How do you stop mices from entering engine bay?

[Badhobz]

So i was digging around the wife's RX350 and found where all my ant traps were... stupid mice took them into the engine bay and decided to have a ratty party. Luckily they didnt chew any of the wires, but do you guys have any suggestions as to how to prevent these little fuckers from getting up in there?

[JDMDreams]

I've heard of dryer sheets and tried it when I used to store my car outside but can't 100% confirm if they worked.

[Badhobz]

i tried putting traps around the car, but it seems i might be drawing in more of the neighborhood ratties into the area instead of detracting them from going into the car.

[Euro7r]

BBQ meat + a few cages around your backyard. That should catch those suckers. Don't ask me how I know LOL

[Badhobz]

ive been trying this. So far ive caught ZIP..... these rata putas are annoying (will try with lee loy BBQ duck tonight)

[Hondaracer]

I found a bunch of rat shit on the top of the fenders in my G37.. read online and I think it said lavender oil? So I grab a bunch of lavander oil and drop it around the top. Fast forward a few days I pop the hood, now there’s just rat Dhiarea everywhere…

So I ended up getting a shaker of cayanne pepper and dropped it everywhere. Still occasionally saw some droppings but it seems like it calmed down

[underscore]

I can tell you that Irish Spring soap doesn't work.

[68style]

I'm not going to say that it's foolproof, but I've had my Lexus parked at my parents house for over a year now and I put 2 little tinfoil packs with cinnamon sticks and star anise inside the tinfoil (buddy told me to do this)... just placed them on top of the engine whenever it's sitting for awhile and they've never touched my car, but my dad's truck is right next to my Lexus and he has issues, but he refuses to do it lol.

[SpeedStars]

I used mothballs in cheese cloth baggies ziptied around the engine bay and it seemed to work AFTER i cleaned out all the rat crap in the engine bay

[Euro7r]

Originally Posted by Badhobz

ive been trying this. So far ive caught ZIP..... these rata putas are annoying (will try with lee loy BBQ duck tonight)

I caught like 8 in a span of 4 days (2 per day since I had 2 cage traps set up). Now don't see anymore lol. Supposed to be the smell of the meat that lures them. I tried peanut butter which according to my buddy works great as bait, didn't work at all lol.

[inv4zn]

I think I read mice/rats pee everywhere, and they use that smell to mark territory and shit.

So whatever the repellent is, you'll need to clean up before you do anything or else it won't be as effective.

I had this problem before and I diluted peppermint oil and sprayed the shit out of my engine bay every day for a week, and it seems to have repelled them enough that they went to other cars lol.

[Badhobz]

^ah thanks gents. Ill try the bbq duck tonight, if it doesnt work, ill douse the engine bay in peppermint oil / star anise, cinnamon/ moth balls/ everything.

[JDMDreams]

Speaking of mouse traps, great channel, lots of options too depending on how violent you want to get

YouTube (Short URL)

[trollface]

Rats will eat out of literal fucking garbage cans, eat road kill, crawl into raw sewage pipes and ya'll think mothballs, dyer sheets that smell like lavender, Irish Spring Soap, and cinnamon sticks are going to scare them away?

lol

You may have better luck charging your magic crystals under the full moon and shoving them in your muffler or your ass. Just as effective.

[JDMDreams]

Mouse eating better than us

[Traum]

When I used to park the Miata over the winter, the most effective solution I found was to actually just leave the hood opened. Rats / mice overwhelmingly prefer to use covered / dark places as shelter. So by leaving the hood open, I took the covered / dark places away from them, so they don't gather there.

Of course, this only works for vehicles that are parked for extended periods.

From my own experience in dealing with mice and reading up about them, my personal conclusion is -- you just gotta make the environment around the vehicle as uninviting and non-hospitable as you possibly can. That means no clutter and bare walls in the garage, and I know that is really difficult to do.

[twitchyzero]

if it's a garage make sure no openings are bigger than size of a nickel

car port, open hood if it's gonna sit for more than a few days

street parking noticed squirrels leaving nutshells above oil cap haha

[Fafine]

Originally Posted by trollface

Rats will eat out of literal fucking garbage cans, eat road kill, crawl into raw sewage pipes and ya'll think mothballs, dyer sheets that smell like lavender, Irish Spring Soap, and cinnamon sticks are going to scare them away?

lol

You may have better luck charging your magic crystals under the full moon and shoving them in your muffler or your ass. Just as effective.

What's your suggestions?

[68style]

Rats =/= mice

[sunny_j]

I've had good luck with real peppermint oil mixed with water in a spray bottle. make sure the peppermint oil is 100% and not synthetic

[gurdeep007]

Mice got my 4Runner last year and I got one of these.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B08...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Seems to have worked, and my neighbour bought one too.

[Scotsman]

We've been dealing with this for years and tried many of the suggestions already mentioned. Most effective...

Find someone who owns a cat and ask them for their used kitty litter. The litter has absorbed the cat smell so it scares off the rodents.

If it's a carport then put it all around where it's not in your way and if it's on the street then the grass right by the curb.

It's been working for us. We buy our friend's cat many cat treats for their help and continued contributions!

If you're in a carport, just pop open the hood as that usually works as Traum noted. They're looking for a dark safe spot so don't give them that. I think it's dependent on what's around you because if they can find a better place at your neighbour's then they'll move on but if you're the best spot around then it'll be hard to deter them.

I even rigged up 2 LED lights (attached to the existing carport LED night lights so low voltage and easy to do) so we hung it into the engine bay after the hood was left ajar.

The gang seems to have moved on now so we're only doing the kitty litter. Don't see any rat droppings (knock-on-wood).

There were a few years where we had some neighbourhood cats roaming around and that really made a difference.

Next project...adopt some cats.

[AzNightmare]

Originally Posted by Scotsman

If you're in a carport, just pop open the hood as that usually works as Traum noted. They're looking for a dark safe spot so don't give them that.

For this reason, I would think if you have a garage, you can also just prop the hood fully open. That's what I do when I store my car for the winter.

[asian_XL]

in China

[Gerbs]

Do you guys have this issue if you're parking in condo or a detached garage? My brother just told me we had mice last night in garage and my S2000 is stored so I'm getting spooked parking top down