Rodent Attack on <span class="highlight">Wiring</span>
Submitted: Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 09:21
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Allan B (Sunshine Coast)
Plenty of warnings prevail about rodents chewing
wiring to cause vehicle malfunction. Modern cars with heaps of sensor
wiring could be at risk of immobilisation??……. but has anyone here had actual first-hand experience of this? Do ultrasonic devices or deterrent sprays really work? Or are they simply good earners for eBay sellers?
The difficulty is that you use these remedies and experience no problem……. does that prove it works or are you just lucky? Let's hear your
views before I adorn my vehicle with "disco music for rats".
Reply By: Member - silkwood - Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 09:34
Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 09:34
Allan, I've heard they are susceptible to light as
well as music, perhaps you could add these to your "music for rats" plan...
Lighting for rats
More seriously, brother in law recently had many dash lights come on when camping in Queensland (near Townsville), resulting in a costly tow and finding damaged
wiring to be the cause. Mind you, it is a Jeep, maybe the
wiring simply disintegrated?
Is this the article which prompted your post?
ABC Bush Rats
I'd be keen to hear of the effectiveness of the sprays but, as you said, how is the efficacy determined if you have no problems?
Cheers,
Mark
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Follow Up By: Allan B (Sunshine Coast) - Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 10:14
Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 10:14
Yes Mark, the ABC article was the most recent that triggered my post, but there have been many.
I have seen suggestions of illuminating the engine bay but without any substantiation. My logic dictates that would maybe make it easier for the rodents to find their targets. Some of the electronic deterrent devices include stroboscopic light with their ultrasonics.
Rarely are these proposed remedies accompanied with evidence of scientific evaluation by a recognised organisation.
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Follow Up By: Member - nickb boab - Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 20:23
Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 20:23
We experienced a caravan park fn north QLD
Where many people had lights under there vehicle to prevent rats . 2017 .
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Follow Up By: Member - Bigfish - Saturday, Dec 16, 2023 at 21:14
Saturday, Dec 16, 2023 at 21:14
Plenty of people who have camped at Lake Tinarro, FNQ....near
Mareeba swear by the effectiveness of led lights placed under the car night to keep the white tail rats away from the vehicles
wiring. I always do it. Plenty of people have been caught out with damaged
wiring from leaving the car parked up in total darkness. The rats are shy of the light.
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Follow Up By: Allan B (Sunshine Coast) - Sunday, Dec 17, 2023 at 11:08
Sunday, Dec 17, 2023 at 11:08
.
Hi Bigfish,
The majority consensus is that lights in the engine bay keeps the rats away.
For corroboration, has anyone using lights had or know of any vermin attack?
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Follow Up By: qldcamper - Thursday, Dec 21, 2023 at 07:02
Thursday, Dec 21, 2023 at 07:02
I thought that's how jeeps are supposed to work Mark.
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Reply By: Batt's - Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 10:06
Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 10:06
Not a solution but I worked for TJM years ago and a couple of customers off farms had ratsack in a container behind their headlights but obviously that encourages them to get under the bonnet. Would be interesting to see if an electronic device works.
Back in the mid 90's we had a new house built in a new estate there was still lots of bush around and we noticed we got more spiders inside compared to older areas we lived in. We bought 2 plug in electronic devices but was skeptical about it we put 1 in our bedroom, 1 in the adjoining loungroom both at the front of the house. So several months later we noticed more spiders in the back of the house than usual the kitchen and family room 2 bedrooms bath and a lot less in the 2 rooms with the devices so they worked to an extent.
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Follow Up By: Richard M29 - Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 10:14
Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 10:14
Leave then bonnet up over night, or all the time it is parked in the shed, havent had a problem since
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Follow Up By: Allan B (Sunshine Coast) - Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 10:18
Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 10:18
Hmmm, maybe Batt's, but in a more proper
test you would then remove the devices to see if the spiders retuned.
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Follow Up By: Allan B (Sunshine Coast) - Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 10:19
Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 10:19
Richard, did you have a problem before?
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Follow Up By: Richard M29 - Friday, Dec 15, 2023 at 19:13
Friday, Dec 15, 2023 at 19:13
I did have a problem, also, I left the shed door open for the rat season, allowing the cat next door to d it's work, so between leaving the lid up and the cat, seemed to solve it.
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Reply By: Gbc.. - Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 10:27
Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 10:27
Bonnet up is the first thing - cools the engine bay and lets in light. Unless you have one of the vehicles with the cornstarch
wiring insulation they generally don't go for the
wiring. Our fleet utes get chewed windscreen washer container lids and if they get inside they make wonderful nests out of purchase order/site instruction books etc., but we have never had any attacks on actual
wiring - yet.....
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Follow Up By: Allan B (Sunshine Coast) - Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 10:42
Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 10:42
Anyone wondering what Gbc is talking about with "cornstarch
wiring" may learn more from
this article.
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Follow Up By: Gbc.. - Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 10:54
Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 10:54
FYI that link is coming up as a malicious site on the work computer Allan.
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Follow Up By: Allan B (Sunshine Coast) - Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 10:57
Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 10:57
Oh!!!
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Follow Up By: Nomadic Navara - Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 11:06
Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 11:06
Gbc, the link works OK for me. My Firefox with all its lockdown add-ons is very touchy but that link fired up very quickly.
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Follow Up By: Allan B (Sunshine Coast) - Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 15:03
Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 15:03
Yep, it gets through OK on both my Safari and Chrome with an added couple of security apps> But then, what do I know???
