Wine/Women/Mice -or-what is this Air Filter thing?

Hi Kristi,

Glad your mouse problem is under control. I'm wondering what you do with the mice that you catch daily??

The 2G air filter housing cover includes a carbon filter whose purpose is to absorb gasoline vapors that come up from the intake manifold (see second page of attached file). It does not need periodic replacement. That filter is behind the "cotton thing" that you noticed.

 

Uhh... I thought your supposed to check the CABIN filter for evidence of mice, not the engine filter...

 

Hi Bob,

I think that Kristi is well aware that the cabin air filter is a magnet for mice. She is trying to be diligent (which I applaud) by inspecting the engine compartment as well. This is a great idea since the engine compartment wiring harnesses are susceptible to damage from vermin.

 

We found a dead rat under the hood of my wife's Elantra last winter. I think the poor rodent, lured by the warmth of an engine that was running half an hour before, crawled in to escape the cold outside, and died there when things got too hot... We started smelling something funny when temperatures climbed to the low 40s the next week.

 

I used to have a problem with Mice getting into the Engine air filter on my Diesel truck.

I secured a small plastic container(under the hood) and filled it with "Just one Bite" (the green pellets). It causes them to go look for water and presto ....Dead.

No more Mice in the truck air filter.

Also had Ants. I put one of those silver Ant Traps behind the seat...No more Ants.

I replenish each occasonily. It's been years since the problem began.

 

When we moved to our current house 8 years ago, rats were a problem since an Audubon ranch property and a national forest are nearby. Our local county vector control placed a couple of poison bait canisters, & I screened off enclosed places in the backyard where the rats could shelter.

The rats no longer are a problem; however while working that issue I kept track of the weekly dead rat count via spreadsheet to see whether the problem was getting better or worse...

I'm wondering if you keep track of your daily dead/live mouse count via Excel spreadsheet. If so please post your file so we can see the trend...

 

LOL, you're braver than me! I'm not sure that I could personally take that PETA concoction of cayenne pepper, horseradish and garlic. Doesn't the smell of that spray enter your car interior? Or does your now mouse-free Air Filter thing stop those odors?

BTW, for others who may be interested, here's my post about spray-on rodent repellents:

 

My wife had a problem with small rodents in the engine compartment of her Mazda Protege. She brought the car in for service and discovered that the insulation had been chewed off ignition wires and packed into little crevices in the engine block.

So I took a length of PVC pipe, drilled holes in it, filled it with mothballs, capped each end and attached it with a pipeclamp inside the engine compartment (not too close to the hot manifold or engine block).

No more little rodents (probably chipmunks, rather than mice).

Might work in a Prius, too.

--Joe