Mice

Oh no!

 

time to dig in. i suspect the cabin filter, we'll see. first time in 16 years.

strangely, we've been attacked by mice in the basement for the first time in a couple years since we hired a pest company. they haven't been able to find the entry point.
we never had a problem in summer before either. used to be fall through winter.

 

Myra d was last seen:
4y 23w ago

 

Is your car parked in a garage? Just last week, we saw rats running across the Boston streets going after anything they can eat and use for nesting.

 

yes, attached. we're in the country, but who knows, maybe they realize what's going on

 

Watch @NutzAboutBolts's spark plug change video; that'll get you access to mesh off the cabin air intake. I would put similar mesh on the end of the engine air intake snorkel.

Those two I've done. Another possible entry point is the two exhaust air flaps under the hatch floor, left and right corners. I keep thinking to do those, then give up, thinking it's a pain. So far so good.

We did have a rat in the engine bay (plus hanging out in the garage), we got shut of him when we acquired a dog.

 

not sure why he died in there, stuck? hard to believe.

what is the white stuff, insulation from somewhere in the car, or filter material?

 

Pull off the glove box asap, hopefully just external stuff. Our guy never made it into the cabin filter area, just was in the engine bay. He had a LOT of stuff: sash off a terry-cloth housecoat (housecoat long gone, using the sash to tie up a birdseed bag, which he nibbled on too), a small plush toy, various chewed off bits of this'n that. had a nest roughly in the same area, more above the air filter box. Luckily not inside it.

 

Is there a dead mouse/rat in your picture?

 

air filter clean, cabin filter clean, can't find any other evidence. a very light odor coming out of the vents with the fan at full speed,
sitting in the driveway trying to air it out.

strangely, the garage stinks every morning, the last couple days. like more than a mouse

 

Could that white stuff be pulled from the insulation pad under the hood? Just based on proximity. ??? I also would have thought filter material until you ruled that out.

Having had rats in the past sometimes enter our engine bays (in the days before our favorite neighborhood cat arrived), I'll say they do sometimes bring stuff in from outside.

Worst thing they do other than smell bad is to chew on the engine wiring insulation, which used to be made of a green-friendly soybean product before designers learned that rodents like to eat it.

 

I didn’t notice, but i’ll Take a closer look, thanks

 

If you know someone with a dog have it sniff around?

A little closer by that is, lol.

 

it's not the underhood insulation. that's black, and no damage.

there were no turds in that pile of insulation, which i thought was odd. i wonder if he was going to move in somewhere to redecorate, but died for some reason.

the pest control company has four black boxes in the corners of the garage. idk if they have poison in them, i'll have to ask.

 

today, my engine came on for its 124 mile maintenance exercise, and would not shut down on its own. it made me remember that this has happened before. i wonder if he chewed a wire that might affect it.

i took her out and did an italian tune up, in case it's the egr or something. engine shut down fine in regular hv driving.

 

i know, hard to believe

 

You have to press the power button right?

 

exactly. before this started happening, the engine would go through the warm up cycle and shut off, and i would continue driving in ev.

 

filled the cabin filter with baking soda, smell is finally gone. i think i dodged a bullet, but the future is unclear...