Rats in the engine bay

[Phik]

Like many of us, my Ranger isn't getting driven these days.
I've actually been evacuated out of my work location in Ghana, and I've had to leave my XL supercab, a truck I love, and plan to keep forever.
I've given a set of keys to someone local who comes and starts it up every week for 10 minutes, but he's not driving it.
Last couple times he's noticed a rank smell coming from the AC system and the engine bay. This time he opened it up and found that a rat had chewed up the cabin air filter, and based on the smell, had probably died somewhere in the engine bay. No major damage yet.

My question: anyone have any good remedies? This guy is not a mechanic so I don't want to have him take more stuff apart, so I'm inclined to leave the dead rat in there until I can do some work myself post-corona, but I'd like ideas for things I can have him do until I am allowed to go back. Anything to prevent major damage.
We used to have poisonous snakes in my compound, so we never had rats. The grounds keeper killed the snakes, and now we're dealing with unintended consequences.

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[Mobius97]

Get a box of scented drier sheets and place the sheets in various spots in the engine bay (just don't forget to take them out ) and inside the cab. They don't like the smell and it keeps them away. Replace as needed. Moth balls work as well but don't smell nearly as nice. I don't have a rodent problem but I still do this with my cars while they are stored in the garage during the winter as a precaution.

 

[Motorpsychology]

Like many of us, my Ranger isn't getting driven these days.
I've actually been evacuated out of my work location in Ghana, and I've had to leave my XL supercab, a truck I love, and plan to keep forever.
I've given a set of keys to someone local who comes and starts it up every week for 10 minutes, but he's not driving it.
Last couple times he's noticed a rank smell coming from the AC system and the engine bay. This time he opened it up and found that a rat had chewed up the cabin air filter, and based on the smell, had probably died somewhere in the engine bay. No major damage yet.

My question: anyone have any good remedies? This guy is not a mechanic so I don't want to have him take more stuff apart, so I'm inclined to leave the dead rat in there until I can do some work myself post-corona, but I'd like ideas for things I can have him do until I am allowed to go back. Anything to prevent major damage.
We used to have poisonous snakes in my compound, so we never had rats. The grounds keeper killed the snakes, and now we're dealing with unintended consequences.

Might have your local person disconnect the battery, preferably both cables. That will help keep the battery fromr discharging as fast, because there will be no parasitic drain from various "hot" memories, the clock, etc. If either of you have access to clothes drier sheets, put a few around the interior and engine compartment. They repel mice: with a shot.

 

[Mobius97]

Also on the battery....starting it once a week and letting it run is not doing the truck or the battery any good. That is not nearly enough time to return a charge to it. It is better to disconnect the battery or invest in a battery maintainer. If you do not have access to a power outlet, they do make solar powered ones as well.

 

[THLONE]

I live in packrat country. Packrats love to chew on wires. I have killed 24 packrats this spring. My mechanic saw packrat footprints on the fuse box. under the hood. He said to get a set of flashing lights for under the hood. Also wash the eng with pine sol. Mothballs work as does a pan of pine sol or ammonia under the truck. ?

 

[mtbikernate]

I'd probably do mothballs. Porcupines apparently love brake lines, and I've heard stories of people scattering mothballs underneath their vehicles at trailhead parking areas in forested areas (especially when folks will be hiking long distances and the vehicle will be sitting for days or weeks) to keep the porcupines from destroying things while they're away.

Benefit of mothballs is that they'll be super easy to obtain most anywhere. And cheap.

 

[Doc]

Like many of us, my Ranger isn't getting driven these days.
I've actually been evacuated out of my work location in Ghana, and I've had to leave my XL supercab, a truck I love, and plan to keep forever.
I've given a set of keys to someone local who comes and starts it up every week for 10 minutes, but he's not driving it.
Last couple times he's noticed a rank smell coming from the AC system and the engine bay. This time he opened it up and found that a rat had chewed up the cabin air filter, and based on the smell, had probably died somewhere in the engine bay. No major damage yet.

My question: anyone have any good remedies? This guy is not a mechanic so I don't want to have him take more stuff apart, so I'm inclined to leave the dead rat in there until I can do some work myself post-corona, but I'd like ideas for things I can have him do until I am allowed to go back. Anything to prevent major damage.
We used to have poisonous snakes in my compound, so we never had rats. The grounds keeper killed the snakes, and now we're dealing with unintended consequences.

Tomcat Bait Chunks, I put them in my barns, put them high enough so your dog cant get to them. I put them in my barns and theyre gone the next day...the chunks are green and once in a while I find flourescent green dead rats in the barn rafters..
regards

 

[Rick - Saber]

Wow, I thought it was bad where I used to live when squirrels would get into the engine bay of my Jetta and feast on nuts leaving the empty shells everywhere. I second that using scented dryer sheets can help. Makes them think there is a human about, supposedly. Leave some inside the truck and tie a few down inside the engine bay.

I might add that in addition to your friend starting it maybe they could also drive it a few miles every now and then.

