Rodents in engine bay

[CanadaCollector]

Well I've never had this problem before, but I had heard of it. That was until the other day when I went to refill my washer fluid and popped the hood to find a little friend. I just came back from a 3 day camping trip in Eastern Ontario and I believe thats where I picked him up.

I was initially fearful that he may have chewed some wires but all appears well and I dont think he was in there very long. He did knaw at some of the sound deadening material in one corner and removed some to make his nest but i immediatelty removed it.

I sprayed some water into the engine bay and took it for a drive. I then set some traps over night but didnt catch anything. Ive been regularly checking daily for theast few days with no signs of any rodents. I seemed to have scared him off.

Do you guys have any suggestions for keeping rodents out of your vehicle while overlanding? I read about mint oil and bounce sheets. I zip tied some bounce sheets into my engine compartment. Not sure if its working.

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[Boort]

Well I've never had this problem before, but I had heard of it. That was until the other day when I went to refill my washer fluid and popped the hood to find a little friend. I just came back from a 3 day camping trip in Eastern Ontario and I believe thats where I picked him up.

@CanadaCollector

At least it's not Squirels! Dad has a pair build a nest under the hood of his van one winter. Had babies, the whole shebang. WHAT A MESS! Luckily no electrical was eaten but they ate through a few hoses and the washer bottle. the worst was all of the crap they packed into every little nook and cranny. We filled a 35 Gallon trash can with the dirty, stinking, rotting stuff they packed in that engine.

I do wish I had video of him trying to get rid of them at the carwash. It was like Watching Donald Duck go after Chip and Dale!

Boort

 

[Cort]

For storage the dryer sheets work great, not sure how they would do with everyday use. I’ve used them for years on my Nova and my RV with zero problems.

The little guys are there for the heat, looks like they moved in quick on you.

 

[TreXTerra]

My brother stored his car while on deployment in an area where rodents were a problem - especially chewing on the wiring in stored cars.

His solution was to collect all the hair from his German Sheppard and spread it around the car and underneath it. Dogs are natural predators to rodents and their smell tends to keep them away. After his deployment his car was pristine - not a single nest or nibble. The same was not true for others in the area that had significant damage.

 

[TrippinStfflr]

Man, im not trying to scare you but once apon a time I was a Lexus tech and had an Lx450 come in with every dash light on and misfiring like crazy. Turned out to be extensive rodent damage. The insurance company totalled the truck but the customer wanted it fixed. Turned out to be like a 40 some odd hour ticket. I had to replace every engine harness and all the harnesses under the dash. Not to mention most of the duct work and evaporator.
I put rat poison under the intake and waited a couple days. Luckily it died in the engine compartment. The weird thing was when I pulled the damaged harmesses out it was mostly the red wires it had chewed on. I wonder if the red wires tasted better? Ever since then, Ive had this fear of rodent damage.
I dont have a solution for you, just a scary story. Sorry!!

 

[OKT4RCPL]

Have this problem with the wife's VW Passat . We live way out in the middle of now where and the dogs pee on the tires but they still climb in the engine bay at night. We started leaving the hood "popped" , so far this has worked great. The local farm store sells a rodent deterrent smell bag. We tried pepper flakes, mint oil, dryer sheets, everything you could imagine and nothing worked as good as leaving the hood cracked open a little. She even had a rat jump in her car. We had so many traps set in the interior it was crazy this happened on a Friday night. Come Saturday morning he couldn't resist the peanut butter and we trapped him. That was the last time we have had rodent trouble ..knock on wood.

 

[Boort]

@OKT4RCPL

Have this problem with the wife's VW Passat . We live way out in the middle of now where and the dogs pee on the tires but they still climb in the engine bay at night. We started leaving the hood "popped" , so far this has worked great. The local farm store sells a rodent deterrent smell bag. We tried pepper flakes, mint oil, dryer sheets, everything you could imagine and nothing worked as good as leaving the hood cracked open a little. She even had a rat jump in her car. We had so many traps set in the interior it was crazy this happened on a Friday night. Come Saturday morning he couldn't resist the peanut butter and we trapped him. That was the last time we have had rodent trouble ..knock on wood.

Damn ... Sounds like you could set up some cameras and compete with Mousetrap Monday!
https://www.youtube.com/user/historichunter/videos

 

[csharpe3]

We have an abundance of squirrels, They once knawed on my sparkplug wires, but I have not had them go any further than that. I wonder if the mint solution works or maybe lavender. At least the rig can smell good.

 

[phxdsrtrat]

Chipmunks here. I couple of years ago while camping I needed to charge up the battery on the tent trailer. The standard trailer line wasn't long enough when the tent trailer is setup so I usually use a pair of jumper cables to charge up the trailer battery. Popped the hood on the truck and there was a nest "under construction" right behind my water pump. Here in the city where I live that's not much of an issue.

-Curtiss

 

[OKT4RCPL]

@Boort video would have been awesome. Worst part of the rat in the car was she was at work and had to drive home 50 miles LOL worried about the rat coming out . She made me stay on the phone with her the whole time. I swear we bought the farm store out of traps both glue and traditional, with a large jar of peanut butter. Dang thing even opened the garage door she left in the car.