When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Sorry about your rat troubles Scott. I found a nest under my air cleaner when I started working on my truck. Don't know what the nest was made from, looks like some kind of insulation. Hope they didn't chew any wires. I use glue boards in the house, then kill them with a bb gun (they're small mice).
Look under the battery trays. There is insulation there and a few other places on the back side of the wheel well.
The truck I got last year was full of hazelnuts shell fragments and chewed insulation on the wheel wells.
I need a pair of Mink slippers , the lambs wool are worn out,
i poped the hood on the tractor , I put a Copenhagen can size of bait on the engine, well no takers , I think the Moth ***** did the trick , it’s been out there all week, maybe ratatouille has a stomach ache or just wondered into the dead zone, hows the blend door going Scott?
Thanks for asking and perfect timing as i just came in from the truck -- I found the vacuum line to the heater core valve chewed in half. plugged that line off and ran pump and runs and it shuts off fine (need to find a little hose to fix this. But this is where I'm stuck: So I have the electronic control HVAC, don't know if that makes a difference. If I ask it to change vent settings (say to dash), the vacuum pump comes on and stays running and no change in vent, still comes out the defrost. I see a black and a grey vacuum line that goes down firewall around blower, but even with a mirror and light can't see where they go. How does one access this area? I think my little friend may have chewed the line to the blend door too... :-/
Now on to something completely unrelated, but why start a new thread -- I'm looking with mirror and light all over top side (right now), tomorrow underneath - and I find this, see anything wrong in the picture?!
And there is NO oil leak to go with it!
So It isn't like I haven't been under my hood here guys, looking for rub points, doing the blue spring (right NEXT to this!), coolant filter, cables. This has to be from back when I had the shop do the D plugs and Stand Pipes!!! It'll get tightened tomorrow, and crap I guess I better start pulling more off to see what else is loose. I did look and this was the only one I saw...
My day's just gettin' better by the minute! I did a topside inspection on the Jeep and it looks like the one O2 sensor wire is all they chewed through, but checking underside of it tomorrow too. I also vacuumed up all the rat droppings and bait left behind, so I can tell if we get new activity...
Got to go feed critters and then neighborhood party
Looks like that bolt has backed out , what is that PS pump or Ac , looks clean , almost like your pet rat licked it clean ,lol, with the extra space is the bolt loose by hand , or did others just slip a bolt in and called it good?
under the passenger side dash is where that grey line goes to, not too far up and attached close to door side wall , if somebody wares boots and kicked upward they might hit that silver canister , if I remember right the hose lines come in from the top side.
Last edited by 04badford; Oct 7, 2018 at 01:03 AM.
Reason: adding more info
Thanks, Scott -- it's a valve cover bolt and maybe you are right and it was loose and has backed out to that point. At least if I go with that story I protect some dignity (little). Or maybe the rats are packin' tools these days...
I’m sorry Scott , it’s really no laughing matter when you find the destruction , I added to my comment above about the silver canister, that grey line connects there,
Thanks, Scott -- it's a valve cover bolt and maybe you are right and it was loose and has backed out to that point. At least if I go with that story I protect some dignity (little). Or maybe the rats are packin' tools these days...
Sorry about this.
Are you sure that they are not Packrats?
Man, you guys in CA ha e no corrosion issues. A NJ truck the first year would have more.
A valve cover bolt would not back out. If installed correctly it has to compress through the rubber washer before it bottoms out on the compression limiting sleeve. If it was screwed down at any point through the rubber compression the thread tension should be enough to not vibrate out. He just skipped a bolt.
Looks like that bolt has backed out , what is that PS pump or Ac , looks clean , almost like your pet rat licked it clean ,lol, with the extra space is the bolt loose by hand , or did others just slip a bolt in and called it good?
under the passenger side dash is where that grey line goes to, not too far up and attached close to door side wall , if somebody wares boots and kicked upward they might hit that silver canister , if I remember right the hose lines come in from the top side.
So an easy test of the line to the blend door actuator from under hood topside, would be to pull that line off and plug it and run the vacuum pump And the Hvac (change vent settings).. If pump stays off it's inside the cab... The more I think of it, if there was a tubing leak (chewed line) on the engine bay side, the pump wouldn't turn off... I'll check it later today - Thanks!
Jude: thanks for the good thoughts! I'm thinking about leaving all the hoods wide open when parked in the RV building...
THANK YOU SEAN!!!! Why I didn't think to ask you if you had those, is well just silly... Take a look at those and then heading out to see what I can find and fix...
Scott
Not a very productive/lucky day yesterday -- I did get the one valve cover bolt tightened and put a wrench on some others just to check. Cut a piece of the hard (rat eaten) vacuum line - going to take to the parts store and get a piece to put the two parts together. Then I spent some time going over the PDFs Sean sent. I have protective panels under my dash and thought before I go ripping in there, I might try fixing the known vacuum leak, then trying either a cold boot of the Electronic HVAC system, or the self test.
