Rodents in Engine bay

19’ TRD ORD dash lit up like Christmas tree yesterday when my wife tried to make a run for the store. I had driven it a couple hours earlier with no issues. She hadn’t even put it into gear and had me look. Didn’t have a good feeling about ABS/EMR Brake still engaged even though it wasn’t/hill assist on/traction control off/engine lights on/seat belt light on and just about the works. So pulled it to the side and let her take the Accord. I figured I’d pop the hood just to see and wouldn’t you believe it dang squirrel laying on the battery. He hurried and hid between the firewall and engine. Sprayed him out from underneath with water and he disappeared into the trees. He had chewed 3-4 wires completely through and was working on a larger part of the harness. Glad it was that and not some unknown electrical issue. Insurance paying for the work but I’m most disappointed in my rental a 20’ TRD ORD Tacoma. I do not care for the ride it’s stiff and seems a little claustrophobic almost cheap feeling inside. The head room is really nice but just rides rough. Pedal seems laggy and I have to give more input than I prefer. Don’t care for the Lane keep or the adaptive cruise.

I love my 4Runner I really do, it is the best purchase I have ever made in cars and would do it over again.

 

That is a big fear of mine. I literally just opened the hood on my wife’s car and the 4Runner the other day to make sure no pesky animals were trying to setup shop under my hood.

where abouts are you located?

 

Been there, done that. Mine happened with 300 miles on the OD, halfway between Albuquerque and Durango, CO. I was very fortunate, though, right after the dash lit up and the truck ran like it was on 3 cylinders, I shut it off. After wondering what I was going to do in the middle of nowhere, I tried starting it again, and all the lights were gone, and the truck ran fine. I was faced with turning back, or going on to Durango, which I did after all. I pulled into a Toyota Dealership right at closing, but they were very gracious, and took my truck back for a look. Turns out I had one ignition wire chewed, and the technician knew we were a long way from home and he fixed it before leaving. That was 2 1/2 years ago, it's still fixed. I did get some rodent repellant spray which I apply every now and then. That said, I'm 99.99% convinced it happened somewhere on the ship from Japan or at the port in LA, as I had only had the truck for a couple weeks, and I've never had any rodent issues at my house.

Look into some repellant once you get yours fixed. There's a few threads on this around.

 

are we still riding around with the soy-based insulation? thought 'yota stopped with that stuff (?)

 

Do you have a link for the spay? Thanks

 

Yup.

Exterminators Choice - Rodent Defense Spray for Cars and Trucks - Non-Toxic Deterrent for Pest Control - Repels Mice and Rats - Vehicle Protection - Safe for Kids and Pets (32 Ounce)…

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01DTBOV06?ie=UTF8

 

What made you think that?

 

The sprays really didn't work for me. My 4Runner is not a daily driver, so it becomes an attractive shelter on occasion. I had rats regularly inside the engine bay (lots of droppings and they chewed up my firewall insulation). I got a battery powered "rat zapper" from Amazon and put it in a dry area between the engine bay fuse box and firewall (with the back tilted downward).

First night - Zapped a rat! Second night, zapped a mouse! Third night zapped a rat! All quiet for a couple of weeks after that, so I removed the zappers... I like the "original" Rat Zappers as well as the WiFi-notification version from Victor (which seem to be out of stock). You just need to keep them dry while in use...

I always remove them as soon as I have several quiet days in a row just to ensure the bait doesn't attract more rodents from elsewhere. I check under the hood every week or so, and re-introduce the traps if there has been activity. I haven't had to use them in a few months after the first two rounds of heavy activity.

Original: https://www.amazon.com/Victor-RZC001-Zapper-Classic-Trap/dp/B002665ZTC

 

Co-worker just had this happen while at work (squirrel). Had it towed to a local Toyota dealer; $3700 for repair.

Surprisingly, the dealer wrapped the accessible parts of the new harness with this:

https://www.alldiscountparts.com/oem-parts/honda-tape-rodent-19mm-20m-40192317

 

I had squirrels start storing nuts in the shallow indentations in the plastic engine cover. They stopped doing it when I removed it.

 

A big rat is worth five bucks!!!

 

We’ve had a ton of chipmunks and squirrels around the property the past few years. Last summer a weasel moved in under our chicken coop. First it killed all my chickens. Now it has consumed just about every rodent around. Haven’t seen a chipmunk for months.

Clearly the answer is some type of predator!

 

Thanks everyone. I will look into the suggestions. I heard Honda has tape that has Capsaicin in it I thought about getting.

Damage totaled $993 and hood latch cable is on back order so enough to look for preventative measures since I can’t do anything about the squirrels due to city ordinance.

 

Never once had that happen to me. I hope it's not that they have a thing for Toyotas!

 

I have one of those little ultrasonic gizmos under the hood plus I use peppermint spray. So far so good.

 

I have 4 ultrasound things around my garage but one day the non killing mouse traps caught one little guy. I threw the fellow to the road and haven't caught any yet. Not sure that is because there are none or the mouse trap has the scent of the last guy giving warning to others.

 

I have the poison bait blocks several in the garage and monitor them. Luckily no issue in garage.

Outside though there is someone feeding squirrels whole shell peanuts. They bury them in lawns and rip up the grass and started leaving crap under hood of my car outside. Apparently it’s not illegal to feed the squirrels. I wish there was something I could do about this. The person doing it is not willing stop feeding them and several others asked them to. Some people are crazy and nuts pun intended

 

please don't use poison. it works its way up the food chain and kills valuable predators. just use a trap that kills them instantly (not those stupid sticky pads either).

 

Pellet gun if you live somewhere not tolerant of firearms. Otherwise shotgun their nests. Yes, it takes some time and once you clear enough out others will move in if you have a food source close by. Process repeats. Years ago we had some extensive damage after tree rats got into attic, damaged roof. Now I'm a bit more proactive.

 

we spent $2,000 to get flying squirrels out of our attic/eaves. now i go scorched earth on any rodent trying to get into my house (red, gray and flying). the GF has become a pretty good shot with the air rife.

 

$2.000! Oh I am so sorry. Around here the homes are not large and I would hate to see an innocent dog hurt or something hurt. That’s why I just treated inside garage.

As for squirrels these do not fly but make a mess. I got ticked replaced patches of my lawn year. One neighbor tried trapping but that is so labor intensive. It’s unfortunate that neighbors cannot have a conversation and politely stop feeding them. The fall corn stalk decorations were another problem.

 

yeah, we have mostly stopped feeding birds because of all the other nuisance pests the food attracts.

don't forget, if you toss a poisoned mouse into the trash, they can get scavenged at the dump, where the poison then enters the food chain.

just food for thought.

 

That is a valid point Steve never thought of that. Very good point

 

I tried this awhile back seemed to work pretty good.

 

@SlvrSlug

interesting, thx!

 

Have not “zapped” anything yet it’s been in one of my vehicles since last fall. Because I found a few droppings in it. And a mouse came out of the wiper opening. Seems it’s scared them away.