I used to think when people with modern vehicles in our apt parking area said they'd had rodents chew their car wires, it was only happening to 2008 and beyond models with soy based wire insulation. However I noticed today there was rodent droppings in my engine compartment and signs of my spark plug wires having been chewed.

I'm not sure it was necessary but I ordered new wires. The NGKs I use on my 82 Toyota pickup are double insulated with a fiberglass mesh between the two layers, which might be why it appeared only the outer blue layer was chewed. I also ordered some rodent resistant "Honda Tape" which is the size of electrical tape but infused with hot pepper.

I decided to cancel the tape order though as I found a device on Amazon that goes under the hood, attaches to your battery (auto shut off if voltage goes below 10.5 V), has a motion sensor, and flashes bright white LEDs when motion is detected. It also emits a deterring ultrasonic sound. I was wondering if perhaps anyone has tried this device and can tell me if it works?

Reviews on Amazon are very good, and most say if you have a decent battery (which I do), it is very unlikely the device will shut off, even if you don't drive often.

 

Light is definitely a deterrent.
Where I live, in the southwest, many prop hoods open part way when cars lay up more than a few days.
Small bags of moth balls under the hood seem to help.
I put them in some old panty-hose, or similar and wire them up under the hood away safe from any really hot engine parts.
Nothing seems to work 100% though and I've had a few chewed wires from time to time.
Don't have any idea about the sonic component of your device.

In fun though I visualize the flashing LEDs and sonic sound to be a sort of rodent disco....

 

Yeah there were a lot of droppings around the battery were it sits on the passenger side wheel well that I cleaned out yesterday. After looking closer at an installation video of the device it looks like I'll have to mount it on that side somewhere near the battery due to the power cord length. I think the flashing LEDs and ultrasonic sound should cover the whole engine bay though. Really don't think rodents are behaving like it's anything to dance to though, unless the song playing is, "Hey Let's Scram!", by Willard and the Gang. LOL

 

I thought I'd keep updating this thread just in case anyone finds it informative or can add any of their own similar experiences. I checked the battery area again today after cleaning it yesterday, and there were just a few more droppings. I purposely avoided leaving any residue of the Pine-Sol I cleaned with just to try and get an idea of how many rodents might be hanging out there. Only a few droppings tells me it might be just one rat or mouse. It's been several months since I closely looked there after having an auto body shop rebuild my rusted battery platform, so it's possible it's just one rodent.

So today I applied a good residue of Pine-Sol everywhere I saw the droppings the first day, which seemed to be almost 1/4 cup worth in my Dustbuster. Pine-Sol is commonly used as a deterring scent for rodents. The Pine-Sol I'm only using as a temporary deterrent until my electronic deterrent device arrives, which should be here Sept 4th. I don't know if anyone here knows how to gauge the size of a rodent by the size of the dropping, but they appear to be roughly 5mm teardrops. On that note, I'll leave you with I don't care if the rodent or rodents shed any tears about being evicted, because at least a nice guy like me isn't using Deacon instead to kill them. [img]data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7[/img]

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After looking up rodent size by droppings, it appears what I have is a mouse infestation, or perhaps just one mouse. I don't know whether to be glad about that or worried, as mice are nocturnal and known to be very clever. I know for a fact we have had mice burrowing in our patio garden (opposite side of building from parking area), and the fact that the garden isn't well maintained regularly anymore since the woman taking care of it moved out, may mean the mice are more active now. I've also seen mice enter the building in the summer (even in daytime) via the patio doors when the doors are propped open for ventilation. There's also been evidence they've gotten into our community kitchen, they are bold little suckers. Since COVID and management shutting down our community room and kitchen for social distancing, it could be they are roaming farther now for food to the dumpsters in our alleyway near the parking area, or even scraps of food on the ground that are often left behind by workers on break, or loitering homeless people. The plot thickens.

 

Try and trap 'em. Old fashioned snap traps baited with peanut butter, or bacon grease work well if you learn to set them "lightly"

Put the traps out baited but not set for a few days. Then set them and you'll likely get some action.

