GoBills808 Posted February 1, 2020 Share Posted February 1, 2020 1 hour ago, GG said: Unfortunately, the food source is the plastic around the plug wires. For whatever reason mice love the stuff. Add the cover and warmth in winter time, under the hood is an awesome place to nest. I've been reading more into this, and now car companies are introducing more organic matter into car parts, and that turns the engine compartment into a verifiable buffet. I've seen pictures of entire components eaten away! Insane. Fun fact: some years ago the powers that be at the wire manufacturing plants decided to switch from plastic coating to a corn or soybean-based covering, apparently in an effort to cut costs. The unfortunate side effect being that the wires became irresistible to rodents who started chewing through wires across the country. This was told to me by an old timer in our area who was doing some work on our equipment...all the stuff from the 80s and 90s was having electrical issues lmfao and the older tractors were fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted February 1, 2020 Share Posted February 1, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, GoBills808 said: Fun fact: some years ago the powers that be at the wire manufacturing plants decided to switch from plastic coating to a corn or soybean-based covering, apparently in an effort to cut costs. The unfortunate side effect being that the wires became irresistible to rodents who started chewing through wires across the country. This was told to me by an old timer in our area who was doing some work on our equipment...all the stuff from the 80s and 90s was having electrical issues lmfao and the older tractors were fine. Interesting... For vehicles. But older stuff didn't have as much wiring. Here... Residential is EMT conduit (which acts as mechanical ground). Whips (I wanna say NEC code is >4'?) have to be BX armor... Metal boxes, etc... No Romex. Rodents can't chew through metal... And if wires go bad, can be re-pulled. Now... In Indiana , Romex is okay... Same with pex plumbing... Here, it has to be copper plumbing. Our wiring at work isn't thermoplastic... 480v... Thick rubber and cloth. Big cables not in conduit. Built in 1960. It's starting to go... Some under rodent attack... Will get a hell of an arc if they get through Edited February 1, 2020 by ExiledInIllinois Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marv's Neighbor Posted February 1, 2020 Share Posted February 1, 2020 Best of luck with this. When we lived in Seattle, went on a trip, and came back to discover mice had chewed on the engine wires on my wife's car, that was left in the garage. We had maybe 4 cats, at the time, and their litter boxes were all in the garage. Didn't mean anything! Had to replace the engine wiring harness. It was cheaper to do that than track down all the broken wires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snafu Posted February 1, 2020 Share Posted February 1, 2020 (edited) 4 hours ago, GG said: Here's one story - soybean byproduct is the main culprit. Yup, going the old fashioned route of placing traps near the wheels, and spraying under hood with vinegar/peppermint oil solution. Also, appears Irish Spring soap also works well. We'll see. Could you do the spray thing and leave the car outside of the garage, and set the traps inside the garage? I think I’d try that. Or...keep the car running in the garage for awhile. Maybe you’ll aspxyiate them. Edited February 1, 2020 by snafu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaoulDuke79 Posted February 1, 2020 Share Posted February 1, 2020 (edited) Maybe spray them with WD-40 or something. Could possibly turn them away.....the wires. Not the mice. Cheap solution. Not much lost if it doesn't work. Edited February 1, 2020 by RaoulDuke79 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve O Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 (edited) My buddy has 12 cars and lives in the sticks. All his cars are in garages or pull barn. He uses fabric softener dryer sheets, puts them on the engine. He also places those cakes that are used in urinals around the floor. The dryer sheets are a repellent, the urine cakes are poison. DON'T USE THE CAKES IF YOU HAVE PETS AROUND, they're sweet and your pets will eat them. Edited February 2, 2020 by Steve O Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Augie Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 (edited) On 2/1/2020 at 10:33 AM, Johnny Hammersticks said: This thread is going to be epic ? Mice don’t like moth testicles? Mice are stupid. They don’t know what they’re missing. Considered a delicacy in Patriots* territory. . Edited February 2, 2020 by Augie 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Simon Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 I use some of these every winter in our camper(s) and they've always worked. They're individual packets in a mesh/cheesecloth bag so you might be able to jam them somewhere int eh engine compartment w/o them getting loose. