Mice

[Cmar]

I think there was an X-Files episode something like that.

No it was on "America's Most Wanted"

Sponsored

 

[elvis-earl]

I live out in the country with all the pluses and minuses of abundant wildlife. This week I noticed that my truck was starting to smell, as my sister-in-law would say, "like the monkey house."

I found a nest by the jack under the rear seat, along with a decomposing mouse carcass. He was just a little guy, though, so I was skeptical that he was the only stinker.

Under the back seat cushion on the other side is a sealed compartment, held in place by christmas-tree fasteners. I pried them out and found a second dead mouse under the box.

Obviously I gave the entire cab a good going over. I found some plastic debris and a couple turds in the glovebox but no dead bodies. Happily the cabin filter hadn't been chewed, so I think they hadn't invaded the HVAC plenum.

Just a suggestion that people doing a similar search don't overlook the space under that storage compartment. If they can get in by the jacking equipment they can get in under the box.

Russ - I advise staying on top of this. We Ford people seem to be lucky so far but there are auto manufacturers that use wires coated with plant-based insulation rather than rubber or plastic. I know this was a huge problem with my sister's Toyota Land Cruiser. Mice ate up her wiring. The Toyota dealership confessed to it and covered new wiring in her vehicle under warranty. But the little buggers will eat that type of wiring and it's bad when they do. BTW, my advice to manufacturers who use plant-based wiring is stop trying to save the planet and stick with the basics.

 

[Ron L.]

Yep she is a bit of a lion too, loves to hide behind things and pounce on you when you walk past, especially visitors, and most especially, visitors who don't like cats - how she knows I do not know.

Cat esp. They just know.

 

[Roscoe_t]

Russ - I advise staying on top of this. We Ford people seem to be lucky so far but there are auto manufacturers that use wires coated with plant-based insulation rather than rubber or plastic. I know this was a huge problem with my sister's Toyota Land Cruiser. Mice ate up her wiring. The Toyota dealership confessed to it and covered new wiring in her vehicle under warranty. But the little buggers will eat that type of wiring and it's bad when they do. BTW, my advice to manufacturers who use plant-based wiring is stop trying to save the planet and stick with the basics.

I hear ya. So far I have not spotted any chewed wiring. They didn't seem interested in any of the foam upholstery either. I have farm collies that ride in the cab a lot, and I noticed the mice found dog hair to be an excellent nest material. It reminds me of when I stuck a bar of Irish Spring into a car to deter mice and later discovered they were chewing on the bar.

A friend had mice get into the instrument cluster wiring of his Prius. The damage totaled the car.

I thought I had found everything but I still noticed a bit of mousy aroma getting into the truck tonight. Hopefully it's just a lingering thing, but I may not be done yet.

 

[elvis-earl]

I hear ya. So far I have not spotted any chewed wiring. They didn't seem interested in any of the foam upholstery either. I have farm collies that ride in the cab a lot, and I noticed the mice found dog hair to be an excellent nest material. It reminds me of when I stuck a bar of Irish Spring into a car to deter mice and later discovered they were chewing on the bar.

A friend had mice get into the instrument cluster wiring of his Prius. The damage totaled the car.

I thought I had found everything but I still noticed a bit of mousy aroma getting into the truck tonight. Hopefully it's just a lingering thing, but I may not be done yet.

Yep.....The Prius is a Toyota and they use the bio wire coating. I'm surprised the Prius didn't burst into lithium fueled flames. Keep after those sneaky little buggers.

 

[EJH]

Continuing my mission ... I pulled out the rear seat backs this morning and found the two cab vents. One had a piece of rigid open-cell foam glued over it as a filter for dust, vermin, whatever. The driver's side vent was lacking that foam piece, though. It looked like a great entry point for mice, so I cut a piece of 1/4-inch hardware cloth to fit and duct-taped it over the vent. That should be a deterrent, assuming mice don't like the taste of duct tape.

While I had the back seat out I pulled the sill trim. There was more nest material on the driver's side but the passenger side was clean. I'm hoping I've cleared out the mouseketeers for the foreseeable future.

Any chance you can provide more detail on how to remove the cloth liner that covers these two rear vents?

I have sealed up my front HVAC intake vents under the plastic cowl (the entry to the cabin filter). I would like to screen up these rear vents also.

I have a crew cab if it matters.

Thank you.

 

[Roscoe_t]

The crew might be different from my supercab. I had no cloth covering over the vents, just the foam covering one of them

 

[Trustable]

I haven’t driven since Sunday and got in my truck today to go to the grocery store to get a few things to make lunch and I noticed some shredded up napkins in the back seat. I looked it over at first but then it hit me, nice! As soon as I got home I opened the cover of the jack compartment and this is what I see.


Thankfully no droppings that I can see and no actual mice and none of the paper was wet. I assume they tried to make a nest Sunday night when it was very cold and then left monday or today as it is in the 60’s. I know my garage has constant mice problems as the doors don’t seal well plus it is heavily wooded around me, so I typically am putting out poison anytime I see insulation from the half attic on the garage floor, but I haven’t noticed any lately. Going to be going through the front half of cab next. Engine bay is perfect with no evidence.

 

[airline tech]

Did you check the cabin filter?

 

[Trustable]

Did you check the cabin filter?

Going through the front now. Also vacuuming up the dirt and rocks from winter.

 

[Trustable]

Did you check the cabin filter?

Just checked there is a little bit of some fabric from somewhere and acorn shells. Nothing going through though. Gonna order a new one though.

 

[Jimmy07]

Mouse got into my glove compartment around the same time my air bag light started to stay on. Ford dealer checked system yesterday and will be removing dash to get to restraint control module today. Dang mouse I'll bet and not covered by warranty.

 

[TJC]

After reading through this thread, I finally got off my butt and blocked the air intake, and the AC intakes. Only thing left is the back cab vents. I've got other things with higher priority pending, but the back cab vents are definitely in the job jar.

 

[Trustable]

Just wanted to post an update. I have the front vents blocked with hardware cloth aka 1/4 mesh. And tonight I found they were getting in through vent behind rear driver side seat. I put some mesh on that as well. Tonight will be the first night back in the garage as I have been parking it outside while baiting garage. They have been eating on one of the traps, so I’m hoping they will be gone now. If not at least I got the mesh. Once I have some time I want to redo the hvac vent mesh as i could barely reach so the tape looked like crap. Below is the mesh I put on tonight.

 

[airline tech]

Just wanted to post an update. I have the front vents blocked with hardware cloth aka 1/4 mesh. And tonight I found they were getting in through vent behind rear driver side seat. I put some mesh on that as well. Tonight will be the first night back in the garage as I have been parking it outside while baiting garage. They have been eating on one of the traps, so I’m hoping they will be gone now. If not at least I got the mesh. Once I have some time I want to redo the hvac vent mesh as i could barely reach so the tape looked like crap. Below is the mesh I put on tonight.

just curious, do you see verified evidence of entry from the rear cab vents or just a possible entry.
As others have stated this, just wanted to see proof that yes they enter here.
With the HVAC inlet we have verified proof from the Cabin Filter

Sponsored