After taking my 2014 NC out of the garage for a battery charge, after a long period of storage over the winter, I noticed mouse droppings between the plastic ribs of the air filter housing.
I became quite worried and decided to take it out for a quick spin.
The engine started fine and after a quick spin round the block, nothing was amiss.
I also looked under the bonnet with a torch to check all the areas and could not see any evidence of further mouse habitation, with no damage evident to hoses or cables that I could see.
Is there any potential damage that I may have missed? I would be grateful for any first hand experience from anyone with experience of this and recommendations on future eradication of this menace.
I have previously put non-lethal traps out on the garage floor and managed to capture two mice, releasing them elsewhere.
Also check under the plastic engine cover (it just pulls off) I had mice under there, made a nest. They loved the white heat proof matting that’s stuck to the under side of the cover.
Check out my pictures further down this thread linked.
I had a pesky rodent issue in my 5 ,used peppermint oil in water ,and sprayed around engine area,but don’t spray it on the bonnet insulation as it seems to eat into it
The middle aisle of Lidl should have anti-marten spray which apparently works for rodents as well as martens (mustelids). It deters them, not harms them.
When I first saw this I thought it very strange as pine martens are few in number and very localised in the UK, but apparently they are a problem on mainland Europe where that have a lot more and are a pest if they get at your car wiring.
I eventually made my garage mouse proof. I reckon they were getting in either under the metal up and over door or squeezing in through a gap up the side of said door.
First lot I caught humanly and released in the field opposite, they’d been feeding on a bag of birdseed I’d left in the garage. Lesson learned there, I then put the birdseed in a lidded bucket after that.
I then had mice inside the house, hiding behind the fridge in the kitchen. Humane traps used there, caught one and released. Another caught but a conventional trap, I used peanut butter, which seemed to work ok in the two traps.
Not had any problems now for a couple of years although they lurk outside. We are wary at leaving the doors open to the house in summer as we have fields opposite, as I reckon that’s how they got in before except the garage of course.
They eat wiring looms (especially Lotus + 2 ones in store! Sadly cars gone now.) and love foam.
Been in my 5 engine bay and have nibbled the foam insert around my battery.
Have an electric rodent repellent and traps around the car + spray repellent arond the car on the floor.
So far mice and short tailed voles are not back and car is running well.
Good Luck Guys - and if anyone has any suggestions…
certainly did. Fortunately my wiring was OK. There’s nowt you can do to keep the blighters out - they can squeeze through a gap the size of a pencil ;-(
Some of these can work. However for those of us with old ears it is worth testing them on a pair of very young ears.
The lad who “does” our garden used to be puzzled by the strange very high pitched pulsing whistle he could hear coming from the garage.
But he could not hear one of the fox scarers he usually turns off if he isn’t wearing his ear defenders. Sure enough it had filled with rainwater and was dead, bad design, avoid.
Also, check the airbox. I found that the blighters had eaten the “cold air” side, but not the engine side. Therefore, reasonably confident that nothing had been ingested into the engine.
I cleaned up the engine bay took the car for a test run.
Went to replace the air filter - and found more damn peanuts!
(Screenshot from Youtube video). I subsequently realised that the little blighters were using the cold air intake pipe behind the bumper as a home. When I ran the car I was hoovering the crud from the cold air intake into the airbox.
I have a vacuum that permits the blowing of air, so removed the air filter housing to give it a proper clean - and to blow out the air intake pipe behind the bumper.
Think I have shot of them now. Garage tidied up and all bird feed now stored in sealed plastic containers.
Inhumane traps for me. Current rodent corpse count at 7; 2 from the garage and 5 from the neighbouring shed.
I bought 4 plug-in supposedly pest repellents. They have a small blue indicator light and click at about 5 second intervals. Haven’t got a clue if it’s those that keep the mice at bay but we’ve not had any problems for a couple of years. One in the garage, the others in utility room, kitchen and dining area.
@Jimgell, Our only mouse issue began shortly after the cat came to stay, and continued at intervals over the following 18 years till she popped her clogs, then stopped. She would bring them in to play…! She obviously didn’t get the memo on the cat/mouse protocol.
Many thanks for everyone’s replies, I will try the ultrasonic route I think and also look at all the areas in the engine bay that people have advised that could be at risk
I think I’ve cracked it with them getting in the garage, no telltale signs of them in there again. I’ve still got traps in there and I put small a small amount of the birdseed in a couple of places, it remained untouched.
Hi,
Had the same problem at the begining of last year. Mice had set up home on the under engine shield. Visibly, they had nibbled the soft foam insulation on a couple of hoses. Deeper inspection revealed some damage to the loom around the hard to reach ECU. Bought a secondhand engine loom on Ebay rather than trying to make repairs. Also bought new tubular soft foam rubber tubing to replace the damaged material. When the car was returned to its’ storage at the end of the ‘dry Summer’ season the engine bay was thoroughy sprayed with a deterrent material offered on Amazon that claimed to contain mint products and other chemistry obnoxious to rodents. I cannot prove a negative but when the car was uncovered for the pre MOT inspection a week ago there was no sign of further damage.
As a word of caution, a friends high spec Mercedes caught fire when it was started following Winter storage in the same facility. The substantial damage was blamed on rodent damage to ignition wiring.
No experience with mouses but after a 2 week immobilisation at my daughters place i started my NB and it ran awfully…seems to be beavers in the area and they love ignition cables…
I’ve had rodents in the engine compartment of my NBFL. The car is on the drive and I spotted the remains of seeds on the inner arches (probably from my bird feeder) when checking the fluids. Whilst cleaning up I then noticed that one of the steering rack boots had been gnawed through on the top! Boot replaced, bird feeder moved and no further issues. Fingers crossed!
