2000 Explorer limited 5.0L mouse related electrical issues

[scotts90ranger]

Not sure if it is humidity or mouse related, hopefully it's simple...

The '00 Explorer has been sitting most of the last year since I got the '97 Ranger for a daily driver, it's held it's own for most of it but I parked too close to some bushes for the last couple months (was nothing in the glovebox at the beginning of November) and it got some mice in the glove box and likely under the hood if I had to guess...

I drove it ~75 miles last night round trip to a friends house, everything works for the most part but the cruise control light on the dash would flash without me pushing anything so I tried moving the buttons around to get any corrosion off the contacts and see if I could use CC to no avail and after a few minutes of this the CC Off button started making the horn go off? On my way home it didn't do it and the CC still didn't work. Once the horn thing happened the CC light stopped flashing and it hasn't done anything since.

Being a '00 it has PATS, the fancy heat control (that side of the steering wheel buttons works)

Any thoughts? Is this around the GEM or steering wheel? I'll do some looking this weekend, it's in the driveway now, gotta attack it with a vacuum from those stinky bastages...

 

[franklin2]

Mice really tear up things. Try to see where they have been and visually inspect as much of the wiring as you can. If you see brown trails, that is where they have been. They squirt pee out as they run around, and that marks their trails for them to find it again. This turns brown and you can see it.

 

[scotts90ranger]

I cleaned up their mess yesterday, I didn't see any wire issues behind the glove box. The cruise control buttons have been stubborn for the last year now that I think about it with it sitting and corroding so I think it's somewhere in the steering wheel. In hunting season I tried to use CC and it would "resume" after you tapped the brake to release it which was annoying... I'll see if I can get into the steering column and wheel soon unless someone has a brilliant idea