You always catch the dumb ones first. Others are sometimes hard to get.

 

I'll keep that open as a last resort option if the electronic device doesn't work. I really don't like any solution that involves reapplying scents or resetting traps though, and as pesky as they are, I don't want to kill them either, they're just trying to survive like anyone else. The trap method especially would mean literally resetting it every time I drive to avoid it accidentally springing. Moth balls could also waft into the interior of such a small vehicle. I'm hoping for now the Pine-Sol works, as at worst it smells like a strong air freshener.

 

Good to be mellow and kind, but when the day comes, and it might,

that your truck malfunctions from chew damage to some obscure wire in an unreachable location..........

You'll wish that you had acted with extreme prejudice.

I never poison rodents though. It's just not sporting.

 

Oh I'm prepared to go lethal on them if they don't get the message, I'd just rather it be a last resort.

 

Got the deterrent device and new spark plug wires today. While installing the device I noticed there were other spots with mice droppings I hadn't noticed, on each wheel well, and under my coolant overflow reservoir. Thank god I didn't notice any other wire chewing though.

I Dustbuster vacuumed what droppings I could, then used an old tooth brush and lots of blowing to get out the rest. I cleaned those areas with a Pine-Sol/water mix, wiped it down, Then applied a generous coating of strait Pine-Sol with the brush after cleaning it. I then swept all the droppings in my stall and the one next to me.

A guy with a Jetta parks in the one next to me, and he claimed he had no problems with rodents, but his car had a ton of droppings under it, many much bigger than the ones I had in my truck. He claims all of his Jetta's wiring is concealed in boxes, but I doubt it. The gal that parks in the stall on the other side of me sprinkled some kind of powder on the ground all around her vehicle and his, so it looks to me like they both have had such problems.

At any rate, the device seems to be functional, as when I powered it on it went through the sequence of flashing lights. As far as I can tell, when the motion sensor and Ultrasonic emitter are triggered, the middle light flashes green. When it goes back to idle mode, the middle light flashes red and the two outer white lights stop flashing. I also waved my hand around the engine and the white lights started flashing again, so I know the motion sensor works.

All I have to find out now is whether it actually deters them, and whether the device is enough of a drain on my battery to necessitate more frequent drives. I also spoke to our apt manager today and told her they are mice not rats, and that they may be coming from the patio garden on the other side of the building. She said she'd notify the exterminator about it.

If by chance this device doesn't work, I was thinking of using traps with peanut butter as bait, as I've known for some time it's one that works well. I was going to put one on each wheel well, and one near the battery. I'm going to wait until I know they're not coming around anymore before I put the new plug wires on, as I see no signs of arcing. I will be wrapping the chewed parts with electrical tape though.

 

Well, today I checked my engine bay and parking stall for more rodent crap. There was some under the back of the truck, but none in the engine bay. So it appears the device is working. The wires were also long enough to mount it on the firewall hanging from some small metal hose lines, right in between the engine and brake master cylinder. I also stuck a little awning above it I fashioned from the bottom of a tin pie pan with high temp Permatex silicone (was worried the old hood seal might not keep all the water out).

I also took down my spare tire from under the back of the truck to see if there were any droppings on it or in the wheel. There was only a few droppings on top, where I put a circular piece of industrial grade close cell foam to pad the tire from the truck frame and keep critters from getting inside the wheel. I also had a vinyl tire cover on it, and no critters or crap inside, but I tossed it due to it having torn badly. I figure it might have been something that kicked up off the road and hit it, as there was no evidence of a critter having gotten in there and clawed it's way out.

I had patched the cover tear with lots of Gorilla Tape, which held well. The tire was immaculate, but there was some rusting on the wheel, which has never been used since I bought it for the spare. This is partly why I tossed the cover, I figured maybe the thin fleece lining of it was collecting moisture at night and causing the rust. At any rate I wire brushed the rust, and did some touch up on it with some black Rustoleum Rust Reformer, which dries like a satin black paint.

