Mice :-(

[Warren Nethercote]

My shop has mice. They don't bother me and I don't bother them. I could invite the cat in, but there are things in the shop that would be unhealthy for the cat.

Finally, finally, I'm getting close to getting back at my Locost 7. I uncovered it so I could lift it out of the corner with my engine crane, only to discover the mouse nest in the valley between the cams. And the nasty little so-and-so had eaten one of my plug leads! So much for mutual respect.

[Kinetic Research]

Grrr - frustrating. One morning my car would not start and upon opening the hood found a half eaten bird and dog biscuit next to my chewed through wiring loom behind the battery - rats are bad too when they get into a warm engine bay to dine out!

[chrisser]

They chewed the harness to the rear differential on my wife's Escape in half a dozen places.

No traction control, no ABS, no AWD, no hill climb assist. One harness with two little wires caused a cascade of problems.

[Sean in CT]

One of my friends started Mouseblocker about 10 years ago. They make several solutions for getting rid of mice. He is a car nut, too!

https://mouseblocker.com/

[vroom]

This is maybe the major problem for motor heads. I have a friend who put a ring of sticky stuff around his car in storage as a mutual friend did around the wheels of his air craft. I didn't work, the buggers can jump he now has a $5000 dollar new harness in his
BMW. I tried a bag but haven't looked at the car since last fall.

[Warren Nethercote]

At least with a bag you can see any holes ... I was piling stuff on the car for storage so I didn't see the hole the mouse (mice?) had chewed in the car cover .... That would have been a warning. Ultrasonic discouragement looks like the way to go.

[BHRmotorsport]

I put these into my hanger 2 years ago and haven't seen a mouse in the hanger since. In addition, the "mouse tunnels" are gone from the grass around the hanger for about 6' out from the walls. I think they were about $18 for 4 when I bought them. I'm happy with them.

https://www.menards.com/main/outdoors/i ... -10120.htm

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[turbo_bird]

I brought a car out of close to 10 years storage this spring, and mice had been in the trunk. Getting the stink out of a car sucks. It's almost gone now, after pulling the trunk carpet and washing with the pressure washer, then scrub the bare trunk with bleach and hosed it out, plus shampooing the interior. No electrical gremlins yet though, knock on wood.
Kristian

[rx7locost]

To get the odor out, you might try a product called Odo-Ban. It is a concentrate and works pretty well on pet odors. I believe it is some sort of enzyme that gets the odor, not just cover it up. Not sure who sells it or if it available up by you. There must be other brands on the market now. I bought a gallon some number 10-15yrs?) of years ago when we had pets. Still have a bunch left from the gallon jug.

Also, I am told that an air ionizer works well too. I used one to get the cigarette smell from a used car I bought. It didn't get rid of it totally but put a big hurt on the odor. I probably could have given the car a 2nd treatment.

[turbo_bird]

Thanks Chuck, they've got a Canadian website and apparently home hardware carries it here. Checked the store in town and they don't have the concentrate, but I'll pick up a spray bottle and try it out.
Kristian

[turbo_bird]

I finally tracked down some Odoban and bought a bottle last week. I could only find the pre-dilluted stuff, but it seems to have worked pretty good. I've had a fabric bag of ground coffee in the car for several months because coffee absorbs odors and just plain smells great, but I would still get a wiff of mouse smell, especially when the car was sitting in the sun. Opening the trunk was pretty stinky, especially on a hot day. I sprayed the Odoban in the vent intake under the hood with the AC on full and the windows open, then misted it lightly around the car and sprayed down the trunk last week, and haven't had any mouse scent since, even when I opened the trunk yesterday for the first time since spraying it. I'm a believer now, this stuff really seems to work.
Kristian

[rx7locost]

I am glad it worked for you.

[turbo_bird]

So am I, thanks for the recommendation. I probably never would have found it randomly trying stuff to see what works. Who knows, there may be other similar products out there that work just as well, but this will be my go to now.
Kristian

[horchoha]

I brought a car out of close to 10 years storage this spring, and mice had been in the trunk.

Kristian look in the trunk and see if the rear pillars are open to the roof. There may be something in the headliner area that could be the source of the smell when the car heats up, mainly the roof. I had an old car where mice packed a five gallon pail worth of canola seed into the headliner, had to cut the headliner out.

edit: corrected wording from truck to trunk

[Nick94tt]

Honda sells some comically expensive capsaicin tape to keep mice and chipmunks away from the soybean oil based wiring insulation the tried a few years ago.

The rolling log style bucket traps /trapdoor setups work well, as do the heavy duty plastic ones with peanut butter or dog food.

For smell I'd vacuum, scrub and degrease, dry, then run an ion generator. I've got a commercial output one off ebay that'll scorched earth anything under 4000sq ft. 15-30 seconds or so handles most bad vehicles. Lol