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Joshin' Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 I had a woodchuck once eat wide and the heat shield. Never would have believed it until I saw it run away. In the winter when I store my classic car away I use dryer sheets - has worked thus far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gugny Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 22 hours ago, Gray Beard said: I got some squirrels to stop coming into my garage by putting rags soaked in vinegar near where I thought they were hiding. I don’t know if correlation implies causation or not, but they stopped coming in. My MIL had mice chew through some wire near the fuel injectors on her car engine. The car ran rough until it was fixed. $300 to fix it because the wire was buried under the fuel injectors and other stuff on the top of the engine. I had skunks living under my shed. I soaked tennis balls in ammonia, then (from a distance) rolled them under the shed. Apparently, the ammonia smell makes the skunks think that another animal has been there and "marked its turf." Then they pack up and move the fam to somewhere safer. I'm not sure if something along these lines would deter mice, but I thought I'd throw it out there. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Jack Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 This was my car, after being parked for about two weeks at work while I was out of town. I forgot the actual code it was throwing, I think it was an ABS or tranny issue code. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sig1Hunter Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 On 1/31/2020 at 2:18 PM, GG said: The little critters love my garage, but they love the engine compartments much more. For a second time, they chewed through plug wires and caused serious damage. Dealers suggest putting in dryer sheets under the hood and I see Amazon sells rodent repellents that I may try. Anyone else have good home remedies, other than getting a cat to live under the hood. Peppermint oil 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaoulDuke79 Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 1 hour ago, Just Jack said: This was my car, after being parked for about two weeks at work while I was out of town. I forgot the actual code it was throwing, I think it was an ABS or tranny issue code. When they wrote the error codes, I dont think this was in the list of failure modes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hapless Bills Fan Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 1 hour ago, Just Jack said: This was my car, after being parked for about two weeks at work while I was out of town. I forgot the actual code it was throwing, I think it was an ABS or tranny issue code. Yow Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gugny Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 2 hours ago, Just Jack said: This was my car, after being parked for about two weeks at work while I was out of town. I forgot the actual code it was throwing, I think it was an ABS or tranny issue code. Well at least your tranny was okay! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, Just Jack said: This was my car, after being parked for about two weeks at work while I was out of town. I forgot the actual code it was throwing, I think it was an ABS or tranny issue code. Damn Toyotas... Biggest car company in world, everybody loves them... Even the critters! Edited February 2, 2020 by ExiledInIllinois Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ExiledInIllinois Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 (edited) 5 hours ago, Gugny said: I had skunks living under my shed. I soaked tennis balls in ammonia, then (from a distance) rolled them under the shed. Apparently, the ammonia smell makes the skunks think that another animal has been there and "marked its turf." Then they pack up and move the fam to somewhere safer. I'm not sure if something along these lines would deter mice, but I thought I'd throw it out there. Thanks for the safety tip! A shed you can run away from. Driving 65mph (legal of course, I never cheat: @Mike in Horseheads) You got nowhere to go when you hit the windshield wipers! Let me clarify: "Put a little ammonia in your windshield wiper fluid", a co-worker told me. "It will never freeze." I guess I put little too much, I almost gassed myself to death. Put on the squirters and defroster... BOOM! It was like I was driving through Bhopal, India, 1984... /smh Edited February 2, 2020 by ExiledInIllinois Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike in Horseheads Posted February 2, 2020 Share Posted February 2, 2020 2 minutes ago, ExiledInIllinois said: Thanks for the safety tip! A shed you can run away from. Driving 65mph (legal of course, I never cheat: @Mike in Horseheads) You got nowhere to go when you hit the windshield wipers! Let me clarify: "Put a little ammonia in your windshield fluid", a co-worker told me. "It will never freeze." I guess I put little too much, I almost gassed myself to death. Put on the squirters and defroster... BOOM! It was like I was driving through Bhopal, India, 1984... /smh Put some bleach AND ammonia in next time and call 911 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cripple Creek Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 On 1/31/2020 at 2:18 PM, GG said: The little critters love my garage, but they love the engine compartments much more. For a second time, they chewed through plug wires and caused serious damage. Dealers suggest putting in dryer sheets under the hood and I see Amazon sells rodent repellents that I may try. Anyone else have good home remedies, other than getting a cat to live under the hood. Whatever you choose make sure it's good, cause, if this mouse shows up your ass is grass. https://videos.metro.co.uk/video/met/2020/01/31/3505218611716798056/960x540_MP4_3505218611716798056.mp4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Your Brown Eye Posted February 3, 2020 Share Posted February 3, 2020 Get yourself one of natures perfect mousetrap Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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