Rat chewed the fog lamp wires of my Volkswagen Vento TSI

The service centre quoted Rs 2500 for the repairs. I got the job done myself for just Rs 250.

BHPian HrishiMahajan10 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Last week I noticed that my left fog lamp has stopped working. So being just a fog lamp, my first thought was the bulb, based on that I went to the VW service station and they mentioned that there are no issues with the bulb but the connecting cable is chewed by the rat.

An immediate response from my side was, can we replace the cable. Apparently, the cable and that connector were out of stock and they quoted me Rs 1900 for the cable connector and 600 for fitting charges.

I gave my number and asked the service engineer to call back once they have that cable connector in the inventory.

Meanwhile, at the back of my mind, I was not convinced that just connector replacement would cause Rs 2500, so I started decoding that connector and figured out that it's just a simple two-wire connector with a clip and decided to check a local car accessories shop. Fortunately, I got a similar connector from a nearby shop for 250 Rs. I took out those wires with the connector and put them into the VW connector and did the patching.

2500 Rs task done in 250 Rs.

Pin layout

Put the wires into the VW connector

Patching

Opened four T20 nuts from the bottom of the front bumper, plugged the connector back, and that's it.

Here's what BHPian Ashtoncastelino had to say about the matter:

Awesome fix! ASS will never try to repair the wiring, they directly advise replacing the harness which is pricey. It's good that you checked at stores if they had the connector and saved 10 times the cost of not buying a harness.

This is my worst fear when I take my car to my native. Recently my uncle's 2014 Tata Super Ace Mint whilst parked overnight, a rat had chewed on the Diesel Filter Sensor wires. The 'Water in Diesel filter' light popped on the cluster after that. I always wonder why rats tend to chew at the end of the connector? It gets super frustrating and spoils the day.

I managed to get a Depinning Kit, removed the connector, de-pinned the pins and crimped new pins into it and taped it all well.

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