Another Mouse In The Truck Issue…

[Jsham66]

Howdy! 2020 Ranger XLT, found a mouse nest on top of the cabin air filter. I removed a bunch of crap before pulling the filter out, but a lot of debris went down into the fan.

What is the best way to get that stuff out of the fan, it’s a tight space? I read about finding the large vent holes in the engine bay. Can I put an air wand down there and blow out/vacuum the debris? I also read the threads about protecting those holes and will be doing that.

Thanks! James

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[PoorSpecRanger]

Blower is held in by three screws from the bottom. Remove it and clean out the blower and box. I used a vacuum and compressed air to clear all the crap out. I fold a dryer sheet and place it on top of the cabin air filter when I install to hopefully repel rodents. Make sure you pull your glove box down monthly to inspect and replace dryer sheet.

 

[Filobeddoe]

Howdy! 2020 Ranger XLT, found a mouse nest on top of the cabin air filter. I removed a bunch of crap before pulling the filter out, but a lot of debris went down into the fan.

What is the best way to get that stuff out of the fan, it’s a tight space? I read about finding the large vent holes in the engine bay. Can I put an air wand down there and blow out/vacuum the debris? I also read the threads about protecting those holes and will be doing that.

Thanks! James

I had the same thing happen recently and was worried that I was going to have to bring to dealership again! Had a previous problem with a red squirrel that cost me $2800 and truck at dealership for 3 plus weeks!
Anyway: what I did was took out cabin filter and got out the debris (mostly nut shells) with my shop vac. The hose was far too big to reach to the left and access heater box area, so I rigged up a smaller diameter hose and sucked out dozens of shell pieces! I was extremely relieved that I was able to get all out and fixed problem

 

[twk]

I couldn't fit this under the hood.

 

[subquark]

Little sh!ts! =(

They've been chewing on my battery blanket again. And last summer they ate through my battery tender cable.

I've been blasting air in the engine bay to try to keep nests out. I have dislodged a few acorn shells.

I also got my second bottle of this and reinforce it with straight oil. I dunno if it does anything but their breath is probably minty fresh! =p

For a few days after an engine bay spray down, it's like riding around in a giant rolling toothpaste tube. =D

You can see where they chew

Making it especially minty

 

[2020FX4]

Here is how I blocked off my fresh air inlet. I cut some wire mesh down to about 3x5 and secured it with butyl tape after cleaning the paint inside that area to help it stick. I used shoe goo on top of that and it is holding on solid!

ALso.... Check your air cleaner for mice/rats too. I used the same wire mesh to seal off the intake.

 

[Msfitoy]

Little sh!ts! =(

They've been chewing on my battery blanket again. And last summer they ate through my battery tender cable.

I've been blasting air in the engine bay to try to keep nests out. I have dislodged a few acorn shells.

I also got my second bottle of this and reinforce it with straight oil. I dunno if it does anything but their breath is probably minty fresh! =p

For a few days after an engine bay spray down, it's like riding around in a giant rolling toothpaste tube. =D

You can see where they chew

Making it especially minty

Give these little shits great breath...

 

[seasprite]

Add me to list the rat bastards took out my rear o2. Got lucky though, chewed the sensor side of the harness right at the conector, and took part of my battery cover for his nest between the battery and what I guess is the PCM. Going to be $69.00 to replace the sensor from ford.

@ subquark
I got the same spray as you but I didn't spike mine, hope it works.

I'm sure this thread comes around every fall. So what have the rest of you done to stop the rodent damage?

 

[MountainGoat]

Add me to list the rat bastards took out my rear o2. Got lucky though, chewed the sensor side of the harness right at the conector, and took part of my battery cover for his nest between the battery and what I guess is the PCM. Going to be $69.00 to replace the sensor from ford.

@ subquark
I got the same spray as you but I didn't spike mine, hope it works.

I'm sure this thread comes around every fall. So what have the rest of you done to stop the rodent damage?

I did a bunch of things.
https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/threads/mice.23034/#post-516320

https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/threads/mouse-attack.19664/page-2#post-415545

The only thing I'll add is I open the hood to let the heat out and make it less of a shelter for them and I now trap mice in a "have-a-heart" trap with my chicken feed as bait, and then put the trap out at 50-100 yards and shoot them with my 10-22. It's good practice for squirrel hunting. I looked into humane ways to do it but I'm not building a co2 chamber for them. Drowning in the trap is a way but I think actually shooting them is quicker and more humane. I'm sure we have all heard the thing about drowning being the worst way to die. Of course there is no first hand evidence so who really knows. I've killed about 7 this year.

 

[dstig1]

Here is how I blocked off my fresh air inlet. I cut some wire mesh down to about 3x5 and secured it with butyl tape after cleaning the paint inside that area to help it stick. I used shoe goo on top of that and it is holding on solid!

ALso.... Check your air cleaner for mice/rats too. I used the same wire mesh to seal off the intake.

I did the same to the engine air intake as I have run into the issue in cars before. Had an airbox filled with chocolates one time. No idea where they got those from... but it melted into the filter and required replacement that time. Seen acorns before too... Not a lot to grab onto there with the wire mesh, but seems to be OK.

But I need to look into the HVAC air intakes now...

 

[Sojourner]

Here is how I blocked off my fresh air inlet. I cut some wire mesh down to about 3x5 and secured it with butyl tape after cleaning the paint inside that area to help it stick. I used shoe goo on top of that and it is holding on solid!

ALso.... Check your air cleaner for mice/rats too. I used the same wire mesh to seal off the intake.

Thanks for the reminder. I had done that years back on our Escape (the mice didn't go all the way in, just used the area in fron of the filter to build their nest...using the filter!).

You reminded me I need to check our current vehicles and do the same.

 

[JimJa]

Don't forget to cover the two pressure relief openings behind the rear seat. I used wire door screen (suggest not using the plastic screen) and secured them with Aluminum tape.

I then purchased concentrated Peppermint in the spice area of my local grocery story and mixed it with a little water, and sprayed it throughout the interior.
I then set a trap in the back seat on the floor to see how the Peppermint was working. Even with the interior smelling like the Christmas Candy department at Wally World, there was a mouse in the trap every day for several weeks. I'm not sure the Peppermint did much good other than make the truck smell pretty good, although my wife was not a fan.

Also purchased a pair of these - $10. They fit on a standard 5 gallon bucket. Placed one in the shop near the truck and another in the basement of the house with some water in the bucket.

These things seem to work pretty good:

g


With the onset of cold weather the rodent problem seems to have abated at least for this year. But remember we're only catching the dumb ones and once in awhile we'll encounter a Mensa Mouse who defies all attempts to catch the little bugger. I take it a challenge.

 

[NotBudule]

 

[REDWM]

I've put mouse traps on the floors and caught several mice over the years. I also had to clean off the top of the cabin air filter and then spray it with repellant

. I had a pack rat problem also and used a rat trap plus a small Havhart. Caught one in the rat trap in the garage and two in the Havahart on top of the freezer and in the engine compartment. I have no sympathy for them when I drown them in the horse trough. I use D-Con in the MGB kill the mice which seem to die outside the car. I got real serious when they chewed almost all the wiring coming into the engine from the dash. Thought it was a dead battery until I saw the cut wires. What a pain to reconnect all the wires in a tight spot. I bought this stuff to repel and kill them all. So far so good.

 

[Grandaccess]

WTF does ford add something to these trucks from the factory that draws them in!

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