Rats Ate the Car

[Old Croc]

The wife's beloved Vios was working perfectly when last switched off, but when started yesterday morning sounded more like a local farmer's tractor as it struggled to fire on more than one cylinder. It hadn't been driven for more than a week.

The wife thought it must have been the battery, her answer for all ills. I thought it was possibly bad fuel or a clogged filter. The builder working on a project for us called  a cousin who trained as a Toyota mechanic and has a little workshop in a nearby village. (handy)

He turned the engine over and said "rats". I agreed with the sentiment, but had used much stronger language. 

He confirmed his theory when he removed a plastic engine cover and the wiring had obvious major damage from the little rodent b.......s.

Apparently they really like the taste of rubber insulation and copper wire!

He produced a soldering iron and some new wire and tape, and soon had the thing ticking over again. The 700 baht charged seemed very reasonable and I'm sure considerable less than the local Toyota dealer would have charged.

It was suggested that limes were a good deterrent for the rats, but I'm not sure that citrus fruit stewing on the engine is the best way to go.

Any other suggestions to keep the little vandals away?  

 

[Adiudon]

I had one living in my windscreen gully, little guy made a nest in the soundproofing material and chewed through my transmissions speed sensor wiring, they do love the taste of the plastic wire insulation here and all over the world, as do squirrels. 

I have no deterrent to keep them away but I have cable tied small zip lock bags of rat poison in a few places around my engine bay, any signs of them been chewed then the rat traps are out in force, baited with bits of meat, I got the last one the second night and smelled his dead family in my shed a few days later, thanks to the poison.

[scotsman]

https://axleaddict.com/auto-repair/Mice-in-Your-Motor    There are many ways of doing this I hope this will help.

Regards 

Scotsman 

[Sophon]

Our dogs keep rats away. But then again, two of our puppies ate the wiring for the 4wd drive (10.4k Baht to replace) and the back-up camera, so maybe that's just an "out of the frying pan and into the fire" solution. 

 

[holy cow cm]

With an older now gone car we had one chew some wires but then got into the ventilation system and ate paper and pee pee'd in there. Disgusting' as smelled like rat p *ss while blowing out paper shreds. Little b-turds love to eat car wires and plastic. For the wires I found the problems and patched them up my self. I guess you could put a snake in there to deter them but i have not found a deterrent yet. Cat pee pee from the liter box?. 

[Dmaxdan]

Rat off spray. It has a strong, minty smell.

Available in all good supermarkets, Normally found near the bug killer sprays.

 

 

 

 

[Meat Pie 47]

https://www.9news.com.au/national/mouse-plague-central-west-new-south-wales-farmers-calling-for-help/1e74427f-4735-4e7f-97ec-dca4a5163925

[Old Croc]

Thanks for the replies. I don't want to use poison as pets could be at peril.

I have now ordered 2 cans of "Rat Off" from Lazada - 185baht delivered. Thanks Dmaxdan.

The wife has bought a packet of smelly little toilet balls (urine cakes), as suggested by some locals. I'm not sure if I want that smell through the car!

The spray is also supposed to be effective against jing jocks. We host about a billion of these fattened little lizards who feast on the bugs attracted by security camera lights. 

[BestB]

I have this sane <deleted> problem , only not only rats chew the wires but go into AC, urinate and have babies. 
 

rat poison and anti rat sprays do not work. Only thing that kind of works is running engine late evening to make it hot so they keep away but I know not for long , eventually they will figure out how long it takes for engine to cool down 

[Crossy]

1 hour ago, Old Croc said:

I don't want to use poison as pets could be at peril.

 

I had the same worries before we were adopted by a couple of moggies. Our rats must be the tastiest in the area although the fact that Madam also leaves out small amounts of cat food probably has some bearing ???? 

 

 

[Aomelia]

The wires are made with SOY to make them breakdown after the car has run its course 

[StevieAus]

On 5/14/2021 at 4:26 PM, Sophon said:

Our dogs keep rats away. But then again, two of our puppies ate the wiring for the 4wd drive (10.4k Baht to replace) and the back-up camera, so maybe that's just an "out of the frying pan and into the fire" solution. 

 

I know the problem we have kept Jack Russell Terriers for years which guarantee we are vermin/ snake etc free .

A couple of years ago one of the younger ones decided to chew through the breather/ overflow pipe on my wife’s new Vios.

On that model the pipe couldn’t be replaced as a separate item which meant a new tank.

The local Toyota people to their credit found something to effect a repair and not a problem since.

[chilly07]

Our dog tells us when there are rats or mice in the car but we have to react quickly or he starts to eat the car. He's good for snakes and ghekos as well which confuses us.

[RobMuir]

I found a young family in my washing machine last week. They f....d it.

 

 

[bangon04]

There's a rat in my aircon.. what I'm a gonna do......?

 

apologies to UB40...

[snowgard]

On 5/14/2021 at 4:37 PM, Dmaxdan said:

Rat off spray. It has a strong, minty smell.

Available in all good supermarkets, Normally found near the bug killer sprays.

 

 

 

 

Does it help against human rats also?

