Rodent in Engine

[Ajolives]

Anyone have any advise on how to deter this damn animal from hanging out in my engine bay?

My undercarriage trays are complete and in good shape, as well as the seals along the hood openings. Not sure how this assholes getting in here.

Any help/products/remedies would be much appreciated. Happy holidays!!!

[Pig Farmer]

Originally Posted by Ajolives

Anyone have any advise on how to deter this damn animal from hanging out in my engine bay?

My undercarriage trays are complete and in good shape, as well as the seals along the hood openings. Not sure how this assholes getting in here.

Any help/products/remedies would be much appreciated. Happy holidays!!!

I decided to do a bunch of preventative maintenance at 50K miles including plugs, coils, throttle actuators, and a bunch of other things. When pulling the plenum, I found a rat nest right in the “v” behind the throttle actuators. I read somewhere that rats & mice can’t control their bladders and basically pee while walking around. They follow the pee trail back to their nest. I don’t know how accurate this is, but I cleaned the engine bay with a fairly mild petroleum based cleaner (Black Magic Engine Shine). The rat has not been back in 5k miles.

[wfdeacon88]

Originally Posted by Ajolives

Anyone have any advise on how to deter this damn animal from hanging out in my engine bay?

My undercarriage trays are complete and in good shape, as well as the seals along the hood openings. Not sure how this assholes getting in here.

Any help/products/remedies would be much appreciated. Happy holidays!!!

a cat or rat poison..

[Ajolives]

Originally Posted by Pig Farmer

I decided to do a bunch of preventative maintenance at 50K miles including plugs, coils, throttle actuators, and a bunch of other things. When pulling the plenum, I found a rat nest right in the “v” behind the throttle actuators. I read somewhere that rats & mice can’t control their bladders and basically pee while walking around. They follow the pee trail back to their nest. I don’t know how accurate this is, but I cleaned the engine bay with a fairly mild petroleum based cleaner (Black Magic Engine Shine). The rat has not been back in 5k miles.

Thanks for the tip, I was planning on cleaning it up this weekend but I'll make sure to be extra thorough.

[Ajolives]

Originally Posted by wfdeacon88

a cat or rat poison..

If I can find somewhere to place the poison I'm the car...wife gets the driveway, I'm in the road.

[roastbeef]

This

[wfdeacon88]

Originally Posted by Ajolives

If I can find somewhere to place the poison I'm the car...wife gets the driveway, I'm in the road.

Oh hahaha yeah I assumed it was garaged and was mostly kidding.. but, you could potentially put some traps with food out under the car/front end while it's sitting on the road and who knows?

[pbonsalb]

Drive the car more.

[Ajolives]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

Drive the car more.

It's my daily

[Scharbag]

Originally Posted by Ajolives

It's my daily

I have heard that rodents do not like rosemary. Some say to grind up rosemary with water and spray the area where you park.

Not sure if they actually works though. Worst case, your parking stall will smell nice.

[rosemont83]

Originally Posted by Pig Farmer

I decided to do a bunch of preventative maintenance at 50K miles including plugs, coils, throttle actuators, and a bunch of other things. When pulling the plenum, I found a rat nest right in the “v” behind the throttle actuators. I read somewhere that rats & mice can’t control their bladders and basically pee while walking around. They follow the pee trail back to their nest. I don’t know how accurate this is, but I cleaned the engine bay with a fairly mild petroleum based cleaner (Black Magic Engine Shine). The rat has not been back in 5k miles.

Super old thread revival.. not sure if you are still active but if you are, did you end up having any damage from the rat?

[BimmerRob08]

I moved into my new home in October and few items that were in the garage had food in them. Few camping power bars, etc. in some bags and I found mice poop all over the garage in a rather short amount of time. Then I really freaked when I saw the bastards we’re pooping and peeing while crawling around in my engine bay. So wife and I did some research. Basically you got to hit the problem from different angles.

1. Seal up garage door edges with spray foam, etc. make sure garage and other doors are sealed tight.

2. Get top quality rodent deterance stuff like peppermint sacks and use a lot of castor oil, these strong orders repel them and keep them away.

3. Keep poison bait traps away from the garage so they are not attracted going in. I had a bag of mice traps with poison in an bag from Home Depot on my garage freezer and one little guy got up there, ate through the bag, got through the package of traps and ate it, found dead near the fridge. So keep them from coming in.

4. Supposedly Bounce dryer sheets kept under the car, and a few in the engine bay also repels them.

Good luck.

[Thumbie]

Things I have heard deter rodents:
-rosemary or oregano
- dryer sheets
-moth balls
- Irish Spring bar soap

But these all assume you are storing the car (some family members have RVs and they do the Irish Spring bar soap) Since you drive it daily these don't make sense. Surprised rodents get in there nightly. Maybe drop a bar of soap down onto your undertray? IDK! haha

[Assimilator1]

Originally Posted by Pig Farmer

... I read somewhere that rats & mice can’t control their bladders and basically pee while walking around. They follow the pee trail back to their nest. I don’t know how accurate this is, but I cleaned the engine bay with a fairly mild petroleum based cleaner (Black Magic Engine Shine). The rat has not been back in 5k miles.

I don't believe this first point is true, but they do scent mark using pee, so your 2nd point I believe is true.

Anyone tried ultrasound deterrents? I've read mixed reviews about them.

[Scrippy]

I had two rats and I have a badass cat that wasn’t doing shit about it! I ended up putting two of these at the front corners of my garage. The company is called “Tomcat” and they’re sold at Home Depot. The bait inside makes them thirsty and causes death. They state that if your house pets eat the rat, it will not effect them. I haven’t seen a rodent in 2 years now and my cat and dog are all good. I would wash your car, motor & bay if there was poop & pee on it. They will make it a rest stop if you don’t.

[smokinjoe64]

Worked great time-after-time in lake cabin garage => Mr Peanut butter & Mr Sparky