So I switched over to the Jeep and painstakingly (for my back anyway) did my best attempt at a lineman splice on the O2 Sensor wire -- got it all nice and taped up and protected, dusted my hands and thought: what the heck, let's fire it up and make sure we got 'er. We didn't.... pulled codes with Torque and same two, tried to reset and no-go :-(. So I get to thinking: could a splice on an O2 sensor cause enough resistance to still give a bad reading? Turn to the internet - tons of people splicing wires on O2 Sensors... BUT not on Jeep TJs!!!! No siree, they, it turns out are EXTREMELY sensitive and even off brand sensors won't work! Let alone spliced wires... :-/ So I ordered a new sensor and the tool to change it. Back was toast so put away some tools and opened all the hoods of the vehicles in the RV shelter -- smells like fresh clothes from a dryer there's so many bounce towels under those hoods...
Looking into Ultrasonic rodent repellers, mixed results and reviews out there, but some of the pricier ones might work. I'm ready to try anything and everything...
MUCH better day today -- got the vacuum line fixed and spent way too much time reading over and watching YouTube vids on how to reset or put into self test the Electronic HVAC many of us have. Cost me 35 cents in vacuum line (rubber) and about ten bucks in gas to go get it. Then I neatly trimmed the ends of the chewed up hard line, and put a "coupler" in between. Jumped in the cab and was ready to get the system to "see" it was fixed (cold boot or system self test with a reset at the end). Vacuum pump shut off as it should, and I tried and tried to get the dang system into self-test mode, but to no avail... Then I just thought: why not just try switching vent modes?! (duh!)
And it all works just fine...!
So back to the Rats, because I think we probably should have a thread in our Tech Section about how you discourage them, beat them, kill them or in any way shape or form: DEAL with Rats (and mice). Here is what I have learned:
1) Deter them first and foremost. This means if you even THINK you are parking where Rats or Mice might live (and like to make home under your hood), be PROACTIVE! Put Bounce towels all under the hood (in safe not too-hot) places and replace them every couple of months.
2) If you are parking under a roof, leave your hood WIDE open - they don't like it if it doesn't feel safe...
3) If you are in a cat or dog safe (for them) area, get some, the more the better, and the less rats you'll have..
4) Set poison out for the rats in safe areas AWAY from your to-be-protected vehicles (Thanks Bismic!!!). Use TOMCAT MEAL BAIT, and place it in a Bait Station you have control over (won't get wet, no other critters or kids gettin' in)...
5) Deploy other traps (safely) near your vehicles - pick your choice, but I like the electric zappers myself.
6) Do anything else you can to keep them from coming in; In the first place! I'm deploying ultrasonic emitters myself, one an EE friend of mine researched, used and found effective: T3-R Triple High Impact Mice, Rat, Rodent Repeller (I bought 2 off Amazon).
Thanks to all of you that helped me with this, but the above are some tips from here and from other mechanic friends...
Fantastic , glad you have Hvac, these engine are hard enough for us to crawl around on , but no problem for a hose eating rat , very good points my friend .
So I started seeing dirt piled up near the garage at the edge of the concrete drive. I thought it's got to be chipmunks. So I set my trap. A wash bucket half filled with water, sprinkled some sunflower seeds on the top of the water, and made a little ramp for easy access. To my surprise it wasn't chipmunks but instead 2 Norwegian Rats. They were huge in comparison to any mouse.
Point is the bucket of death works! The female first, followed by the male. Haven't seen any since.
So I started seeing dirt piled up near the garage at the edge of the concrete drive. I thought it's got to be chipmunks. So I set my trap. A wash bucket half filled with water, sprinkled some sunflower seeds on the top of the water, and made a little ramp for easy access. To my surprise it wasn't chipmunks but instead 2 Norwegian Rats. They were huge in comparison to any mouse.
Point is the bucket of death works! The female first, followed by the male. Haven't seen any since.
Pete, all I can say is what has been said to me: If you've seen one....
It is time to go Rambo on the mf's -- no prisoners, and no questions asked... They sent in their "check it out" team... Since the first 2 didn't come back, the others are 4 quartering you. Not that they have a war-room... and not that I'm like paranoid or anything like that... But Sean thinks they may be carrying wrenches! Or was that me and he just called 'em pack rats...?!
Rats carried the plague, and they just don't have anything to offer me around this place but repair work for their natural behavior. I'm kinda goin' -- exterminate them all, and let the libbers come after me at this point for killin' an endangered species... ( I do live in CA, so you KNOW what I'm dealing with)
Scott
Rezvani's Latest Post-Apocalyptic Monster Is a Ford F-150 Raptor Underneath
Slideshow: Called the Fortress, the 850-horsepower pickup combines Raptor underpinnings with military-inspired features, survival equipment, and a starting price of $285,000.
