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Cause

Rodent damage to wiring

Wiring chewed by rodents, which is more common than most diagnoses assume and increasingly so — many manufacturers now use soy- or other plant-based insulation, which is more attractive to chew than the older petroleum-based kind.

The damage is arbitrary rather than patterned, which is its signature: unrelated circuits failing together in a way no shared supply or bus explains. A set of faults that makes no electrical sense is worth an inspection before it is worth more measurement.

Look where a rodent would go: the top of the engine near residual warmth, inside the airbox, along the bulkhead, and around the battery tray. Nesting material in the airbox or on the manifold is the confirming evidence and often appears before the electrical fault does. Repair the whole damaged section rather than the one broken wire, since insulation nibbled but not severed fails later, and address why the vehicle is attractive — a vehicle that stands, or is parked near food or cover, will be revisited.

Typically a moderate job.

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Some of these codes mean you should stop driving

1 of the 2 codes this can cause indicate a fault where continuing to drive risks damage or is unsafe. Which one you have matters more than the cause does — read the code's own page before deciding.

Codes this can cause (2)

Codes where this is a likely explanation first, rather than merely a possible one.

Information, not instruction

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Have anything you intend to act on checked by a trained person against the manufacturer's own procedure for your vehicle. Nothing here replaces that procedure.

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