Critters under my hood

[Derald Rice]

I have had an unwelcomed critter under the hood of my 2007 F250 diesel. With the engine heater plugged in, and me not driving it every day, the little ******* found a warm spot, and has chewed through 5 wires that I can find. Wiring is repairable, but ...........

How do I keep them out ????

I have heard that peppermint oil will keep them out, but does anyone have any other suggestions ??

Derald.

[GoDadGo]

One Hungry Mousing Kitty!

[FF33rod]

You're not alone. If you google it, you'll find that many auto manufacturers have shifted to organic insulated wiring (easier to recycle) which apparently is tasty to little critters. I don't use block heaters and I do use the car pretty much everyday but some little sucker kept crawling in the engine compartment of my Bimmer and ate some some wiring and sound insulation. Only found out once the engine light started coming on.... Fun times.

[65 Cobra Dude]

Derald,

I had the same issue on some of my delivery vehicles. Moth balls work but you need to take them out before driving or they’ll make you nauseous.

Henry

[cob427sc]

here in New England (as Henry can attest) those little ***** get into everything and love wires. Problem is you think they are gone then something shorts up behind the dashboard! Moth balls do seem to work if you can stand the smell. My F150 last year was attacked by a host of critters (may have been chipmunks or mice) who crawled up the engine air intake horn, ate out the air filter and later left half eaten acorns all over the engine. I smelled the acorns and their leavings roasting on the engine block but only found the filter remains months later. I have had several cars requiring extensive electrical work (my worst area of construction) and detest the little *******s!

[Derald Rice]

Thanks guys. In my case, I drove the truck last saturday with no issues, and this morning found the nest. So the little b****d's must really work fast. Don't think that there is damage beyond the immediate area of the nest, but time will tell. I'm off to a u-pull -it yard to get one wire with it's connector, but the others are all repairable.

I put a swiss cheesed pill container with peppermint soaked cotton swabs under the hood for tonight, near where the nest was, will eventually have to figure out a better way to keep them out.

I do not like cats........ But if I put the neighbors dead cat under the hood, would that work ?

[Papa]

If you have a lot of mice that seem to laugh at regular traps, try this:

https://www.wish.com/product/5a4b02a5cd0e680eaf71c0e7?hide_login_modal=true&from_ad=goog_shopping&_display_country_code=US&_force_currency_code=USD&pid=googleadwords_int&c=%7BcampaignId%7D&ad_cid=5a4b02a5cd0e680eaf71c0e7&ad_cc=US&ad_curr=USD&ad_price=4.00&campaign_id=7203534630&gclid=CjwKCAiA-vLyBRBWEiwAzOkGVM7ceu39cMGBB--QePq2D01dTNk6hJ3OWL13G48eBCgX02NToOVSgxoCq4UQAvD_B wE&share=web

I made one when we first moved into our home as the mice were a real issue. I put a gallon of anti-freeze in the bucket, which serves two purposes. One, it puts the little critters out of your misery quickly, and two, it keeps the dead from stinking up the garage if you can't get to it regularly.

1 five gallon bucket
1 wood dowel
2 screws or nails
a plank to let the critters climb to the dowel
some peanut butter

Drill a couple of holes in the side of the bucket near the top. Cut the dowel about an inch shorter than the diameter of the bucket. run screws or nails through the holes you drilled and into the ends of the dowels so that the dowel spins freely. Slater the dowel with peanut butter. Add anti-freeze to the bucket. Lean the plank up to the edge of the bucket so the critters can get to the dowel.

Dave

[GoDadGo]

One Bad A-- Mink Mouser & A Skinny Dog!

https://youtu.be/RjebAlfrexA

[edwardb]

I have occasional mouse issues in my garage. I've trapped a bunch of them with regular snap traps. But they still occasionally will come back. Apparently the word hasn't gotten out that the peanut butter in my garage has fatal consequences. Fortunately they haven't done any damage to any vehicles. Anyway, I came across this repellent spray at HD. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Tomcat-14-oz-Mouse-and-Rat-Repellent-Aerosol-036830605/302683092. It has a somewhat strong smell. But not terrible and nothing like moth balls. Seems to be effective. Something you might try.

[Straversi]

Rats chewed up $17k worth of wiring on a neighbors new Porsche 911 Turbo. Same story, lighter organic insulation attracted the critters. I put out commercial bait stations near my cars. Got to give them something they are more attracted to than your wires.
-Steveff

[TMartinLVNV]

One Bad A-- Mink Mouser & A Skinny Dog!

https://youtu.be/RjebAlfrexA

I spent 30 minutes watching those videos!

[SSNK4US]

Peppermint oil is the way to go. At least to keep them out of your engine compartment...But they’re gonna want to find somewhere else to go though. If your truck is in your garage good luck with that.

[Derald Rice]

OK, back up and running again. Found 5 wires that had to be repaired, and I also found out why my ETAC was not working . I had assumed that it would be those small o-rings on the solenoids in the ETAC, but instead, the critter had chewed on a rubber vacuum canister fitting, and there was no vacuum going to the ETAC. So that was taken care of also.

This could have been a LOT worse. I spent some time at a pick-a-part, and about 2 hours under the hood. I do have a couple of perforated pill bottles under the hood with cotton balls soaked with peppermint oil, and then zip tied to stay in place. The last two nights there have also been mouse traps baited with peanut butter, but no success with that yet.

I do have some decisions to make from all of the suggestions made about how to keep them out, and I want to thank everyone for those. I wish that I had a garage space for this, but there are too many other toys in the garage.

Derald.

[Jacob McCrea]

"I also found out why my ETAC was not working."

Cripes, is there really another acronym to be found in the engine bay of those convoluted things? HPOP, EGR, EGT, STC, VGT, FICM, FICM SYNC, ICP and IPR are all too familiar to me, sadly, but ETAC is a new one.

[Derald Rice]

Electronic Temperature & Air Control ..........aka heat and AC switch

[cfriedman67]

123843

Look what I found behind my dash

[RR20AC]

Another solution is go to Shawn Woods on YouTube and watch Mousetrap Mondays for some great traps. Worked for me. https://youtu.be/nsoVcrFyrF8

[BTHWarrior]

I had a mouse chew up an injector wire on my F150 so I took three empty plastic 35mm film containers and drilled several 1/4 inch holes in them and then stuffed it with a paper towel. I added the peppermint oil extract to that and then used flex ties to secure the containers in areas that had lots of wiring. Never had an issue again from the mice. I would re-apply about once a month.