Both my daughter and I park outside in our driveway at night. When getting my daughter's oil changed the other day, the oil tech mentioned that he noticed there was mouse urine evidence under the car. About a week before that I had pulled out of the driveway to go to work in the morning and noticed a mouse scurry across from under my car to my yard.

What's the best way to keep these suckers from camping out in my engine and possibly doing some serious damage to wires? Oil tech mentioned the idea of getting fox urine and putting some in a pill bottle with a few holes drilled in the top and then tying that somewhere in the engine bay. Is this the best method?

I've heard peppermint oil on some cotton balls.

Cracking the hood open seems to work. They go there for shelter. Unless it's a tundra , then they are eating your wire coating.

There are many brands of vehicles rodents like to eat the wiring on. Neighbor had several thousand in damage due to mice eating the wiring on his new Chevy 2500.

Chetos said:

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Cracking the hood open seems to work. They go there for shelter. Unless it's a tundra , then they are eating your wire coating.

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Same. I keep hoods open for any cars sitting for more than a few days. Been lucky with rodents after I started doing that.

I left my F250 for 3 days in December when that pre-Christmas cold front came through. Got home, opened the hood, and a squirrel was making a meal out of the wiring harness. Stabbed it with my pocket knife after it wouldn't GTFO of the engine bay. No issues with the other cars parked outside with the hoods open

It's amazing how quickly rodents move in

get a cat

MAROON said:

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get a cat

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I've found one of those under the hood too!

No magic bullet solution, but it's not just wiring that rodents can f-up. Years ago I had an old 4 banger Ranger and was going up a big hill, so had the throttle wide open. Crested the hill and the throttle stuck wide open. Turned off ignition, pulled off the road and noticed a weird, but oddly pleasant burning smell as I opened the hood to find a bunch of pecan fragments all over the top of the engine. Some had rolled back as I went up the hill and gotten stuck in the linkage. Guess a squirrel had been having a feast in the engine bay.

txyaloo said:

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I left my F250 for 3 days in December when that pre-Christmas cold front came through. Got home, opened the hood, and a squirrel was making a meal out of the wiring harness. Stabbed it with my pocket knife after it wouldn't GTFO of the engine bay.

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That's rather hardcore.

This one made the news last year. Guy pulled buckets of chestnuts out from under the hood.
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Anecdotely I have heard that dryer sheets keep them away. I used it on a car I stored a few years ago and had no evidence of mice in that car when I pulled it out. Of course there were plenty of snakes around that storage lot as well.

Really a cat is the best answer.

If I am parking for a while, I put cayenne pepper in the tire treads.

Chetos said:

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Cracking the hood open seems to work. They go there for shelter. Unless it's a tundra , then they are eating your wire coating.

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I can attest to Tundra wires being tasty.

dubi said:

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Chetos said:

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Cracking the hood open seems to work. They go there for shelter. Unless it's a tundra , then they are eating your wire coating.

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I can attest to Tundra wires being tasty.

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Why are you eating tundra wires?

javajaws said:

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MAROON said:

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get a cat

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I've found one of those under the hood too!

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They really are sweet when caught in the fan belt.

Just buy a RAM truck...their survival instincts have evolved to stay out of them!

MAROON said:

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get a cat

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Or some rattlesnakes!

Start it,

Had this problem with my Sienna. They actually got behind the dash through an opening in the sheet metal

Put up chicken wire to block the opening. Put a small bag of mothballs on the front tires overnight. Used cayenne too. Eventually just put out traps until I killed them all.

Finding rat turds on the CAF sucked.

Rats know that the back seat area of minivans are snack food gold mines.

Leaving the hood open works. They're seeking shelter & a place to build a nest.

I have had good luck with "Grandpa Gus" packets for keeping rodents away. They smell strongly of cinnamon & peppermint. Supposedly have a 1-3 month effectiveness.

Cracked open, or OPEN?

P.H. Dexippus said:

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txyaloo said:

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I left my F250 for 3 days in December when that pre-Christmas cold front came through. Got home, opened the hood, and a squirrel was making a meal out of the wiring harness. Stabbed it with my pocket knife after it wouldn't GTFO of the engine bay.

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That's rather hardcore.

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I was pissed. Had just driven 4hrs, it was 12*, the wind was howling, my dad was having back surgery the next day, and the truck's batteries were dead. The squirrel was huddled down next to the passenger battery. It didn't move after banging on the battery and fender for what felt like forever. I wasn't going to reach in and grab it so stabbing it seemed like the best choice at the time

I suspect it won't be nesting in my engine bay anymore

Don't store cheese under the hood?

EMY92 said:

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This one made the news last year. Guy pulled buckets of chestnuts out from under the hood.
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I dropped the engine out of my '88 911 and then pulled the foam insulation pad out of the engine bay -- about 2 cups of dog kibble came with it.

I found stray kibble all through the car, where the mice were stashing it.

Surprised there was no wire damage, but I guess the dog food was enough.

In Colorado Springs I had rabbits eat the O2 sensors on my Audi A4.

My favorite was in Germany -- our XOs wife calling the S1 that her car wouldn't start -(we were in the field) - a hedgehog had chewed up the ignition wires and electrocuted itself.

I fought the rodents for years on my deer lease jeep. I tried various things but nothing worked, wires were constantly being chewed. A feed store in Graham recommended Rodent Stopper by Messinas and it has worked for several years now. I use the aerosol can. Great product.

Pest Repeller