NFR Keeping mice out of the engine compartment...

Non-fishing related
Josh

Josh

Dead in the water
Staff member
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Anyone got any suggestions THAT WORK on how to keep rodents from messing around in your engine compartment? Parking inside is not an option. Already have a cat. Do need to do some brush clearing around the house. And yes, this is a car that gets driven regularly. There's lots of stuff on the internet (peppermint oil, mothballs, little packets of repellent stuff, having a car owl, etc). But it's difficult to tell what is legit and what is an old wives tale.

I know that this time of year is the worst for this stuff as rats/mice look for places out of the elements for the winter. Still, would be nice if I could be a little more proactive rather than reactive.

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My limited experience is to add light…either by popping the hood several inches or installing some sort of light source.

Check with Ive on the frozen tundra….he did a post within the last year or so on this topic.
 
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A chunk of wood saved my ass this past summer.

30 miles up a gravel road and never had a problem with rodents here in the past 30 years.

Thankfully I saw the little monster before it did serious damage to a wiring harness.

Propping the hood open did the trick….
 
I think @iveofione had issues for decades and then realized in the last year or two how to solve it, he might reply.
 
farmers/ranchers sprinkle Cayenne Pepper on engine compartment wiring, which rodents hate. Used it on my riding mower after I had to replace a wire that had been chewed up over winter, never happened again after applying.
 
Having a cat and having a cat outdoors at night that hunts are two different things. My neighbors have a bobtail cat that lives outdoors and hunts - especially in my covered trailer area. :) Before that I built a bucket trap similar to what is mentioned above and it worked for awhile until something figured out how to clean it off. (Raccoon?) I also used regular traps next to the tires under the truck.
I even installed a sonic deterrent that hooks up to the battery. But since it is beyond the range of human hearing I don't know if it actually worked because I installed it the same time my neighbor's cat showed up. Since then I haven't caught a single mouse.

Lights under the hood seem to be the latest method and what I'll try next.
 
For camping the best thing I have found is the luminAID inflatable solar powered lantern. The solar panel is built into the top of the unit which is about 4.5 inches in length, width and height and weighs but 4.7 ounces. It is also USB rechargeable so keeping it powered up is no problem as it uses very little power. I timed it on the blinker function at one point and it blinked for 56 hours. Used a few hours at night it will blink for days and every morning I just place it on the dash to recharge what little power it has used.

In addition to the blink function it has 4 other light levels, the brightest of which lights up the inside of the Casa very bright, enough to read or play cards. At night I crack the hood of the truck and place it low in the engine compartment where it will shine on the ground when it flashes. After a couple of years of using it on camping trips I have had no further problems with rodents. About $30 on Amazon.

At home I had the same problem as Buzzy had with a nest inside of my air cleaner. To stop further intrusion I put hardware cloth mesh on the intakes of both vehicles with hot melt glue. Outside I hung a bright LED light over the hood of the truck and have left in on around the clock for about 3 years now. The truck is parked about 20' from the forest and I have never had another problem.

Light seems to be the enemy of nocturnal creatures and is a lot easier to manage than many of the other supposed solutions to the problem.
 
I installed a “Mouse Blaster Pro” under the hood of my superduty. Hooks directly to the battery. Has ultrasonic squeak plus flashing strobe light. No rodents under the hood since I’ve installed.

Was recommended by a part manager friend at a Toyota dealership. Gave me references and those guys all swear by them. Including one who spent thousands of dollars having his superduty diesel rewired. Afterwards he installed this and no more rodents.

I’ve had mice still get into the bed of the truck, but no more under the hood or in the cab since the install. It just works. Can find online.
 
There is worse than driving down the road, only to have a mouse pop out from under the hood to play stuntman on your windshield. Oh, there is something worse, a $2,500 quote to replace my chewed wiring harness! I have used red pepper flakes in the past. Seems to work but needs frequent refreshes.
 
Paige said:
Mice hate Bounce Dryer sheets, the strobe lights work well too so I'm told.

