What's a good way to keep the rats and mice from chewing on car ignition wiring? They've been into my 2010 Chrysler Hemi wiring twice in the last three years! Cost me $200 to $300 each time! My old cat died. Decon will help but they manage to store most of it in the air intake before they die? My dog doesn't seem to notice them, and anyway he would eat the decon before the vermin could get it if I put it anyway near ground level. Probably kill him and I don't want to do that. Help!
Dick

This is a gun forum, right? How about a large caliber sidearm? You don't have to kill them all; just identify a ringleader and make an example of him.

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Not in jail.

Hi Dick, try moth balls in the area they go to. Hope everything is great, Larry

I've spent alot of my time working on old cars and trucks...Rat turds and "mousing" have long been a problem and trust me nothing stinks worse than an old car with wool mohair interior that has been thoroughly "moused". Some guys swear by Irish Spring soap, kinda hard to keep under the hood if thats where your having your problem, most guys keep it under the seats. I wonder what the attraction is on a newer car, there is no cloth wiring covering, that is what used to be the attraction, that and a nice cozy place to set up light housekeeping...you might have much easier luck finding a solution on a newer car website.

Thanks Guys!
I appreciate all the suggestations.
Dick

Larry,
I've used moth balls to keep skunks away. I'll try them for the rats/mice. I think it's probably rats, though, because our CRP grass is full of black rats! I think I'll get a couple new cats, too.
Thanks again. I'll let you know how it works out.
Dick

I remember reading about using "dryer sheets" as a repellent

i ve had god luck with moth balls on other critters also

Rats. My son has a Dodge truck with the Hemi. Rats chewed on the wiring. His first hint was the truck not starting.

Must be a Dodge Hemi thing, they didn't bother the Buick.

Or, back in the day Chevy small blocks were called Mouse motors and the 396-454 engine were called rat motors.

Perhaps, just maybe it is one of the Chevy 396 rats doing this. This is all theory of course.

My son rewired his and put rat poison where they were chewing, damage stopped.

This might be a dumb question but where does the car sit? In a barn? Outside? Sounds like it's indoors. What about leaving it outside or getting another cat?

Rodents; mice, rats, squirrels etc., seem to be attracted to the insulation on the wiring even the plastic insulation. Certain types seem to be more attractive to their taste buds. When I worked in claims for an insurance company there seemed to be a rash of GM fuel injection harnesses chewed up. Here in farm country grain trucks, particularly those that aren't used daily, are vulnerable to rodent invasion. Moth balls seem to have some effect, the parts store sells little sacks of some unidentified substance labeled to repel mice and rats, I find most of these torn open and scattered throughout the trucks interiors. They seem to use it for bedding. In the cans spilled grain and paper products attract them. Under the hood I assume the residual warmth draws them in to nest.I would think by now the wizards at GM Ford Chrysler and their suppliers could come up with a formula to add to the insulation to deter such damage.

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Jim in Iowa

I had a problem with a kitten chewing on power cords - and a product called bitter apple worked. It's a spray liquid that you coat the wires with; it tastes really nasty and has a long after taste - I tasted it. I bet it would work on car wiring to ward off mice, although you'd have to spray it on often.

Amazon.com : Bitter Apple Cat Chew Deterrent - 4 oz : Pet Deterrent Sprays : Pet Supplies

It's outside in an open ended shed. I plan on getting a couple more cats .

My current record is a total of 7 mice in about a week from my wife's Jeep Grand Cherokee. If you have fields or good sized lawn areas near where you park they tend to want to relocate in the fall to a warmer climate. If you tend a bird feeder nearby that will get their attention and again, in fall, they want to relocate. The standard wooden mousetrap gets the low hanging fruit but you will have to raise the bar to get the smart ones. Totally by accident I placed a trap once on a greasy paper plate that had a slice of pizza on it earlier. Worked like magic. I now use the newer traps with the paddle that sets them off and plastic teeth on the jaws. That gets the ones that beat the wooden traps. If you don't have a greasy paper plate save some from your bacon at breakfast.

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~ From the Land of Lobstah ~

Grrrrrrrrrrrr....I did a post on the same thing couple of weeks ago. Grubby little tree rat ate my wiring. Had lots of great suggestions but I'm thinking thermo-nulcear whatever would be great !

