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Is your car becoming a happy meal for the furry creatures around your home? Have a look at what your car parts are being made of lately.
Having an Computer Tech background I ran into wires being destroyed by rodents at my place of employment 20 years ago. Actually the problem was quite serious and became cause to move the entire I.T. department to another location. It started when a secretary made a comment that she had seen rats in the office area.
During this period all our computer networks were hard wired and failures were becoming more common. Nicks and cuts in wire insulation were found but were always attributed to being damaged during installation. As it turned we were wrong and rodents were making a meal of our wiring which caused the many failures.
Which brings us to cars of today and what car parts are being made out of. It seems more and more of our electrical wiring and other parts in cars are made with soy and numerous other food waste products.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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My only problem so far (knocking on wood) has been creatures pulling off bits of the firewall and inside hood insulation, probably to use in their nests.
My only problem so far (knocking on wood) has been creatures pulling off bits of the firewall and inside hood insulation, probably to use in their nests.
Same here, although my glove box socket for iPad no longer works so there might have been some wires chewed. I kept getting mouse nests on top of my cabin air filter. It tore up the insulation around the battery compartment to furnish it. This started when I let my car sit for about 10 days while I was in the hospital.
It may be hard to believe but cars are becoming more (furry friendly) then people realize.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hemlock140
My only problem so far (knocking on wood) has been creatures pulling off bits of the firewall and inside hood insulation, probably to use in their nests.
It hard to believe but cars are becoming more (furry friendly) then people realize. This site goes to great lengths to address the subject.
My husband’s Outback had the firewall pretty much eaten away by mice when we were living in a rental before we moved into our present home. I used see to them running up the tire tread and warned him. Then I found one mouse dead underneath, which a cat must have killed; the little body had been decapitated. Later my husband also found a mangled mouse in the engine bay. The entire insulated panel under the hood was chewed away, along with the firewall.
Meanwhile, the metal firewall in his truck was fine. So was the metal firewall in my truck.
And watch out for Toyotas that give easy entry into the air circulation system! I once parked my truck and did not drive it for a mere one night and one day at a campground. In the wee hours, something was scurrying around underneath, back and forth back and forth many times. The retiree camp host had been feeding ground squirrels. Apparently, that was not good enough for Her Highness the Vermin Queen.
When I drove out of the site and turned on the fan, a huge blast of dust, ciggie butt bits, leaf detritus, and other litter hit me in the face. The Vermin Queen had discovered the way into a labyrinth of passages connected to the heating/venting system and built a nest there.
The dealership knew right away what it was when I described the symptoms. Said they fixed LOTS of the same problem because many customers worked at the Federal Center, which was next to a known vermin field. Cost me $250 to get it cleaned out, and he warned me that they could never get 100% of it removed. He was right.
Close those Recirc levers fully shut if you park in such areas!
Yep, parked my GMC Envoy in the back of the driveway and didn't drive it for about a week.
When I started it up, had multiple warning lights going off - ABS, traction control, traction control service, low tire pressure, 4WD service. ABS wouldn't work and 4WD wouldn't engage either.
Took it to a mechanic and looks at and something (likely a squirrel) chewed through the wiring harness that goes to the front axle. It was a several hundred dollar repair to splice back together the harness.
Soy-based wiring harnesses are very appealing to rodents.
Yep, parked my GMC Envoy in the back of the driveway and didn't drive it for about a week.
When I started it up, had multiple warning lights going off - ABS, traction control, traction control service, low tire pressure, 4WD service. ABS wouldn't work and 4WD wouldn't engage either.
Took it to a mechanic and looks at and something (likely a squirrel) chewed through the wiring harness that goes to the front axle. It was a several hundred dollar repair to splice back together the harness.
Soy-based wiring harnesses are very appealing to rodents.
There's electrical tape designed to address this. Honda makes their own, but there's other brands out there.
This is an after-the-fact thing, of course. Just capsaicin coated electrical tape. Just like you might not like eating a carolina reaper flavored chip.. Mice don't like reaper wiring.
This is an after-the-fact thing, of course. Just capsaicin coated electrical tape. Just like you might not like eating a carolina reaper flavored chip.. Mice don't like reaper wiring.
About 30 years ago my Mazda 626's cabin fan started sounding odd. Long story short, I found a dead, dried out mouse in the squirrel cage (part of the fan).
Have a brother who had to spend over $1000 on his CRV two years ago because something chewed through the fuel pump wires. Evidently the gas tank had to be dropped to get to the wires, hence the expense.
The articles about soy being used in insulation? That part can be true. What's not true is that the soy derivatives, which are from soy oil IIRC, have any attraction power for mice. These products are even more refined than our food! Essentially, the soy oil is refined into a component that can then polymerize into a plastic:
Quote:
The two main kinds of soy-based plastics are polyurethane and polyester thermoset products. Soy polyols, produced from soybean oil, are used to make adhesives, coatings, sealants, inks, vehicle panels and urethane foam, including rigid foam insulation. When formulated with the proper chemicals, soy polyols can compete with their petroleum-based counterparts in stability, durability, and cost.
While I've known about this issue...I've yet to actually have it happen to me
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It may be hard to believe but cars are becoming more (furry friendly) then people realize.
