One day when driving home from work I noticed warning light showed on the dashboard referring to the adoptive lighting and said to immediately drive to the dealer. Next day I went to the dealer, they scanned the car and said they will replace the headlight under warranty. When the mechanic opened the hood he noticed half the pine tree inside the engine bay and discovered the drivers side headlight's wires chewed up by something. Also, both windshield washers hoses were cut as well. They replace the headlight harness for over $300 as this was not covered under warranty.
A week later, I've noticed a squirrel on the parking lot with mouth full of same pine leafs so I decided to look under the hood and discovered a new squirrels home right under the drivers side headlamp. Fortunately, nothing was chewed up yet, she was just building her nest. Few days later I got this new gadget from Amazon that is supposed to repel squirrels and installed it. It is powered by the cars battery. So far no squirrel problem, but we will see this fall when they will again start looking for warm nests. Problem is with the new type wiring shield car manufacturers are using. It is made from some kind of soy based ingredient and it attracts animals in cold weather. Not sure if it can be anything done about it but I wish Mazda would protect the wiring little closer to the plugs without leaving the ends of the wires exposed like that.
Little more of the insulation that covers the wires all the way to the plug would be sufficient in my opinion. Also, on the 2016 Mazda CX-5, there is way too much empty room under the drivers side headlamp. Perfect spot for any animal new home. Since this incident, I check under the hood every other day now, just in case.
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One day when driving home from work I noticed warning light showed on the dashboard referring to the adoptive lighting and said to immediately drive to the dealer. Next day I went to the dealer, they scanned the car and said they will replace the headlight under warranty. When the mechanic opened the hood he noticed half the pine tree inside the engine bay and discovered the drivers side headlight's wires chewed up by something. Also, both windshield washers hoses were cut as well. They replace the headlight harness for over $300 as this was not covered under warranty.
A week later, I've noticed a squirrel on the parking lot with mouth full of same pine leafs so I decided to look under the hood and discovered a new squirrels home right under the drivers side headlamp. Fortunately, nothing was chewed up yet, she was just building her nest. Few days later I got this new gadget from Amazon that is supposed to repel squirrels and installed it. It is powered by the cars battery. So far no squirrel problem, but we will see this fall when they will again start looking for warm nests. Problem is with the new type wiring shield car manufacturers are using. It is made from some kind of soy based ingredient and it attracts animals in cold weather. Not sure if it can be anything done about it but I wish Mazda would protect the wiring little closer to the plugs without leaving the ends of the wires exposed like that.
Little more of the insulation that covers the wires all the way to the plug would be sufficient in my opinion. Also, on the 2016 Mazda CX-5, there is way too much empty room under the drivers side headlamp. Perfect spot for any animal new home. Since this incident, I check under the hood every other day now, just in case.
- Daniel P., Streamwood, Illinois, United States