anyway, we decided to bite the bullet and just have them drop the tank.

It turns out that that pesky field mouse had crawled clear back up on top of the gas tank and chewed some of those hoses as well. The good news is that it should fix the problem... the bad news is that it's expensive.

The best news in all of this is that, since the rodent caused the damage, it is covered under our comprehensive (after our deductible), so it won't be that bad. And we'll just go ahead and replace all the other hoses and wires with rodent damage. Won't get the car back until Monday, but at least we shouldn't see that "check engine" light for a while... unless, of course, there's a gremlin in the car in addition to the rodent.