Deterring mice from the BS (nesting on cabin air filter)

[coopny]

I don’t know about the sport, but the full size broncos have a lot of wiring running behind the fender. Recent story on bronco6g…

https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/squirrel-damage-wiring.86522/

I'm starting to suspect the nest is there based on smelling around the car after an 150+ mile drive yesterday. Problem is, I have no obvious points of ingress for the fiber optic tool.

Trying to investigate for a few more days before I break down and make a dealer visit...

Silver lining and fingers remain crossed/knock on wood, but unlike that Big Bronco owner, I don't have any indications of any error codes or aberrant vehicle behavior, so hopefully they haven't nibbled on anything. They did nibble on the plastic fan below the cabin air filter a bit, barely, but I suspect that is the one mouse who entered from an interior vent and then died on the front passenger floor mat.

Sponsored

 

[Rogerthat898]

I saw an advertisement for this while getting my cars safety/emissions done this week at a local shop.

https://www.miceout.com/

 

[NMhunter]

Moth balls and peppermint oil work. I parked my truck in the mountains at Vallecito Lake, CO, and in 3 days the squirrels hauled 10 gallons of pine cones into the engine bay. The next trip I put moth balls and had no issues.

My friend who lives in the desert in southern NM bought a special light string that goes on and off. Apparently, the mice don't like that.

 

[Forestpatrol]

Any updates to this? We are having horrible problems again this year already, and it isn’t even cold yet.

I plugged the 2 holes that you highlighted in post #29 and I had thought that it worked because we weren’t seeing any signs of them in the cabin. That all changed the other night when we had a stow-away jump out at us mid-drive!

I checked and the 2 rubber bung plugs that I used to seal off those holes were in tact and un-chewed.

Any other ideas of where exactly they are entering the cabin from?

 

[Quashish]

This goes in the garage during the winter months. You normally end up with one mouse and lots of tails!

ok I got to know how this works why all the tails?

 

[Escape2Bronco]

ok I got to know how this works why all the tails?

It auto reloads. The flap on the lid drops them into a 5 gallon bucket. Mice resort to cannibalism when faced with starvation and surrounded with competition for food. I use it in the storage building as traps fill up fast and I can’t check them often. In the summer, I only use them outside but never really had a smell issue.

 

[Major Kong]

changed out cabin air filter on the secondary vehicle today
as one might guess
I think they're genetically hardwired to seek out cabin filters
what the hell
if it's cold what better than to ride in comfort with the heat source
if it's hot
we'll chill out in the cabin
mental note to self
when vehicle is parked
leave outside air setting "off"
leave inside re-circulation setting "on"
entry from exterior to filter compartment closed to external interference

 

[Quashish]

Mice resort to cannibalism when faced with starvation and surrounded with competion for food.

I thought that was where it was leading to

 

[coopny]

Any updates to this? We are having horrible problems again this year already, and it isn’t even cold yet.

I plugged the 2 holes that you highlighted in post #29 and I had thought that it worked because we weren’t seeing any signs of them in the cabin. That all changed the other night when we had a stow-away jump out at us mid-drive!

I checked and the 2 rubber bung plugs that I used to seal off those holes were in tact and un-chewed.

Any other ideas of where exactly they are entering the cabin from?

I wouldn't have an idea. I have some lingering smell I occasionally need to use an ozone generator on - I suspect that there's some nesting material that I can't get to without substantial dashboard disassembly - but I haven't seen any evidence within the vehicle, engine bay, or at the cabin air filter of further nesting/intrusion).

I've had to resort to substantial population control. My whizbang outdoor trap has killed 30 mice in less than a year. I don't think I'm killing every mouse in the woods (nor do I want to), I just want to give the mice that are hanging around my vehicle a more tempting target.

 

[Forestpatrol]

I wouldn't have an idea. I have some lingering smell I occasionally need to use an ozone generator on - I suspect that there's some nesting material that I can't get to without substantial dashboard disassembly - but I haven't seen any evidence within the vehicle, engine bay, or at the cabin air filter of further nesting/intrusion).

I've had to resort to substantial population control. My whizbang outdoor trap has killed 30 mice in less than a year. I don't think I'm killing every mouse in the woods (nor do I want to), I just want to give the mice that are hanging around my vehicle a more tempting target.

Well, as I said, we can eliminate those two holes that you highlighted as being the only spot. They haven’t disturbed the plugs I put in and are still getting into the cabin. There has to be a tech with access to the factory service manual that could tell us.

