Rodent repellent for Cars

[MJCM]

Some animal nibbled at a cable underneath the car which caused the car to give all kinds of errors and thus the car wouldn't start any more which was a real pain in the ..... because we had a Hospital appointment we couldn't keep.

 

Car is in the Service center (went their on a recovery truck) and they have to order stuff which will take another 3-4 days (from tmrw as today is a Holiday)

 

Now my question what do you use to protect your car from animals that nibble at the cables in your car?

 

 

 

 

[Tarteso]

Try lazada…

https://s.lazada.co.th/s.ida0r

[MJCM]

Thx looks interesting but my question, will this work in a outdoor open garage?

 

Edit: I was thinking of using those Glue Traps all around the car, but SWMBO doesn't like the idea.

Edited December 4, 2022 by MJCM

[steven100]

Rats ....  just throw a rat bait under the car every now and then, and maybe wrap that cable in black rubberized mastic tape.

[MJCM]

1 minute ago, steven100 said:

and maybe wrap that cable in black rubberized mastic tape

Good idea. SWMBO informed me that it will be a 7k+ Bill so anything to prevent that in the future is welcomed.

[Crossy]

 

We've also been adopted by a cat who chows down on all manner of small creatures. We just provide a small amount of food, fresh water and somewhere soft to sleep.

[MJCM]

12 minutes ago, Crossy said:

 

We've also been adopted by a cat who chows down on all manner of small creatures. We just provide a small amount of food, fresh water and somewhere soft to sleep.

We have a dog, which is a good hunter but unfortunately as we are talking almost 4 rai it's a bit big for her alone.

 

We are really thinking of closing the garage, which is now open to all sides, so that we can put rat poison there without the dog eating it.

[Crossy]

7 minutes ago, MJCM said:

so that we can put rat poison there without the dog eating it.

 

Yeah, pets can be a problem with poisons, hence the pet proof solutions (DIY and commercial).

 

Our barkers are such fussy eaters (spoiled child-substitutes) that they probably wouldn't bother with the rat bait anyway, but why take the risk.

 

[Scott]

Off-topic post reported and removed.

 

[nigelforbes]

Are you sure that's caused by a rodent? If the rat were trapped inside the car I could understand it chewing cables. But the car is outside and the cables are in the open, it seems very odd, I could never have imagined that.

[jaiyenyen]

I had the same problem. I used a 'Rat Spray' available on Lazada. Just spray it around the engine bay, Concentrating on the rubber/electrical parts. I haven't had any more problems.

I think the reason rats are attracted to the plastic and rubber items is because soy bean is used in their manufacture.

[IvorBiggun2]

It's been done by a dog. I had the same problem a couple of years back. The dog was a puppy and was sleeping under the car during the day. Luckily my car was new and the dealers replaced the damaged part free.

 

Edited December 5, 2022 by IvorBiggun2

[Gsxrnz]

13 minutes ago, IvorBiggun2 said:

It's been done by a dog. I had the same problem a couple of years back. The dog was a puppy and was sleeping under the car during the day. Luckily my car was new and the dealers replaced the damaged part free.

 

I agree.  Rats and mice aren't famous for chewing the actual copper.

[Dante99]

17 minutes ago, IvorBiggun2 said:

It's been done by a dog. I had the same problem a couple of years back. The dog was a puppy and was sleeping under the car during the day. Luckily my car was new and the dealers replaced the damaged part free.

Yes pretty sure it was a dog that did mine but rats do like some wire insulation with a little naan plaa.  

[Lantern]

Got the same problem here in Australia. It was rats, as there was rat droppings also. I tied some rat baits around the engine bay.

[MJCM]

31 minutes ago, Gsxrnz said:

I agree.  Rats and mice aren't famous for chewing the actual copper.

I disagree why, because our water pump cables have been also been bitten through a couple of months ago and that area is totally not dog accessible as it was inside the pump

 

edit here a picture of the cable in the pump. See the rat poison all around the pump?? (The pump normally has a cover on it, so not dog accessible)

 

 

 

Edited December 5, 2022 by MJCM

[MJCM]

2 minutes ago, Lantern said:

Got the same problem here in Australia. It was rats, as there was rat droppings also. I tied some rat baits around the engine bay.

The emergency repair guy that the Garage send at first saw also traces of rat droppings in the engine. Unfortunately he wasn’t able to to fix the car so it went on a truck to the garage where they discovered the cable.

 

 

[MJCM]

42 minutes ago, nigelforbes said:

Are you sure that's caused by a rodent? If the rat were trapped inside the car I could understand it chewing cables. But the car is outside and the cables are in the open, it seems very odd, I could never have imagined that.

That is what the garage said as they also found rat droppings, but I have discussed this with SWMBO and we agree to close of the parking area so that the dog can’t enter anymore. 

[nigelforbes]

3 minutes ago, MJCM said:

That is what the garage said as they also found rat droppings, but I have discussed this with SWMBO and we agree to close of the parking area so that the dog can’t enter anymore. 

