Car wiring damage from animals

[beachbunny]

Friends 4runner wiring was getting chewed up,I'm sure he is not alone.
What detriments have you used? And has anyone tried spraying expired bear spray on wiring?

 

[wesfromky]

I left my hood up when I was camping in southern AZ this winter because of the packrats being known to chew wires. That seemed pretty common, but some people also had lights underneath that they left on, and there are some ultrasonic noisemakers as well.

 

[BBob]

The simplest and most effective is to open the hood and put a light under it at night.

 

[Wrench]

The newer fords (probably others also) were said to have a soy based insulation....which apparently tastes good to rats.

 

[timmymac24]

While living in inland So Cal I had glued rat bars in the engine bay of our 01 Chevy 2500HD the rats loved the wire coatings in that truck. They never touched the old orchard tractors we had sitting outside though.

 

[beachbunny]

While living in inland So Cal I had glued rat bars in the engine bay of our 01 Chevy 2500HD the rats loved the wire coatings in that truck. They never touched the old orchard tractors we had sitting outside though.

What's a rat bar look like?

 

[Matt5266]

My buddy would leave his side x side up on his mountain property and mice would always chew the wires. He eventually just bought a large storage container. It was always a spendy fix at the dealer if you can imagine.....

 

[mt terry d]

In packrat country we just leave the hood up a foot or so.
No lights necessary.
I don’t know why but it works.
By the way, is there a predator that kills them? Nothing wants to touch a dead one; eagles magpies cats, etc. Can’t blame them.

 

[Ten Bears]

I have used peppermint and oregano oil under the hood.

Ground up ghost pepper worked in my trash cans at work. Had rats the size of cats tearing our stuff up, never came back.

 

[timmymac24]

Beachbunny google tomcat bait chunx for rats and mice

 

[WannaBeRambo]

Jasper and Banff Canadian national parks, not uncommon to see chicken wire around brake lines. Porcupines I recall.

I was also told Honda sells something you can spray on engine wires, but not verified this.

I’ve had success spraying water/Dawn dish soap mixture using same tools as with liquid fertilizer keeping small rodents away from sheds. Again can’t say with certainty it works, but we saw a lot less rodent droppings after until rain washed it away.

 

[Jhaury7]

I had mice getting into my pickup and chewing the wires when I lived on farmland. I sprayed some bobcat piss from sportsmans warehouse on the frame near the tires and everywhere I thought a mouse could get onto the pickup. Only 1 treatment and I never had a mouse problem again for years until I sold it. Only downside is the truck smelled like bobcat piss for about a week, then every once and awhile I’d catch a whiff when I crawled under her. Worked amazing though and I’d do it again, maybe just don’t use more than 1 spray per area. Also wear rubber gloves cause it smells exactly like you’d expect it to smell and doesn’t come off the fingers very easy

 

[Beagle1]

My buddy would leave his side x side up on his mountain property and mice would always chew the wires. He eventually just bought a large storage container. It was always a spendy fix at the dealer if you can imagine.....

I had mice chew just about all the wiring in my Kubota tractor when I left it in a neighbor’s tractor barn for the summer. It would start but nothing else worked and the cab smelled like mouse piss. It cost $2800 to get it fixed. I tried just about everything to stop it but nothing worked. I keep the tractor under a spruce tree near my dog pen now and put mouse traps in the cab. During warm weather I can catch five mice a week.