I'll remember that next time I have some cereal, bread or pasta.

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Sure you did

Recently, some kinda critter ate through my metal fuel line on our Crown Vic. You could plainly see shiny teeth marks all over the metal.

Later, same critter ate through the wiring harness below the front cowl/radiator area.

Probably a squirrel.

I'm still puzzled why the fuel line.

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Death? Smile back...

Diluted bleach works also. Put it in a spray bottle - I do a roughly 20% solution. I squirt it on my trash cans to keep the coons out.

Mice love to get into your lawn tractor and build a nest in the air cooled engine cover. Doesn't take long to over heat if you do not notice the nest material being blown out on start up.

For mice I use peanut butter on this particular type of trap because you can bend the connecting trigger wire up slightly to get a hair trigger. The yellow bait paddle should be at about 30 degrees angle when set. You will notice that if you set the trap down too hard, it will go off. These are the best traps because the mouse will touch the trigger with his body just as he goes to take a bite.



Next are these small Havahart traps for mice. Again bait them with peanut butter. Once a mouse has been in the trap, his scent will lure the other mice when you set it again. Just drown them in a bucket of water. Look for Item #B1020 - 3-Pack.

http://www.havahart.com/search?Ntt=+...B1020+-+3-Pack!

Moth balls will work but it gets expensive over the long haul.

mc squirrel.jpg

May have been this guy.

A friend of mine who lives way out in the woods swears that a 40w-60w light bulb under the engine compartment at night keeps the rodents off his wires.

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6/23/2022

I buy the smelly dryer sheets and trap them in various ways in the underhood area. Keeps the little sods out of my truck.

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Release the Kraken

Well.. it's not just mice a cars
I bought a used tumble dryer, asked the owner if it work's?

"Yea.. sure.. i just tumbled a down pillow, worked just fine"

Took it home and installed it, started it up just to check that the wireing was correct.

Filled the room with down

What the ****, did the pillow explode?
Opend the channel's under the machine
and found a birdsnest with 5 dead Great tit and nesting material.

Sure wish i had kept the phone number to the former owner

I don't have an answer to your question, but I do have a funny story.

While I was moving once, a rat took up residence inside the dashboard of my Subaru Legacy. I even saw his long, skinny tail hanging down from behind the glove box.

I got a rat trap, smeared peanut butter on the trigger, and left it on the floor of the car. When I checked it a couple hours later, the trap was still set, but the peanut butter had been licked off the trigger! I couldn't believe it!

It's not my most amazing story, but it's right up there.

I got him with fly paper, long kitchen tongs, and a short 2X4!

My old Tbird goes up on jackstands for the winter, which helps, the ones that do manage to get into the garage look for easier places to hole up. The Audi TT stays on the ground, I throw mothballs under it and all around it and put dryer sheets under the hood, inside, and on top of all the tires. I also keep several trays of Decon around the garage. The last few years this combo has worked well. My gauge is the sacks of chicken feed and cracked corn, if nothings getting into them, nothings around to get into the cars.

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Don't kiss smiling dogs!

Instead of decon try this formula. It kills rodents but is non toxic to other critters that eat the dead rodents. Take one cup of plaster of paris and thoroughly mix in 3 cups of rolled oats. I keep a bowl of this in my shed at all times to keep the rodent population down.

How about an old fashioned trap? Or another cat, or two?

We have pack rat issues constantly. The best solution I've found is the same on all the farmers in my area use, namely open the hood on your vehicle when not in use. Apparently the rats don't like the wide open feeling and thus avoid it.

Funny thing this fall the mice were getting into my wife’s 14 Toyota Rav4. We have lived up here 12 years and this is our first incident.

My Vette is stored all winter and it does not appear critters get into the garage which is under the house. We put dryer sheets inside, deacon down outside the car and nothing is ever touched.

As stated her car and my truck are outside and her car got miced and the truck did not. What we did was put in those glue rodent traps in strategic places inside her car and under the hood. They go for them do to the food type smell before that have a chance to chew wires. Once the weather turned real cold the problem stopped for us as we killed/captured a bunch of mice and the colder weather keeps them from traveling looking for a new home. Hopefully when spring hits (if it ever does) the mice will not return to her car.

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14 S&W Revs none with locks!