I would be suspicious of the idea that it's caused by rats when there are so many other other things available for rats to eat, in an open area. We have a klong running through our gardens so we sometimes have problems with rats in the attic when the wire mesh blocks fall out of the downspouts (which drain into the klong). But we've never ever had rat damage anywhere else and there are two vehicles parked nearby.

[carlyai]

59 minutes ago, nigelforbes said:

Are you sure that's caused by a rodent? If the rat were trapped inside the car I could understand it chewing cables. But the car is outside and the cables are in the open, it seems very odd, I could never have imagined that.

They ate out the wires in my genset which is fairly open for air cooling.

Those sticky traps work, but they also do catch a few of the nice critters.

Genset wiring or critters?

[MJCM]

6 minutes ago, carlyai said:

They ate out the wires in my genset which is fairly open for air cooling.

Those sticky traps work, but they also do catch a few of the nice critters.

Genset wiring or critters?

I would prefer to put down the Sticky traps, but SWMBO finds them cruel.
 

So the plan is now, close the area of where we park the car (biggest issue will be the door as its 4m wide), and when the area is closed drop a whole bag of rat poison around and below the car and see what that brings. 

[Rimmer]

Buy a bag of mothballs from Makro, inside are a number of small bags, puncture the small bags in a couple of places and throw one or two punctured small bags under the car.

They will continue to work and keep the rats away for months like that.

 

Also next to the mothballs in the shop are bags of rodent killer, put around the house in inaccessible places that only rats could get into.    

 

Works for us with two SUVs and a tractor ????

 

Before we did that they would nibble any cables and eat the windscreen washer pipes

[MJCM]

ithx guys for all the helpful replies, appreciated

 

 

i think the creature that bit through the cable didn’t want us to go away as I had a long awaited hospital visit on Monday in Pattaya and thus we couldn’t go (buses were also full).. (we only got the call from hospital late last week)

 

and now we got a phone call from the SIL that the father (who is bedridden for a long time already) doesn’t wanna eat or drink and got a high temperature.

 

The BIL is picking my wife up as I don’t wanna let her go on the Bike (20kms away). (We shouldn’t have given our 2nd car to the daughter ????)

so in a sense a good thing that we couldn’t go.  
(do rats / dogs have a sixth sense ????)

thx again, really appreciated 

Edited December 5, 2022 by MJCM
Spelling

[seedy]

Modern cars have the wire insulation made from soybeans. Since aprox the 90's. Hence the increase in rodents chewing them. Ain't the copper they want.

You can thank Greta and all the other tree huggers for the increased use of 'environment friendly' wiring.

 

[br12stol]

I had serious problem with a Brand new car they got inside the front bumper and chewed through lots of wires, and made a nest (see Pictures)

 

Now I buy rat deterrent pots of gel off lazada , drop Peppermint oil and moth balls inside and add extra Balls oil and water every few weeks leave one pot by each wheel. 

 

I have had no problems since

Edited December 6, 2022 by br12stol

[MJCM]

Update:

 

We picked up the car yesterday. Total Bill 0 THB because our insurance paid.

The garage ordered the cable on Monday (yes they were open) and the "stuff" got delivered on Thursday and we received the car on Friday because we also had them do a regular service (which was due anyway next month).

 

The garage said it's definitely caused by rats / mice as they also found a rats/mice nest in the aircon system which they removed.

 

Will follow up on your comments on how to prevent it but first priority is the closing off of the area where the car is parked so that we can put the preventive measures in place and NOT harm our dog, but that could still take a while unfortunately.

At the moment we park the car somewhere else just in case.

 

Thx again, really appreciated.

[In the jungle]

If it is rats you will also see teeth marks on insulation and other plastic.  These are distinguishable from dogs teeth marks which look quite different.

[kokesaat]

We live in the countryside (jungle).  I keep 2 spray-paint-tops in the engine compartment with a few small mothblls in each.  There are a few spots in my Revo where it's not excessively hot and where the tops fit snugly.  I also place a large moth ball directly under the engine compartment when parked in my car port.

[MJCM]

11 minutes ago, In the jungle said:

If it is rats you will also see teeth marks on insulation and other plastic.  These are distinguishable from dogs teeth marks which look quite different.

I only told what the garage told me. Who am I to doubt what they say?

 

Edit: We didn't look that closely at the cable I only shot a picture as it was under the car. Even it was the dog we still have a nest in the Aircon system and even if it wasn't the dog we are still going to close the area and take protective measures

Edited December 10, 2022 by MJCM

[MJCM]

14 minutes ago, kokesaat said:

We live in the countryside (jungle).  I keep 2 spray-paint-tops in the engine compartment with a few small mothblls in each.  There are a few spots in my Revo where it's not excessively hot and where the tops fit snugly.  I also place a large moth ball directly under the engine compartment when parked in my car port.

We also live very rural but our main problem is (at the moment) that the area where the car is parked is open from ALL sides. The guys who we want to do the job (only a days work as we already bought the steel etc etc) are very busy, but I do hope that they can come next Wednesday.

 

So our first priority is to close that area off and then we can follow up on the protective measures and use Rat Poison all in of that area.