Have used something similar to Tomcat Bait chunks like Doc suggested in rat bait boxes to reduce the local squirrel population. It does work. The stuff I used was less of a poison and more of a blood anti-coagulant. Would not harm a larger animal like a normal sized dog unless they ate a whole bunch. For a small critter like a squirrel it worked well while they were scrapping amongst others or jumping from tree to tree. Maybe slightly less worse way to go then gotten by a hawk.

Also, I figure rats and mice are similar enough but a remedy I read in an old magazine as a kid mentioned putting out a dish of a sweet highly carbonated drink like Coke. Mice cannot burp and love to drink up the liquid. The gas build up kills them. Not a pleasant way to go. The downside is they can wander off and die where you may not want them.

I remember trying that as a kid in our basement. It stunk for a few days after that, my parents where a bit unhappy. Solved the mouse problem.

Good luck.

 

[mtbikernate]

I absolutely cannot recommend poisons. My wife is a veterinarian and has seen far too many rat poison ingestions over the years. One nasty one was banned in the US not long ago, and unfortunately its replacement is not much better.

If you're gonna kill the rodents, use a lethal trap of some sort. Dispatch them as quickly as possible. Makes sure they don't wander off and die somewhere you can't retrieve the rotting corpse, and minimizes nontarget kills.

 

[Phik]

Thanks for the help.
Physical traps have killed three rats already and he's started parking it in different places every night. Seems to have helped a bit. Added mothballs and dryer sheets to the mix, will resort to poison as a last resort.

 

[BladeRanger]

Like many of us, my Ranger isn't getting driven these days.
I've actually been evacuated out of my work location in Ghana, and I've had to leave my XL supercab, a truck I love, and plan to keep forever.
I've given a set of keys to someone local who comes and starts it up every week for 10 minutes, but he's not driving it.
Last couple times he's noticed a rank smell coming from the AC system and the engine bay. This time he opened it up and found that a rat had chewed up the cabin air filter, and based on the smell, had probably died somewhere in the engine bay. No major damage yet.

My question: anyone have any good remedies? This guy is not a mechanic so I don't want to have him take more stuff apart, so I'm inclined to leave the dead rat in there until I can do some work myself post-corona, but I'd like ideas for things I can have him do until I am allowed to go back. Anything to prevent major damage.
We used to have poisonous snakes in my compound, so we never had rats. The grounds keeper killed the snakes, and now we're dealing with unintended consequences.

I used peppermint oil, I put in on a cotton balls and store it with a metal container and drill a small holes and attached a magnet inside the engine compartment or cabin.

 

[Michael Bailey]

Like many of us, my Ranger isn't getting driven these days.
I've actually been evacuated out of my work location in Ghana, and I've had to leave my XL supercab, a truck I love, and plan to keep forever.
I've given a set of keys to someone local who comes and starts it up every week for 10 minutes, but he's not driving it.
Last couple times he's noticed a rank smell coming from the AC system and the engine bay. This time he opened it up and found that a rat had chewed up the cabin air filter, and based on the smell, had probably died somewhere in the engine bay. No major damage yet.

My question: anyone have any good remedies? This guy is not a mechanic so I don't want to have him take more stuff apart, so I'm inclined to leave the dead rat in there until I can do some work myself post-corona, but I'd like ideas for things I can have him do until I am allowed to go back. Anything to prevent major damage.
We used to have poisonous snakes in my compound, so we never had rats. The grounds keeper killed the snakes, and now we're dealing with unintended consequences.

I suspect you are going to need a new wire loom, hope your insurance covers it.

 

[Richard Conley]

Get a box of scented drier sheets and place the sheets in various spots in the engine bay (just don't forget to take them out ) and inside the cab. They don't like the smell and it keeps them away. Replace as needed. Moth balls work as well but don't smell nearly as nice. I don't have a rodent problem but I still do this with my cars while they are stored in the garage during the winter as a precaution.

I used both. Mice chewed up the wiring harness to fuel injectors on my old Ranger and got into the duct work on my Lexus (mouse actually was extracted live? by Lexus dealer after a 25 mile ride. I made a tray - wooden frame and screen cover to hold a bunch of moth balls and placed it under the car, Used dryer sheets to. Not sure if those are strong enough to dissuade larger vermin though,

 

[Ranger_Rocks]

I used both. Mice chewed up the wiring harness to fuel injectors on my old Ranger and got into the duct work on my Lexus (mouse actually was extracted live? by Lexus dealer after a 25 mile ride. I made a tray - wooden frame and screen cover to hold a bunch of moth balls and placed it under the car, Used dryer sheets to. Not sure if those are strong enough to dissuade larger vermin though,

"...used both" before the critters moved in ? Or after the damage ?

 

[Robert Scott]

Wow, I thought my problem was different. I had a mouse enter the cabin fresh air intake standpipe, located in the windshield wiper bay of my Toyota Tundra. It crawled down the pipe into the squirrel cage blower and built a nest. When I started the truck, the blower splatted nest, mother mouse and babies throughout the duct assembly. It took forever to get the stink out.

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