[raebitz]

I live in a rural area and during the summer I park my XLE outside by my front porch, after a few days of not using it, I started it up and when I put it in drive the engine started to skip and idle very rough. It was so bad I shout it off and called my good old boy local garage guy.

He said to take the motor cover/soundproofing off and let him know how it looked, I found a two pound mouse nest tucked into the left top side of the engine, the mice pulled the soundproofing off from under the cover and made a nest from it, mixing it with dried grass, they also eat the spark plug wire cover from three plugs causing two wires to be eaten through.

The mechanic had to redo the wiring of the three plugs and told me to hang old soaks with moth balls on both sides of the engine compartment, which was done, since then no problems.

I found out wiring coverages made in the USA is an crude oil base and most wiring made outside of the USA is from soy oil and its eatable. Lesson learned look under the engine cover and dust it off. I now have moth balls hanging in my van, mower, generator and outside gas storage box, plus under and around all porch and patio things, I might smell like old grannies cloth closet, but I’m mice free now. Be careful using them around house pets.

 

[fibber2]

Moth crystals/flakes actually works better than moth balls.

I also use a bit of Liquid Fence (most mammals hate the smell) on a paper towel in a zip lock bag wire tied to a support near the radiator.

 

[circus]

Good idea to check for mouse nests under the lawn mower engine cowl too. Wish air cooled engines had temp gauges, an idiot light, something!

 

[fibber2]

And if you have your woodworking shop sent up in a barn, always check that band saw before switching it on..... Don't ask.....

 

[3Wheelerguy]

UMMM. Mothballs are VERY toxic to humans. Not recommended to have it under the hood.

 

[Ace Handler]

UMMM. Mothballs are VERY toxic to humans. Not recommended to have it under the hood.

More about mothball toxicity here: Are Mothballs Safe? or here: Healthfully "Harmful if inhaled"

No wonder granny was so wacko

 

[Fett]

I use about 10 mothballs in a stocking hanging in front of the battery on Mom's 2006 , honestly it does work, but it freaking stinks when you drive, worse if turn off recirculation for A/C ..... I had knock sensor rat damage awhile ago and started to use mothballs... Well I forgot to recharge mothballs last month as they do go away and rat damage again ... I am looking into doing this... Loraffe-Repellent-Ultrasonic-Deterrent 12 volt , will see if it is snake oil or it works......

I started with 40 mothballs, lol I about killed all of us first drive.... I whittled down the numbers and about 10 works.... Mothballs are toxic , if your vehicle is stored and not drivin much, mothballs are great... If you drive it everyday look for something else to use....

Come to find out Squirrels along with the Rats and Mice we have in Florida eat stuff in cars, never crossed my mind about squirrels, until I caught one under the hood of the van and one eating the rubber fuel line on the wife's Trooper .... I blame the neighbor feeding all the freaking squirrels peanuts in the shell everyday 10 feet from the van....

 

[datsa noydb]

I have also heard that bar soap, especially Irish Spring, works well. Have not yet verified that.

.

 

[Ace Handler]

I went the Irish Spring route. I cut (whittled) thin shavings off a bar and put them in some cheese cloth. I made two balls a bit larger than a golf ball. I put them under the plastic engine cover at each end. When the van warms up, it reminds me that I likely need to shower 🚿 lol. Smells quite nice and I have it on good authority that rodents strongly eschew the smell.

 

[fibber2]

Hey datsa! Haven't heard from you in a while. One of the originals!

 

[datsa noydb]

Hey datsa! Haven't heard from you in a while. One of the originals!

You have undoubtedly noticed that I'm still here (your post was 10 months ago). I joined not long after getting my '05 LE AWD, and had some questions about adding some accessories.

The '05 served me quite well. The worst thing that happened was the power door binding up so I couldn't use it. Not that much of a problem, as I seldom had more than two others in the van besides me. Just as easy to use the left door instead of the right.

I started coming back here when I updated to an '18 XLE AWD. Yep, looking to accessorize again. This one is a bit more tricky with all the fancy gizmos to work around, but I have it mostly figured out. Probably the most difficult thing coming up is replacing the tiny little inverter with one that is a bit larger. Because the stock outlet is rather proprietary, I might even leave it alone and just ADD the new inverter. I already have the snap-in outlets ready to install, just need to install the inverter and wiring.

Thanks for the welcome back.

.

 

[Bangor]

He said to take the motor cover/soundproofing off and let him know how it looked, I found a two pound mouse nest tucked into the left top side of the engine, the mice pulled the soundproofing off from under the cover and made a nest from it, mixing it with dried grass, they also eat the spark plug wire cover from three plugs causing two wires to be eaten through.

Since this thread is bumped, figured I'd chime in with a new thing I learned for every used vehicle I purchase in the future...... I saw OP's photo and literally LOL'ed!

Recently traveled from New England to the Carolinas to buy a 2008 Limited... while inspecting the van prior to jumping in it and driving almost 1,000 miles back, I took the engine cover off and had probably a pound of acorns fall out of the top of the engine. Nothing like acorns raining through the engine bay to get a nervous laugh out of both me and the dealer.....

Thankfully looks like it was a squirrel's storage space and not a mouse nest - no chewed wires, and already have a couple thousand miles on the van without issue.

One note if anyone else ever runs into something like this - change your cabin air filter. If it's under the engine cover it's probably somehow gotten through the cabin air intake too. Mine was horrendously gross.

 

[fibber2]

For years I used Liquid Fence (a rotted egg based mammal repellant) very successfully. However, either the formulation has changed or mice have evolved, but it now seems to be attracting them rather than keeping them away. In two vehicles they ripped apart the baggy and tore the paper towel to shreds and used it to reinforce their nests.

So... I've switched to peppermint oil. So far, so good....