Check your air box…

[Metal Geezer]

Well, I spent a good part of a day putting a (size 6) stainless steel mesh over the two air ports that allow air into the cabin air system. It was a fairly easy fix as you can see in the pics. I ended up molding the mesh so that as one piece it would cover both openings. I ended up using JB Weld Steel Stick. I cut and mixed a batch of it and stuck strips above and below each opening and then pressed the mesh into them. I then molded the putty tight into the mesh as you can see in the pic. Within an hour the putty was rock hard and provided a nice tight fit for the mesh.

That’s the solve right there.

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[Racket]

That’s the solve right there.

Get this to Ford Engineering stat!

 

[gfitzge2]

No worries here it's to darn hot. My garage will be well over 110 in the summer and no mouse is dumb enough to climb into my air box in that heat. If they did they'd fry in minutes. Bet they taste like chicken? ?

Let us know when you try that. I am going to pass.

 

[AzScorpion]

Let us know when you try that. I am going to pass.

Greg, it's been almost a year and I haven't brought myself to try it yet. I was hoping someone from the Friday Night Drunk post would try it. ?

 

[Metal Geezer]

Greg, it's been almost a year and I haven't brought myself to try it yet. I was hoping someone from the Friday Night Drunk post would try it. ?

Challenge accepted!

 

[Trigganometry]

Challenge accepted!

 

[Ronbo]

In other posts, I've read and seen pics about the air intake for the heating/cooling system down through the cabin filter, but no picture shows me clear enough exactly where the air intake(s) are for the interior. Is it underneath the plastic cowl by the wipers? Can anyone please tell me where and how to get to these intake(s) so I can also block them with wire mesh.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

I went with an old window screen.

 

[2020FX4]

I've been pretty good about keeping an eye out and checking under the hood every few weeks for any activity, but with all the rain we have been having for the last month, I slacked off and the dammm rats finally got me.
I went to change my cabin filter last week and found some doo-doo and someones been chew-chewing on it which means they have found their way into the heater box.
I popped the hood to investigate and found more poo...... AND they have been eating my engine cover and tasting some of my wiring. ( luckily nothing major ). I hate rats. ?

 

[chrisakz]

3-4 months ago I saw someone started to eat my battery blanket with poop all over but thankfully nothing else was touched. I sprayed my entire engine compartment down with Tomcat(mix of peppermint oils and such) every few days for a couple weeks, and haven’t seen anything since. They could do some real damage on such a modern vehicle with all the electronics and harnesses.

 

[TXRangerTim]

I've been pretty good about keeping an eye out and checking under the hood every few weeks for any activity, but with all the rain we have been having for the last month, I slacked off and the dammm rats finally got me.
I went to change my cabin filter last week and found some doo-doo and someones been chew-chewing on it which means they have found their way into the heater box.
I popped the hood to investigate and found more poo...... AND they have been eating my engine cover and tasting some of my wiring. ( luckily nothing major ). I hate rats. ?

You can set up traps or bait stations to get the rodents. A bucket with water works. Mixing 50% corn meal and/or peanut butter and 50% baking soda also gets results, at least according to numerous youtube videos YMMV.

 

[got3fords]

I wonder what environment people with rodent problems are in. I live in a rural area, but park on a paved driveway with well kept lawn all around. So far in 22+ years living here, haven't noticed any rodent damage. I think there was some minimal rodent evidence once on my F150 that sat a lot, but just had to clean some crap out, but no damage.

 

[2020FX4]

I wonder what environment people with rodent problems are in. I live in a rural area, but park on a paved driveway with well kept lawn all around. So far in 22+ years living here, haven't noticed any rodent damage. I think there was some minimal rodent evidence once on my F150 that sat a lot, but just had to clean some crap out, but no damage.

I live in the city, Park on the street, and drive it daily. Ya' just never know.

Ford sucks for using soy based wire cover, and for not putting a screen over the inlet to the heater system. What a complete fail.

 

[got3fords]

Ford sucks for using soy based wire cover, and for not putting a screen over the inlet to the heater system. What a complete fail.

Do you know that for sure? I remember reading about a police outfit that had certain vehicles ate up by mice, and others not. The ones the escaped rodent damage were Ford, because the wires weren't edible. But this was several years ago.

 

[LostMy65]

I need to get on this before my ranger becomes a victim.

 

[chrisakz]

I wonder what environment people with rodent problems are in. I live in a rural area, but park on a paved driveway with well kept lawn all around. So far in 22+ years living here, haven't noticed any rodent damage. I think there was some minimal rodent evidence once on my F150 that sat a lot, but just had to clean some crap out, but no damage.

I live in a wooded suburban area. We have tons of wildlife here with hills/mountains, woods, a river, a lake, even a soccer field all in my neighborhood. I wouldn’t call it rodent problems but pretty much anything that comes out of the woods passes through our neighborhood to get to the river.

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