Mouse ate my wires!

happened to me! Rodent damage is covered under comprehensive coverage, that would be listed on your auto policy, minus your comp deductible

 

For Chipmunks, which I'm over run by, a big old snap rat trap baited with a strawberry works every time. If you are worried about birds, drop a milk crate over it.

 

I’ll

The plastic ones do work well but when it catches one, it can’t catch anymore until you reset it. The bucket one automatically resets itself which is good for me because I don’t always get out to the shed that often when it snows.

 

I had a bucket trap in my garage for over a week and nothing, yet i could detect where the mice have been. Thats when i went to several of those jawz's traps with everything from sunflower seeds to peanut butter. I caught 5 mice on the first day, and close to 30 for the week.

 

I caught over 70 chipmunks this year in my yard with those jaw'z rat traps using just peanut butter with a couple sunflower seeds stuck in the peanut butter. Those chipmunks can't resist those seeds....when they go to dig them out of the peanut butter, its curtains.

 

What did you use for bait? I put a decent amount of peanut butter at the end with a piece of chocolate on that. Catch them all winter.

 

Wait… you’re talking chipmunks, I’m talking mice. For chipmunks I dig a hole that you can put a 5 gallon bucket in with the top level with the ground. Fill halfway up with water and pour sunflower seeds on top, they will float. The chipmunks will jump in and drown. I know a lot of people won’t like this but you don’t want a lot of them around your house.

 

The soy cause has been debunked several times:

https://www.torquenews.com/1083/car-talk-helps-bust-myth-soy-why-rodents-are-eating-your-car-s-wires

https://www.10news.com/news/fact-or...dents-lured-to-honda-cr-v-by-soy-based-wiring

https://www.consumerreports.org/car-maintenance/how-to-protect-your-car-from-rodents-a5816950285/

Every class action suit has been dismissed as lacking evidence it was actually the soy based insulation. There was even a study that proved mice chewed on regular insulation as much as the soy based and didn't have a preference. A more renewable and environmentally sound alternative is never a bad thing in life. You may not believe environmentalists but the science is sound that soy based insulation is not the culprit. Cars have been having mice chew on insulation since the dawn of the automobile.

 

Had the same thing happen to me recently with my 2021. Started noticing a problem with the engine lagging and then I got a check engine light and error code. Turned out the knock sensor harness had been chewed up and a mouse made a nest under the intake manifold. The mechanic said it’s fairly common unfortunately and its result of the soy wiring harness and engine being a warm place to nest. Cost me a little over $600 to have it fixed which sounds like a deal compared to some of the price quotes on here. I paid out of pocket because the deductible was $500 and geico was being a PITA about having it inspected by an authorized assessor. I’m going to grab some of the rodent spray others have recommended and start using that to avoid having the problem a second time.

 

These, but run 2 of them and make sure they are different brands. I have a big plug in Victor on the floor blasting between the tires and another smaller one with strobe lights I clamp to the battery terminals with the trickle charger under the hood. They might be able to get used to the ultrasonic screeching one unit is putting out, but 2 different units screeching different frequencies over each other with no pattern just sends the little darlings back out doors where it's quieter.



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A small amount of epoxidized soy oil compounded into polyvinyl chloride insulation doesn’t sound particularly delicious. Here’s study (done by some folks I know) on the subject.
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c05868

 

I just replaced a floor harness in a 2018 Lexus RX350. The harness alone was $1,800.
Under the carpet was a bunch of bird food. The owner must keep a bag of it in the garage where they park their car.

I also replaced the headliner in a LC500 convertible (mouse chewed a hole in it), again finding food in certain areas.

Make sure the rodents don't have a food source and I've had good luck with this:

$60 MouseBlocker 12V Ultrasonic Under Hood Mouse and Rodent Deterrent for Your Vehicle

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DWGAHM...7&sr=1-1-9e67e56a-6f64-441f-a281-df67fc737124

 

For mice, mostly peanut butter with maybe a sunflower seed stuck to it or a drop of bacon grease mixed in. Same for chipmunks with the peanut butter, except a couple sun flower seed stuck in it....no bacon grease. Been catching mice nearly every other day year round. The cats around here are too well taken care of. They don't even know what a mouse is.

 

I had a bunch of these black&decker electronic rodent repellers that plug into ac outlets. They do not work. The mice pissed all over them, and built nests in cardboard boxes nearby.

 

I am old and live in country Keep trucks in barn Always mice & rats in barn. I found whatever you do for rodents keep changing they will adapt to any trap I recently came across a Coyote hide so I keep a 6 inch piece of tail under hood [coyote tail] they think a coyote is sleeping in there Good results so far and a lot more fun

 

Same here but not as bad.... as far as I know. I fixed myself with solder and heat shrink.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/squirrel-not-a-christmas-vacation-thread.786075/

 

This always seems to happen with lower mileage trucks. I had this happen as well, I used to travel often for work and the truck would sit for a few weeks at at time.
Insurance covered it. I think they had my truck for a few days, I don't remember for sure. It was fixed while on another trip. After that I asked my son to drive it every few days.

 

I had a kangaroo mouse under my hood when I was living out in the Owens valley… first under a Prius then a 2003 4Runner… complete hell chasing it down some nights… caught a few small mice and a rat…. Kangaroo mice are smart! Lol

I got lucky with no damage that I came across… sprayed fox piss around on on access points like wheels/tires