[Tropposurfer]

When I moved here and bought it I consulted with a pest guy back home as my cousins in the country have rats eating their car wiring so I had a hunch it would happen here with so many rodents about. He suggested a few fixes in combination;

Moth balls works a treat as the stench of camphor is very irritating to their sensitive noses.

Just put a few in some insect screen wire mesh bag (easy to make up) and secure them under the hood in a safe place (not in contact with hot parts) with a piece of wire or cable ties. They don't stink (in my aircon or anything) as the vapour is heavier than air, it drop down through the engine bay and moves along the garage floor making the whole garage nasty to rats n mice. I built closed in garages and installed traps to protect a bit too (but of course they get in), and I catch one regularly but not every week.

Camphor moth balls works to keep pooing dogs n cats out of your gardens and off your nice lawn too. Just step them into the turf so you can mow straight over them. (should you have some).

[xtrnuno41]

IF you start spraying poison in your motor compartiment, be aware you also can have the poison in your car by air and airco.

Especially when motor heats up all will evaporate . You will inhale the poison and could end up with the rats.

 

You have electronic devices, ultra sound, but should be limited to your car as, if you have dogs(s) or other pets, they also are bothered with it.

Found this one in youtube , dont know  if it works , but if you use eucalyptus, citronella, peppermint oil. It is harmless for you. Your car also smells maybe better. 

 

[Tubulat]

I have them too but they are no rats but squirrels, I see them daily running over the wall around the house.

Once they come in the outdoor unit from the aircon and haved gnawed the wiring.

Second they go in the car in the airinlet of the ventilation system but were blocked by the fan and died, resulting in a foul stench for weeks, until I discovered them at the filter.

[Tug]

57 minutes ago, xtrnuno41 said:

IF you start spraying poison in your motor compartiment, be aware you also can have the poison in your car by air and airco.

Especially when motor heats up all will evaporate . You will inhale the poison and could end up with the rats.

 

You have electronic devices, ultra sound, but should be limited to your car as, if you have dogs(s) or other pets, they also are bothered with it.

Found this one in youtube , dont know  if it works , but if you use eucalyptus, citronella, peppermint oil. It is harmless for you. Your car also smells maybe better. 

 

We use a high pitched sound device at one of my properties here in the states seems to work the doggos don’t seem to mind 

[rodknock]

use old rat poison, feed them warfarin!!!

[Stevemercer]

3 hours ago, snowgard said:

Does it help against human rats also?

 

There is a foul spray that will ward off any human rats or thieves. But you would have to have no sense of smell or taste yourself to use it.

[MrJ2U]

A rat or mouse just ate through some expensive Rubber hose in my Samsung front loader washing machine.  I thought I made it rart proof.  Frustrating!

 

 

[geisha]

Sorry for hijacking the subject , but how to I keep stray cats from sleeping on my Nice new car  ? I don’t want to kill them !

[Solinvictus]

Usually the rats within schools need to be dealt with outside...AKA the ones with their roots down..???? Foreigners of course. Normally from a particular country too..

[RocketDog]

19 hours ago, Aomelia said:

The wires are made with SOY to make them breakdown after the car has run its course 

I was skeptical, but you are correct. Since the early 2000s apparently. 

Amazing unintended consequences story. 

Thanks. I learned something. 

 

[Orinoco]

8 hours ago, geisha said:

Sorry for hijacking the subject , but how to I keep stray cats from sleeping on my Nice new car  ? I don’t want to kill them !

Songkran gun , with squeezed lime and orange in the water.

or get a dog. 

[thailandusauk]

Just stop feeding the cats, they will do the job !

 

[Bill Poster]

I had a lot of problems with rats attacking my car's electrical wiring , in the end I found an electronic rat killer on lazada . after putting this electronic rat killer   ( which is mains voltage or battery operated)  in my cars engine bay , its killed a lot of rats and the rats attacking the cars electrical wiring has gone away. I would recommend only using dry type rat poison pellets as the bait , if normal human food is used it quickly deteriorates and the moisture from the deteriorated food can seep into the electronic components . Also any any rats killed should be removed as soon as possible , again to stop any moisture from the dead rat's body from  getting into the electronic circuitry.

 

[DerbyDan]

band aid as there will always be more rats.

 

eating the wires is a crime of opportunity. in other words, they are seeking shelter primarily and will only chew if they are already there nesting.

 

just hang a shop light with guard cage on an extention cord from the hood, with your hood open overnight. if you cant keep it open due to wind or rain keep the bulb on ontop of your engine and close the hood.

 

i suggest a flourescent bulb of at least 100 watt equivalent which consumes 25 watts in the ultra daylight spectrum (4000k+)

 

no problems for me anymore with this method.

 

mechanics love rats and the ones in my area make a living off them. when they replace your spark plug wires with another soy variety make sure to insist on petroleum based wires. if not just purchase and install yourself. that's what i did. it's much cheaper. and maybe try my light method before letting the mechanic sell you some fancy electronic gadget with labor to install it.

 

i also park right in front of my door with the hood open. they know your around. dont park on the side of the house. definately dont use a car cover that covers the hood and engine at night.

 

i live in a remote area and this is a survival issue for me. im confident in the light and open hood method. the light has to be bright though, 100w or more is better, i like flourescent ultra daylight 4000k+). needs to shine and reflect on the engine, the shop light with metal guard reflects it in.