The Honda dealership does not sell hot red pepper coated tape to put on wires. But I have something similar I ordered from Amazon already waiting for me at the Flagstaff hub counter. I will pick it up tomorrow when I go into town to ship out some Etsy orders. The guys at the dealership reminded me to wear gloves when handling it and keep my hands away from my face, not to get it on my clothes either. They said they hate having to work on cars that have the pepper stuff on the wires as it makes for a frustrating and risky job.
My 2006 Honda Element predates the soy coated wiring years Meaning I do not have wires made with soy, So that issue that was completely unrelated to the rodent chewing on the wire.
The dealership did a full inspection on my car and the chewed wire was the only thing wrong they found on it other than mentioning before too long the engine and cabin filters could be changed. Not clogged up but showing some dust in them. No surprise there, the gravel road at the last camp on Dog Town road was fairly dusty as the monsoon season rains had not yet begun. I change them myself, simple enough once I learned how to access the cabin filter by taking out the glove box. Thanks to youtube for teaching me how.
The guys at the Honda dealership said spray some Tabasco around instead of buying expensive products. That locally another effective deterent that gets used is synthetic cayote urine. The rodents hate the smell of both thingsand unlike peppermint oil those smells are long lasting. This afternoon I purchased a bottle of Louisiana hot sauce, the first ingredient is peppers. Tabasco's first ingrediant was water. Besides the Louisiana hot sauce was a much bigger bottle for half the price. Of course neither one is water resistant. However the gardening centers sell a product for making non toxic rose and other plants spray that does have some water resistance. That and cayenne pepper mixed into it would create a good DIY, non toxic, affordable deterent.
Of course in an emergency when out camping pcould keep the rodents at a distancce.
I plan to skip the cayote urine. But of course it might attract cayotes to come and lift their leg to pee on my ties. But I figure a dog could produce just about as good of a smell. So all you folks who get upset about dog piss on your tires remember the dog might be doing you a favor! You dog owners now have a great reply to compliants about that situation, hey don't worry, it keeps the mice away