Cabin filter rat nest

There's acorns, a small apple, sticks, etc. jamming my cabin filter. A sturdy rat nest.
I see where I need to install an air intake screen.
My question is: how do rodents get underneath that plastic cowl that hides the air intake? Where are they coming in? There must be a hole.

 

Welcome to TW 2008 also . I had a bird make a nest this year in the engine compartment No rodents ever in cabin filter

 

Subbed. I had the same thing about a year ago and just cleaned it out, replaced the filter, and went on about my business. Didn't happen again. I never took the time to trace it to find out where a mouse could squeeze through, but I am curious to see what others say.

 

I think right behind the hood passenger side in the cowl people usually put a piece of hardware cloth to keep rodents out .

 

I'm looking into this as well on my 2018. Had a nest in my cabin air filter shortly after buying my Taco and recently had the entire engine wiring harness replaced through insurance due to damage from suspected chewed wires. I'm in the process of trying to repel and/or kill/capture any rodent that gets up in the engine bay.

 

Peppermint oil works also . Couple drops here and there in engine compartment

 

I see holes stamped in the bodywk revealed when I lift the cowl. Are they hollow are open to the shrouding inside the wheelwells?
I smell rat and my dog is going nuts. They must get in with ease.

 

Currently unemployed Truck must seem like a safe home-- rat evidence in my air cleaner & rat nest in my cabin filter. Fabricated a circular hardware cloth screen and pressed it into the intake in the air cleaner box and replaced the air filter. Blocking the holes for the habitrail leaded to the cabin air filter includes working around the windshield wiper action. Need more hardware cloth. Peppermint oil, various repellants haven't produced any lasting solutions but I keep trying them. Ammonia, too.

 

Found a rat nest in the cabin filter? Very hard to clean!
Tip: Take off the wipers, take off the cowl-- now you can vacuum the rat debris from above via the open cabin filter intake instead of struggling to clean the blower thru the cramped confined cabin filter door like I did last night...

 

Lol, except the apple I found all that caught in my blower. Wasn't from a varment just crap because that got sucked in fresh air intake do to the poor design of the early 2nd gens. You never had water coming in on the passenger side?

 

You did all that and mice/rats came back? I think it's time to try alot food and a mine field of traps on the garage floor, lol!

Seriously, I had a neighbor who was all 100% against harming anything and had a varment problem in the attic. The animal control people suggested strobe lights. Believe it or not, they worked. Maybe a cheap led 12v strobe like road worker trucks use placed in engine bay?

 

Here’s where you need to put the screen.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/dead-mouse-in-cabin-air-intake.639185/#post-22052180

 

There’s a large cut out under the cowl that leads directly into the cabin filter area. You need to take the cowl out and put some sort of metal screen over the hole

 

lol everyone keeps suggesting what the OP already knows. He said in his first post that he is aware that he needs to put a screen over the opening. But his question was; how do the rodents even get to that point.

 

I'm not sure how they get in but I know they can flatten their bodies out and squeeze into some amazingly tight places. I had a bad odor in my cab when I lived in Michigan for a few years. Turned out I had a bunch of dead baby mice in my fan area. There was also mouse nest in front of my air cleaner.

 

RE: peppermint oil
I liberally sprinkled the obvious areas under the hood last night with peppermint essential oil.
(Mentha Piperita)

Today there is another bigger chewed-on apple in the cabin filter box.

Got to get more hardware cloth asap.

 

Yes that is how they get to the cowl area.

 

I had rodents chew up my wiring. The mechanic suggested wrapping dryer sheets under the hood to keep them away if my truck was going to sit long enough. No idea how those little bastards got in though.

 

While you are cleaning in there make a screen cover

 

Looks like hell but it stopped the leaks and cuts off mouse access