Squirrel Stashed Walnuts - Now wont start!
 

Hey I have a 1998 xc70 that I parked next to a walnut tree at my grandparents house and left for a week of vacation. I got back and tried to start it a few times to no success. I popped the hood and found within only a weeks time some dirty little squirrel filled just about every nook and cranny with walnuts and even made a nice little nest. See attached picture.

The starter cranks, and I can hear the fuel pump prime so I'm guessing something electrical got knocked out of place when the critter was making his way around the engine bay. I checked the airbox and it didnt get into there.

Is there anyone familiar with these cars that can suggest a few spots to look at first where a critter would be likely to knock something out of place? The timing belt cover seems pretty snug I doubt it would be able to get any nuts up in there, correct? My exhaust is rotted off at the end of the cat, but I dont think it got up into there, and even still the car would at least try to run I think. Any pointers in the right direction would be much appreciated, thanks in advance.

WOW - thats pretty impressive. LMAO!

You have to give that squirrel some credit!
I would take apart the air filter, tbelt cover, spark plug cover, anything with a hole and clean it up first.

I guess I can't complain about the chipmunks who leave acorns between the insulator and hood on my 850... I'd do a visual on connectors, vacuum lines etc and check for any chew marks too.

Found 3 wires he chewed so far. One the blue wire at the ground next to the airbox, and the other two coming from the ignition coil. The two from the coil look like the stubs he left me might be too small to solder....Maybe I can do it and use a shrink tube what do you guys think?

There are probably more chewed wires. Squirrels, and rodents in general can cause a lot of damage to the electrical system. I had to replace a complete harness on an Infinity due to squirrels chewing through it.

It may be a job for a shop.

I'm still optimistic because all the chewed wires I've found are close to the nest area so I'm hoping even though he helped himself to the entirety of the engine bay he only chewed near where he settled down for the night. I'm not/don't have the money to pay a shop hours and hours of time to track this down I'll do it bit by bit if I have to.

Great scott! All that in just a week? I have some parts cars, so send me a PM if you decide you can't fix the gizmo that mounts to the coil. I have some spares.