Mice invaded my air box. Seriously!

[Baywatch]

Went out for a couple of weeks in the Idaho high desert. Heard some rustling in the truck bed at night. Came back home, went in for an oil change and the guy said "you have pasta in your airbox"...

And the fix...

...to keep the little rascals out of my engine!

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[KQL]

Another aid in this battle and smells woodsy:

Fresh Cab Botanical Rodent Repellent - Environmentally Friendly, Keeps Mice Out, 4 Scent Pouches https://a.co/d/hlcIxGq

 

[Puch]

Went out for a couple of weeks in the Idaho high desert. Heard some rustling in the truck bed at night. Came back home, went in for an oil change and the guy said "you have pasta in your airbox"...

And the fix...

...to keep the little rascals out of my engine!

My kid had a mouse nest on the intake side of the air filter. Car not Jeep. I say had because most of the nest was sucked into the engine. Had to change the O2 sensor, but at least it still runs. Doesn’t sound that great! Also installed a screen on the air intake. Hopefully it gets him through his last year of college.

 

[Randonexplosion]

From my experience with the little bastards, I would use a finer mesh. Mice can squeeze through some very tiny holes. I used this to keep birds out of a chimney once.

https://www.acehardware.com/departm...VNCKtBh3bQw34EAQYCCABEgI_dfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

[OHJeeper]

How about this one... there is a vent under the cowl that feeds the internal cabin. My daughter's JK had a MAJOR leak when going through a car wash where water and soap would pour down the passenger side from under the dash.

Well, after removing the cowl and some thick foil that covers the intake, I found this. To orient you, this is the passenger side. Hood to the right, fender to the left:

There is a drain hole on the fender side and this "nest" was blocking it so when all that water came in via the slots on the cowl (under the wipers) the water would overflow into the filter that separates the incoming air from the outside and pour through the HVAC system.

Critters are a pain in the @ss!

 

[Casique]

Use painful spikes too....

 

[kevman65]

You have a snorkel opening, lower left of grill that goes to the bottom of the air box.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

I keep peppermint oil on hand. Some of that on a cotton ball or even simply dropped here and there will not only make them rethink their goals, but it will make your truck smell great, too - and this is the season for peppermint!

It sure worked on the WJ I had to park under the lean-to by my shop because my JT took over that space in the garage. They were chewing up wires and getting into things making a mess until I used peppermint oil from Amazon. That was the end of that.
I'd suggest another method that would kill them within 2 inches of their partaking of it but you don't want them DEAD in there......

Mice can squeeze through some very tiny holes.

I used to actually see them flatten themselves down to the point you were sure someone had stepped on them. You are right - doesn't take much of a hole at all.

 

[IPRoutes]

From my experience with the little bastards, I would use a finer mesh. Mice can squeeze through some very tiny holes. I used this to keep birds out of a chimney once.

https://www.acehardware.com/departm...VNCKtBh3bQw34EAQYCCABEgI_dfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

Yes, mice and rats can squeeze their whole body down through the holes no smaller than their head. That means if the head can go through, their whole body can due to the lack of a hard shoulder bone.

 

[Wheelin98TJ]

I once saw a mouse run under a door between the house and garage that was "sealed" at the bottom.

 

[HMCOBob]

I've had mouse and more recently squirrel problems with my Power Wagon for the past couple of years. Weird... it is parked right next to my 20 JT which remains untouched. (obviously now I've cursed it) Initially purchased a Mouse Blocker Pro and within a week one of the little bastards chewed the power cord off (which was easy enough to repair) I check underhood every 2 or 3 days. Last Wednesday there was nothing... Friday mid-day not only had a squirrel nested on top of the engine cover, she went face-to-face with me barking because of being discovered. I think she liked the modicum of warmth the mouse Blocker put out which was still blinking and cheeping at the time. This episode resulted in two days repairing the injector & coil harness chewed to destruction.

I'm waiting delivery of the rodent repellent spray-on that NHOU sells which I'll start slathering on the PWagon and JT. AND, per the interwebs there is now rubber snakes on and around both engines which I hope I don't forget to remove before starting..

 

[Bback58]

Years ago when I took my car in for an oil change, the mechanic came and got me to show me that the mice had filled the air cleaner with D-con. I think they cleaned out the whole box. Decided against buying D-con again.

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Having stored grain and harvest equipment for several years while farming - devices, moth balls and dryer sheets are a joke. They'll make nests out of dryer sheets, and they sleep and have babies within 6" of moth balls - even closer. Moth balls also don't keep their strong smell long when out in the open air of a vehicle engine bay.
Similar for peppermint oil, but I've at least had good luck with it - and reapplied it every couple of weeks. Maybe that's why it worked.
Devices that emit a sound - a joke. Never seen one that actually worked. Lights don't work.

Best thing is don't eat in the truck, keep any fast food stuff out of the truck.
If there's food close by for them, they'll find the closest convenient place to settle in on a cold night, bringing the food with them.
Pretty simple to catch the stupid animals with a bucket of water, some styrofoam packing peanuts and sunflower seeds or peanut butter. Catch and kill before they get to your vehicle, tempt them with what they want - free food.

 

[Randonexplosion]

Im doing a heater core on my buddies XJ that he had parked for a year or so. Mouse shit every step of the way even after he did a thorough vacuuming before bringing it to me. He cut up a bunch of bars of Irish Spring and put them everywhere. We will see if that works.

 

[Iamstubb]

Got a nest in my hood. By the size of the droppings, it was a rat, not a mouse. Ate the edges of the sound panel around my opened vents and some rubber and built a nest on top of the battery box. I taped a stick-um trap to the batter cover and that took care of teh problem.

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