If the vehicle is parked in a garage or out building that has electricity, they sell an electronic device that puts out a high frequency sound that keeps vermin away. I have a friend that uses several in his garage and hasn't had mice since he started using them. My gun glub also installed them in the remote trap and skeet buildings with the same results.

Another friend doesn't like the mice and chipmunks that dig holes in his yard. He took a five gallon bucket and filled it up about half to three quarters full of water. He then floats the top with sunflower seeds. Places a wood board from the ground to the top of the bucket. The critters walk the board, see the seed and jump in to eat. Since the walls are vertical and plastic, the critters can't climb out and they eventually drown. Uses an old set of grill tongs to retrieve the bodies and discards them in the woods. No poison and safe for cats and dogs.

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James Redfield
LM #497

Friends leave a old Suzuki Samurai under my cabin's car port in interior BC. So far no vermin issues but we should try some of these as preventative measures. Bears are our issue. We're on a large, wild, lake. Hunters will go up the lake beach their boat and hunt for a few days. While they're gone bears are known to get in and tear up the seats and fuel lines. Everyone carries spare hose.

15 years ago two of us were leaving our ATV's overnight at a remote trailhead. Walked in the next morning to find our seats shredded. Apparently they also like butt sweat:roll eyes:

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Dennis
SWCA #2409, SWHF #353

Rats and mice in wiring have been a problem for a long time, BUT, are you aware that some wiring manufacturers are using soy based plastics for insulation now? One of the car manufacturers is using a soy based foam for seats too.......sounds like rat food to me!

I like the oats/plaster of paris idea......have little statues of mouse stomachs all over the yard.....

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Even older, even crankier....

If you have Rat problems there is a food source close by eliminate the food source & rats will be gone,Most likely source is dog or cat food outside garbage that they can get into is another likely source it may be a neighbors house that is the source look around a bit & you will find it


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Very interesting reading here. I've got a good one to add to the mix. Found out squirrels were getting in my stand alone garage a couple of years ago. I was able to use a Single Six and rat shot on a few, closed up the holes and moth balled everything. Later found about six of those small flying squirrels were inhabiting my cabinets. Poison and rat shot again solved the problem. Then it was mice!

I bought a couple of those new plastic traps with the wide trigger and sharp plastic teeth. Nailed two the first night, baiting with small pieces of peanuts (they have pockets for the bait) soon afterward I started removing the mice and setting the trap with nothing in it for bait.

I've taken 5-6 mice without bait! Those things are mice magnets I tell ya! My building is next to a wooded lot and they are apparently coming in from miles away to get to these empty traps. I'm now torn, do I get rid of the traps (are they attracting mice) or just keep killing the suckers?

Oh, by the way, I used to have an old Dodge Power Wagon that mice loved to get into. It was nothing to open the glove box and see a nest once a week. Have had a Chevy and now a Ford occupying the same space and no mice. hmmmm, is it just Chrysler products???? Makes me wonder........

There are various commercial models of trap where the critter goes in and does not come out. If you look closely you will see them at Walmarts by where they push the carts in, in the back of Home Depot, self storage places etc. Some models the rat goes in and dies, other the rat can go in, eat the poison and leave to die. But they are sturdily built so that pets and kids cannot get into one. Thus Walmart kills vermin and doesn't get sued when two year old Johnny or Mitch the Helper Dog get into the poison.

Or you could get a cat again. But that is kind of boring. What about buying a large carnivorous African toad and naming him Mr. Snuggles....

I got this trick by listening to a garden show. The fellow that told about it said that he knew it worked when one day there was a vulture eating something on his property. It was a rat and all that was left was a plaster cast of its intestinal tract. He gets a lot of hate mail from the animal rights folk every time he recommends it. I feel kind of bad but I did not invite them into my shed to ruin my stuff and I do not want to poison other critters that might eat the dead rat.

Good information here. Squirrels or something got the wiring on my truck and cost me a few bucks. Started using the commercial ritter critter sprays around it and they quit bothering it. Since it's been in the garage and Buick in it's place in the drive yet they leave it alone..........so far.
I've used D-Con and moth balls in my sheds but still have had rodents chew cushions and market umbrellas. Had mice build a nest in power washer motor and what a fire it caused too. Quick spray and it was out but what a mess.

Out of gas.

He can't she remarried right after our divorce.