If at an Elk or Deer camp far away from civilization, the bucket with ramps to a roller covered in PB over a soapy water works wonders I've heard, thats from Trapper.
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I heard that scented dryer sheets work, too...so now for the last 8 years my 2001 Civic which is parked outside with woods all around...has had scented dryer sheets stuffed into spots within the engine compartment. So far, so good. A neighbor with a nice late model truck did not use the dryer sheet trick and spent $$ to replace much of the electrical wiring that mice chewed on.
 
We live out in the woods too and it was a battle when we first lived there, as I park two cars outside. But even my wife’s car which lives in the garage got hit. The chewed thru the rubber seal at the bottom of the door to get in.

The fix for that was a rodent proof garage door seal, basically rubber impregnated steel wool all along the bottom of the door, then copper mesh at the ends where it meets the track.

I built a few bucket traps, which were fun but gross and a pain to maintain. I did the mint oil and dryer sheets under the hood on the truck along with a sticky trap on top of the fuse box. They still did a number on the insulation but I was lucky to avoid any wiring damage.

Ultimately we went with a series of bait stations positioned around our house that just keep the rodent population way down.

Good luck those little fuckers are infuriating.
 
Skimr said:
I installed a “Mouse Blaster Pro” under the hood of my superduty. Hooks directly to the battery. Has ultrasonic squeak plus flashing strobe light. No rodents under the hood since I’ve installed.

Was recommended by a part manager friend at a Toyota dealership. Gave me references and those guys all swear by them. Including one who spent thousands of dollars having his superduty diesel rewired. Afterwards he installed this and no more rodents.

I’ve had mice still get into the bed of the truck, but no more under the hood or in the cab since the install. It just works. Can find online.
Click to expand...

Mouse Blocker – Protecting your vehicle

mouseblocker.com mouseblocker.com
 
iveofione said:
For camping the best thing I have found is the luminAID inflatable solar powered lantern. The solar panel is built into the top of the unit which is about 4.5 inches in length, width and height and weighs but 4.7 ounces. It is also USB rechargeable so keeping it powered up is no problem as it uses very little power. I timed it on the blinker function at one point and it blinked for 56 hours. Used a few hours at night it will blink for days and every morning I just place it on the dash to recharge what little power it has used.

In addition to the blink function it has 4 other light levels, the brightest of which lights up the inside of the Casa very bright, enough to read or play cards. At night I crack the hood of the truck and place it low in the engine compartment where it will shine on the ground when it flashes. After a couple of years of using it on camping trips I have had no further problems with rodents. About $30 on Amazon.

At home I had the same problem as Buzzy had with a nest inside of my air cleaner. To stop further intrusion I put hardware cloth mesh on the intakes of both vehicles with hot melt glue. Outside I hung a bright LED light over the hood of the truck and have left in on around the clock for about 3 years now. The truck is parked about 20' from the forest and I have never had another problem.

Light seems to be the enemy of nocturnal creatures and is a lot easier to manage than many of the other supposed solutions to the problem.
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Ive, I live right next to a forested area and am looking for rodent prevention for my truck. I'm not clear on what you mean by "I hung a bright LED light over the hood of the truck . . .."

Thanks.

Cheers,
Bryan
 
Josh said:
Anyone got any suggestions THAT WORK on how to keep rodents from messing around in your engine compartment? Parking inside is not an option. Already have a cat. Do need to do some brush clearing around the house. And yes, this is a car that gets driven regularly. There's lots of stuff on the internet (peppermint oil, mothballs, little packets of repellent stuff, having a car owl, etc). But it's difficult to tell what is legit and what is an old wives tale.

I know that this time of year is the worst for this stuff as rats/mice look for places out of the elements for the winter. Still, would be nice if I could be a little more proactive rather than reactive.

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Click to expand...
The sachet bundles soaked in peppermint oil has worked for us with vehicles always parked outside.Before that we had a $2500 wire harness repair due to rats or mice.
 
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