We had a smell in our garage and thought it was a natural gas leak. Nope. A few days later my wife took our car in for the early-headlamp-burnout warranty/recall service and was told they found a dead rat in the engine bay and it would take 4 hours at $145 an hour to steam clean the engine and check that the rat didn't damage any wiring. Wow. She challenged them about the time but finally just said "do it". Did we get "taken"? I have read on these boards that you shouldn't really attempt pressure washing or cleaning on your own because of all the electrical stuff in this compartment. But it just seems excessive. Also the rate used was for a full technician rather than an apprentice. I also wonder if they doiuble dipped....using the time for the warranty repair to also clean the engine. We wrote Toyota and they wrote back "the local dealer knows best". Any comments would be appreciated!
that's a tough call without seeing (smelling) it. it could be as simple as removing the carcass and waiting for the smell to go away. if there were no warning lights on the dash, and no trouble driving the car, i suppose a thorough inspection to make sure there aren't any partially chewed wires is in order. but isn't it all water under the bridge?
