Critters and storage

[MNGT350]

So my son noticed this while I had the hood up...

I knew this could happen, I guess I was in denial a little bit with the car in our newish house garage all winter.

Did an extensive search, didn't find anything else other than some droppings on top of manifold in one spot

now traps, steel wool, maybe even dryer sheets on the agenda... ugh
question for everyone:

Seems the hood liner doesn't really serve any functional purpose from my internet research. I know it's debated, but I'm not convinced it's there for any other reason than some sound deadening and some regulatory reasons (of which I'm not totally clear).

I want to simply remove the liner. don't care about noise, more noise in this car just fine. I assume maybe less of a temptation for critters as well going forward. Don't care about resale issues, not selling this car, have a teenager drooling over it already

The only real reservation I have is stripes/paint and possible bubbling on hood. Again, almost everyone online says this won't happen, liner doesn't make a difference on hood temps, but I still worry a little.

Thoughts?

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[DCShelby]

Add in some mothballs to the engine compartment.

 

[chief_charlie]

It looks like the mice have had fun in your engine bay. (Those are mouse droppings and the "stain" is their urine) If the car is in a dark garage, then I recommend buying a cheap droplight/worklight and put in a LED or CLF Daylight (5000K) bulb and put it under the car. I screwed mine to a small length of 4x4 so that it shines under the car. Use a timer if there are windows which light the garage during the day. Mice do not like light. Also check to see if there is somewhere the mice are getting onto your garage. Traps and mouse bait are other options. People say use dryer sheets, but the rats just used them in their nests. Oil of peppermint is another remedy

I live in the desert and pack rats play havoc with cars. Since placing a light under the cars that are parked outside at night I haven't had any problems.

 

[Alain]

That sucks man. I can’t give you any informed advise on removing the hood lining. But I also don’t think you’ll run into any issues with your stripes or paint bubbling.

As far as keeping those stupid creatures away I can tell you that over the winter I stored all three of my cars under covers and left them in the driveway.

I was super worried about mice, squirrels and the like looking for shelter in the engine bay and inside the car. I live in a very rural area and squirrels are EVERYWHERE, along with other wildlife.

I took a bunch of cotton balls, dipped them in peppermint oil, placed 5-6 of them in small plastic containers and put them in various spots throughout the car.

I placed 4 containers in the engine bay, two inside the car and one in the trunk. When I took the covers off the cars in the spring I had zero signs of mice or any other animal. The cars do smell like peppermint but I don’t mind it.

I also bought 6 shallow plastic pans, I filled them with used kitty litter from our house cat and placed them under the cars, one under the rear diff and one under the engine bay. I would empty and refill the used litter once or twice a week.

Give those a try.

 

[FDHog]

A sock full of mothballs stops that crap.

 

[Voodoo Velocity]

I think I found the culprit.....

 

[SVTinAR]

I keep a few sticky traps around my garage as a precaution. Seems mice like to run along wall lines so one on each side usually stops any that get inside pretty quickly.

 

[MNGT350]

Much better this way anyway, the critter just wanted me to clean things up under the hood.

 

[Scoobs]

Also don’t store anything in the garage like grass seed or bird seed etc that will attract them.

 

[sox3]

Also don’t store anything in the garage like grass seed or bird seed etc that will attract them.

I will agree with that. They will nest near where they have a food source. Pet food is another source too.

 

[zzrat]

We have found that using multiple sources of deterrents most mentioned above seems to help. Another one that works like a charm, gatorade bottles for the use of bait.

Have had in the past an outbreak of mice in the farm shop when our new seed corn arrives & it can be very frustrating trying to eliminate the critters!

 

[DCShelby]

Get a good mouser cat. They will kill rodents and leave them on the porch for you.

 

[zzrat]

Here are a couple of practices we use at our hog barns for varmint control. # 1 PVC 1 1/2" or 2" X 16" for outside use to head off the mice before they get inside. # 2 as mentioned earlier a large mouth bottle for bait. Mice just love to get in these! #3 Some good barnyard cats! Good Luck

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