Anyone have ideas for ways to prevent Mice etc from chewing wiring on engine. Left my F350 parked next to machine shed for about a month, when tried to start cranked but no start. Had towed to dealer, mouse had chewed and destroyed 7 of the injector plugs and 4 of the coil wire connectors. Dealer said worst damage from rodents he had ever seen. After that repair bill would like to prevent it from happening again if possible. Plan to purchase significant amounts of poison for the machine shed but wondered if anyone had ideas for treating the wiring under hood with something to discourage the pests. My 68 was parked in the same area for years, never a problem.

 

Any way you can park under cover? I've heard that leaving the hood up will help to dissuade them from getting in the engine compartment and chewing things up. It seems those little boogers don't like the "insecurity" of the hood being up. YMMV.

 

Moth *****, set traps when you're not using it. Poison baits are VERY effective because they carry it to all their friends to eat. We do all of this for our camper in the winter, haven't had mouse problems since.

Caveat on the poison traps: If you have cats or dogs that eat mice, this might not be a good option unless you don't like your pets.

 

I use mothballs or moth flakes. I cut off the feet from a couple discarded pairs of my wife's nylon stockings, fill them with the Moth ***** and put them in few spots in the engine compartment. The nylons allow the aroma to get out, yet keep everything neatly together. In the fall/winter if I know that one of my vehicles is gonna sit for more than a few days, I will toss a few of my moth flake packets under the hood.

I had a mouse family make a nest on top of the Engine in my old 5.0L F150. Apparently, they decided that my fuel injector harnesses clashed with their décor and chewed off the insulation off the wires. I went to go start the truck after a few weeks of being parked and I think it was only running on 3 cylinders.. Ford wanted $700 for replacement wire harnesses.

(Every time I would start the truck- the smell of mothballs made me remember my Grandmother. LOL).

 

 

Peppermint oil is pretty effective as a repellent. You will need to apply on a regular frequency, every 2-4 weeks.

 

I have read and am trying little trees pine air fresheners, they don't like the smell and they are easy to hang them where you need them. I bought a pack of 24 for $16. off Amazon.

 

Had the issue of under hood nesting by a squirrel, moth *****/flakes did the job. I still was faced with replacing some of the harness. This was on a Corvette I had in storage.
Chuck

 

I use these flashing strobe lights from rid-a-rat.com. solved my rat and chipmunk problem. fasten two under the hood , zip tied to the windshield squirter plumbing.

 

 

As mentioned above, moth *****, peppermint, even dryer sheets. The key is to overwhelm their sense of smell, as they feel at a disadvantage, and move on. This works for most all rodents, in autos, tractors, cabins, anywhere they are likely to attempt to set up housekeeping where there are few, if any predators.

 

We have constant problems with mice inside and under the hoods of our vehicles - Bounce dryer sheets work best for us.

They used to startle me - but now I ****** 'em up and whip the little f-er's to the ground before they know what hit 'em.

Slurping them up with a shop vac is fun too -

But poison sucks - unless you like smelling them rot

Good luck!

 

My truck sits outside under a metal roof carport. I found mouse damage in the engine compartment (mouse nest on top of the air cleaner, damage to the insulation under the hood and battery insulation). I talked with my dealer and he told me that some of the wiring insulation in the engine compartment is partially made from soy, and apparently mice like this. I found a product called “Shake Away Mouse Repellent”. It is made from organic ingredients, i.e. mint oil, cedar oil, and Rosemary oil. I got it at my local hardware store. It comes in small packs, and I just put a pack on top of my air cleaner when the truck is sitting (I remove it when I use the truck). I started using this about a year ago and no mice problems since.