What type of outdoor trap are you using?

 

[coopny]

Well, as I said, we can eliminate those two holes that you highlighted as being the only spot. They haven’t disturbed the plugs I put in and are still getting into the cabin. There has to be a tech with access to the factory service manual that could tell us.

What type of outdoor trap are you using?

I have a goodnature A24. It's expensive but automatically rearms and dispenses bait. Scavengers have learned to check the base for kills so usually the mice are cleaned up before I see them these days.

Something like a compound bucket with a Rinne Traps lid is way cheaper, if your area permits it. The mice either have to be humanely released, or if you fill the bucket with water, it's less humane but they drown.

 

[kshaw]

Hello all,

This is a bit of a general question, bit specific to the BS. I'm wondering if anybody has had trouble with mice nesting in the car and any suggestions on how to deal with the problem.

I park outside, there's plenty of woods. I don't eat in my BS, and knowing that field mice do exist and family having issues infrequently over the years, I don't keep packaged food in the BS. I don't even usually have paper towels (if they gain access to the cabin itself, they will tear it up and use it for nesting material.

About a month ago a passenger got in front passenger side and saw a dead mouse sitting in the passenger foot well. We were visiting family far away from home in an area where mice were known to be a problem (home 50ft from a lake in the Woods). Pop the cabin air filter, signs of nesting and holes chewed through it (access to cabin). Order replacement online and replace.

Well, now a week later in both cars there are signs of mice nesting on the cabin air filter (nesting material, indents from the mice nesting, droppings). They aren't chewing through because there's no sources of food in the car, they seem to be sitting on top of it. I've heard mice nesting elsewhere has been worse this year because it's rained for eight weekends straight here (which tends to disrupt their nests in the wild).

After the first cabin air filter replacement I started spraying a peppermint oil based rodent repellent spray designed for engine bays, which doesn't seem to have helped. I finally just put two glue traps in the engine bay (will need to check daily to see if it is of any help). I bought an ultrasonic repellent device on Amazon (which some people say they get used to the noise, but not the strobing lights), but the battery terminal attachments are too wide for the battery on the BS.

Any other ideas? With the exception of the first mouse, there's no signs of entry into the vehicle interior. I'm afraid to put bait in the vehicle because if they're merely nesting on the cabin air filter that would just attract them to enter and go around the interior, and I'm worried if I poison them that when the mice feel sick they'll just return to their nest (on top of the cabin air filter) and die there...

I can't identify any obvious entry points either. The other vehicle (a 2012 Accord) has some holes large enough on the sides of the top of the windshield cowling, but the BS doesn't. There's no other signs of their presence in the vehicle or the engine bay.

Thanks for any and all suggestions. Sorry for the long post.

Yes. I bought a new Ford Explorer Sport many years ago. We only had it a few months and the car developed a problem with starting. We had it towed into the dealer believing that the issue would be covered under warranty. The technician showed us a bunch of wires in the engine compartment where mice had eaten the insulation. He gave us the bad news that damage from mice was not covered under the warranty. The repair was about $800. The best way to stop damage is to put some mice bait in the engine compartment but make sure that your dog and cat does not have access to it.

 

[Major Kong]

I wouldn't have an idea. I have some lingering smell I occasionally need to use an ozone generator on - I suspect that there's some nesting material that I can't get to without substantial dashboard disassembly - but I haven't seen any evidence within the vehicle, engine bay, or at the cabin air filter of further nesting/intrusion).



word of caution if considering ozone generators
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozone_cracking
seals and spare tire come to mind if used on interior
anywhere else is fair game

 

[Badlander1234]

Car hasn't gotten hot enough (NY winters...) to determine if they're nesting in the undercarriage of the car. Use of the fiber optic tool in the engine bay doesn't show any evidence of nesting material or rodent activity. The engine bay also lacks the odor of urine. The cabin air filter remains undisturbed lately.

I did use the fiber optic camera to confirm a theory: the most likely source of ingress to the cabin air filter. These two holes go directly below the windshield cowling and are plenty big for mice to get into. If you park your BS BL outside, I would strongly consider covering these holes with metal mesh (which will still permit drainage, but the mice won't want to chew) so you might avoid the escapades I have experienced, at least to the extent of them nesting directly on the cabin air filter:

Thanks for the photos. Those could well be access points for mice. They aren’t drain holes so they could probably just be taped over.

Sponsored