Critters living in your vehicle

[Realism]

Have a friend of mine who works for a shop north of me. He told me they had a customer come in with a complaint that his car was sluggish and kept wanting to die on him. The shop said they would take a look at it and my friend got dibbs on it. He thought it sounded like there was a restriction in the intake and since the car looked a bit old and worn, he was thinking a clogged filter or something along that line.

Yeah, everyone at the shop had a good laugh when they found out the cause. Little did they know the culprit was still hanging around waiting for a chance to strike again. Don't worry he has been re-homed to somewhere in the trees by the shop he says. lol

Just reminds me that it is close to that time of year again... mmmm... 212 F from a 275HP barbecue.

 

[filthyfingers]

My ride is acting a little squirrelly. Today I cleaned the throttle body. The spaces around the coils were full of sunflower seed hulls! A mouse house.

 

[DAlastDON]

Its a good thing him brought his own food and did not feast on the electrical harness.

 

[Realism]

Its a good thing him brought his own food and did not feast on the electrical harness.

No kidding, otherwise the shop guys would have been having fried squirrel for lunch

 

[AWD V8]

One day when I worked at a VW dealership I was doing a service on a diesel Rabbit. I opened the air box and found a rats nest in there. They had chewed through the filter element and nested inside the intake manifold. It was littered with droppings and assorted nesting materials. Didn't see the rodent, maybe got sucked into the engine.

Many years earlier I had a customer with a Beetle and it would stall out often when the fuel level was low, only when low. If he left it a few minutes it would drive again for a day or so before it did it again. I checked the fuel lines and they flowed well so I pulled the tank out. I poured the contents into a bucket and low and behold a mouse was floating in the gas. When the fuel level got low the deceased rodent would get sucked into the fuel pick pick up and stall the engine. Leave it a few minutes and the body would float away.

I've also done numerous wiring repairs.

 

[Njg425]

Got a few miles down the road in a Suburban when the dash suddenly lit up like a Christmas tree and I lost power steering. I wrestled the truck to the side of the road and popped the hood. It looked like a crime scene in there, blood guts and bone everywhere. I looked a little bit closer and the serpentine belt was off and something bloody and furry was sitting on the engine block. From my best guess the rat was sleeping on the engine under the throttle body then when it got too hot it tried to get out of there and went straight into the idler pulley and fan. The entire lower half of the rat was crushed and splattered all over the engine compartment. I have pictures but they're a little graphic and I'm not sure if everyone wants to see that... Cleaned everything up with some bleach and put the belt back on and the truck was no worse for wear lol.

 

[Realism]

Njg425:

You must have gotten lucky with using bleach on rubber parts. Normally bleach (sodium hypochlorite) has a tendency to eat away at rubber seals and parts unless heavily diluted and rinsed, which is why "we" (chemists, medical staff, CDC labs, etc) tend to use Ortho-phthalaldehyde instead, as it is more eco friendly and works better across the board without posing risk to seals. Trust me, you dont wan't to use "bleach" to clean out a sealed containment unit used for ebola,small pox, or some super virus (bubonic plague part two anyone?). Would give new meaning to the term calling in sick for work.

Totally understand though, I'm not much of a PETA animal person, but one of my biggest concerns is having a cat or similar animal crawl up under the hood in winter to keep warm, only to be decimated by the moving parts. Not only would I feel horrible (chances are it would be my neighbors cat), but oh my word would the smell of burning fur and flesh and the clean up afterwards be so much of a pain. To say nothing of the least as to how much damage could be caused. I would be absolutely livid if an animal caused damage to any parts under the hood. ie. damage to the belt, pulley or bearings of a component.

Yeah, public forum... probably best to avoid the gory pictures. The mods here are great, but that might be stretching it.

 

[jsheahawk]

Got a few miles down the road in a Suburban when the dash suddenly lit up like a Christmas tree and I lost power steering. I wrestled the truck to the side of the road and popped the hood. It looked like a crime scene in there, blood guts and bone everywhere. I looked a little bit closer and the serpentine belt was off and something bloody and furry was sitting on the engine block. From my best guess the rat was sleeping on the engine under the throttle body then when it got too hot it tried to get out of there and went straight into the idler pulley and fan. The entire lower half of the rat was crushed and splattered all over the engine compartment. I have pictures but they're a little graphic and I'm not sure if everyone wants to see that... Cleaned everything up with some bleach and put the belt back on and the truck was no worse for wear lol.

Show it!

 

[Sparky]

I have a dead mouse in a nest in the HVAC ducts on my Camaro. Sigh.

 

[Njg425]

Realism:
Thanks for the reply. It's good to see someone else with a science background around here. Mine is actually in biochemistry. I know full well the power of bleach, I simply used a rag with Clorox sprayed on it to wipe everything down. No harm done. Thanks for looking out though! I agree, I'll leave out the pictures out for now unless a mod asks for them and gives an OK.

 

[Mooseman]

If storing a vehicle, a trick from trailer and Winnebago owners is to use Bounce dryer sheets everywhere to keep mice away. They swear by it. Also heard moth balls work but the smell will remind you of grandma's house, Lol!

 

[Sparky]

What gets me is why they made a nest in my HVAC in the middle of the summer when I had just driven the car a few days prior.

 

[Realism]

What gets me is why they made a nest in my HVAC in the middle of the summer when I had just driven the car a few days prior.

Maybe cuz it was a cooler spot. Even a chillin ball of destructive fur needs a cool place. Probably pulling a face like a dog outside the window.
Although I do wonder why is that certain vehicles and platforms are more apt to have critters moving in. I've heard it many times from owners of cars like the Camara, corvair, Chevelle (pretty bad), mustangs, firebird, and pintos. Are chevy and ford just more comfortable for animals?

Realism:
Thanks for the reply. It's good to see someone else with a science background around here. Mine is actually in biochemistry. I know full well the power of bleach, I simply used a rag with Clorox sprayed on it to wipe everything down. No harm done. Thanks for looking out though! I agree, I'll leave out the pictures out for now unless a mod asks for them and gives an OK.

Facepalm. Ah yeah. wiping it down. SOme reason I was picturing someone just dumping it on there and hosing it off after. It is amazing what chlorine and sodium can do

 

[Shaw520]

I just acquired a 05 TB in EXCELLENT cond thanks to resident squirrel, PO owner couldnt figure out what was wrong,..throwing a kizzillion codes. I flat bedded it to my house, upon inspection the main center lug on the ECU was chewed about half way though, (probably 30+ wires worth),....purchased new engine harness on fleabay , installed, and she started and purred like a kitten.

 

[Reprise]

If storing a vehicle, a trick from trailer and Winnebago owners is to use Bounce dryer sheets everywhere to keep mice away. They swear by it. Also heard moth balls work but the smell will remind you of grandma's house, Lol!

I used mothballs one winter when I put the S2K down for the winter. Took the entire next summer to get the residual smell out.
Another winter, I found a mouse had gotten into the airbox and tried setting up a nest. Thankfully, the critter didn't chew through anything. Guessed the poison I had put down earlier along the edges of the storage unit got him. Lucky for me; I know I'd been majorly p!ssed to have to replace wiring, etc.