I also checked where those traps were the exterminator put down in the alleyway. They're in one of the middle plant beds that are right next the the building and line the parking area. So they're basically right behind the guys car next to me that had big rat size droppings in his stall. As soon as I went out the back door to head that way, I saw a rat move toward either that bed or the one behind my truck. I'm assuming it went to the one with the rat traps in it, because that bed also has two big holes and a little one in the ground. The biggest hole is right against the building. I'm going to talk to the manager about those holes, because I get the feeling they've got a big nest down there somewhere.

 

Where I live, in the southwest, many prop hoods open part way when cars lay up more than a few days.

 

Have the interior of my truck torn apart for restoration and saw droppings. They are getting in through the shifter hole as I have the boot removed for now. I put a paper plate in the cab with mothballs on it. Seems to working so far. No chewing noticed, hope I saw indications early

 

Propping the hood, even just part open, could invite other problems that might be worse. I'll just say it's a bad neighborhood and leave it at that. I also don't think I could handle the smell of moth balls in a small PU cab. Thanks for the feedback though guys.

The deterrent device I installed seems to be keeping them out of the engine bay well enough, and I still haven't found any droppings in the cab. I installed new seat covers recently, and thoroughly cleaned the cab, so I definitely would have noticed droppings if they were there. The deterrent also is not a problem at all regarding battery drain. I tend to think if it were, your battery is probably so bad it needs replacing. There was a slight buildup of droppings under the bed of the truck for a while, but a combination of the pest patrol people putting out more traps, and plugging what appeared to be burrowing holes I alerted them to, along with a serious upgrade to the lighting out back (whole building has LED lighting in and out now), plus some heavy rains recently, seem to have pretty much driven the little beasties away. Our landlords are also having a fence put up that surrounds our dumpsters, and blocks off the planters along the back of the building, and when that project is finished, there won't be anymore homeless people picking through our trash, leaving the dumpster lids open, or sitting on the edge of the planters leaving food scraps behind.

 

Here’s my experience with rodents in New Mexico:

Pack rat excrement is the size of a big sunflower seed. Bigger than a grain of rice.

Mouse excrement is the size of caraway seeds.

Once rodents have been somewhere, they will return over and over, generation after generation. They love the odor of their own feces and urine.

They will make their nests on top of flashing strobe lights.

They will make their nests on top of sound generating machines.

Here is what has worked for me:

Degrease and vigorously wash any area where they have been under the hood and elsewhere in your vehicle.

Park with your hood propped open.

You must maintain a baited trap under your car and/or in the engine compartment. I use old style Victor snap traps baited with raw organic almonds wedged into the bait holder. Electronic traps work, too, but they are $$$. I bait those with peanut butter, nuts, cheese rinds. Haven’t tried bacon yet.

You can spray your engine compartment with peppermint oil after washing it.

Look around the area for evidence of nests and clean them up. Trap out any rodents first if possible.

It’s a filthy, unpleasant business and you need to maintain your vigilance. You may need to hire help.

Good luck!

 

Replacing a diesel engine on a customers truck. Been raining for the past week. Lifted the hood today and found the beginnings of a nest. Glad I laid a blanket on top covering all the holes in the intake and the block. I can leave the hood open now. Still finding a random dropping in my toyota. Set a p'nut butter trap on the floor........we'll see if anything pops overnight

 

One of the only thing that's really worked for me are traps and lots of them. The other, which may not be an option in your situation is the good old reliable house cat. I store my 83 in the detached garage (all year) and while I am out there our grey buddy frequently follows me there and more or less just sleeps in the sunny window on his bed. He's been doing this since we moved here several years ago. First year got about a dozen mice in traps, second year about 2 or 3, since then none. Same goes for the house. I think the mere presence of a cat deters mice from establishing themselves. He's caught a mouse once, so it's not him actively hunting. Not a mouse turd any where to be seen.