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Follow Up By: Batt's - Friday, Dec 15, 2023 at 05:16
Friday, Dec 15, 2023 at 05:16
Didn't need to retest it was pretty obvious at the time when they avoided those areas till we sold the house 4 yrs later.
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Reply By: Member - LeighW - Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 10:45
Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 10:45
We stayed at one place where I noticed a mouse around the
camp kitchen,
Wiring damage did falsh through my mind.
We went to the fish
shop a night later and along the way a mouse popped its head up out of the wiper
well!!!
On the way back to the park I stopped at the super market and got some camphor blocks as I read they don't like the smell, I also got rat sack and mouse traps and placed them round the engine bay. Next couple of days I kept checking and no sign of mouse activity so maybe camphor does keep them at bay.
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Reply By: Andrew L - Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 12:03
Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 12:03
Peppermint oil is very much disliked by the mice
population
Apparently, needs to be sprayed under and around the engine and cabin regularly, ABC were talking about it last mouse plague.
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Follow Up By: Athol W1 - Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 12:22
Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 12:22
Andrew
During the 2021 mice plague I was near
Mudgee NSW and had a mixture of baits spread around the car and caravan, and also used Peppermint oil sprayed around the tyres, engine bay and all door openings, including some paper towels within the engine bay soaked in the peppermint oil.
The result was they took the oil soaked paper and made a nest from it under the engine cover, and ate the
wiring within that area, even with the engine bonnet open overnight.
The vehicle was a 2018 Isuzu Dmax.
All of the baits were being eaten, including some within the ute tray with a seal across the lower edge of the tailgate.
Regards
Athol
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Reply By: Chester S1 - Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 13:52
Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 13:52
Here in great southern WA, we have a lot of damaged
wiring in vehicles, repairing them all the time,
not to bad at the moment, depends on the season, some vehicle drive in with multiple warning lights/issues
some have to be towed in, i have had one instance of a failed ecu due to rat damaged
wiring shorted out,
Wurths rodent deterant does help, dont know about ultrasonics,
cheers,
Chester.
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Follow Up By: Allan B (Sunshine Coast) - Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 14:56
Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 14:56
Thanks Chester, it says in the product description…….."The product coats the entire surface with a sticky film that repels martens and rodents"……. the "sticky film" might be an effective deterrent to a service mechanic too?
And at "AU $1,042.95" per can on eBay it's a bit pricey. Huh? Can't be right but that's what it says!
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Reply By: RMD - Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 16:48
Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 16:48
I didn't realize rats would know to chew wires to cause vehicle malfunction! It probably happens by accident.
Some flour mixed with yeast granules and grated parmesan cheese will attract them if placed near tyres, and the mixture expands in their stomachs and they usually die. Not sure if
wiring is attractive after the flour, yeast, cheese feast.
Allan, they may be older rats and simply love to disco in a Disco engine bay or Mix it with a Mercedes. It might just give them the "Benz".
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Reply By: Member - Cuppa - Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 17:38
Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 17:38
During our 12 months in the Iron Range rainforest (22/23) Melomys were a problem. For those who don't know they are basically a marsupial mouse with ultra sharp teeth & a liking for chewing things you don't want them to chew. Garden hoses seemed to be a favourite, but basically anything plastic or rubber. One visitor had his electrical
wiring under the bonnet
well gnawed, but he was lucky in that he was able to repair a bunch of wires. Friends who visited in their 3x4 Iveco Daily 'Scrubmaster' left their motorhome door open & found lots inside had been chewed plus the mossie mesh in the poptop had a number of holes where melomys had found there way out after unknowingly been shut in by the owners.
Then it was our turn. We drove into
Lockhart River to get groceries, a short distance, on our return my wife spotted a pool of coolant under the car on the concrete. Running the car added to
the pool but still I could not find where it was coming from. Eventually on the 3rd removal of the intercooler, still unable to see any damage, I pulled a hard to get off coolant hose of. It looked fine, but when I covered it in soapy water, blocked one end, & blew hard through it, sure enough, bubbles. Really close examination revealed tiny bite marks which had punctured the fairly thick rubber hose walls!
From that point on I put the bonnet up every night & hung a light globe above the engine bay, every night for the 6 or 7 months we still had to go there. We suffered more melomy attacks - rubber seals on sink plugs, more garden hoses, rubber floor mats etc but had no more problem with them in the car.
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Follow Up By: The Explorer - Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 20:01
Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 20:01
Hello
The 4 known species of Melomys in Australian are rodents - they are not a "basically a marsupial mouse". Rodents are mammals but not the marsupial version.
Cheers
Greg
| I sent one final shout after him to stick to the track, to which he replied “All right,” That was the last ever seen of Gibson - E Giles 23 April 1874 Lifetime Member My Profile My Blog Send Message Moderator |
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Follow Up By: Member - Cuppa - Friday, Dec 15, 2023 at 07:34
Friday, Dec 15, 2023 at 07:34
Ta.
I confused Melomys with the Antechinus we used to have living in the walls of our farmhouse.
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Reply By: Member - Murray R (VIC) - Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 19:25
Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 19:25
Allan
Down here in Vic alot of farmers use urinal cubes and place them every where in their harvesters when they park them up after harvest. Have been told this by quite a few so only assume they work.
Murray
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Reply By: The Explorer - Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 20:09
Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 20:09
Hello
This is what they do in the USA for marmots when car left for a few days hiking (marmots are like giant kickarse guinea pigs - and rodents, same as rats)
Marmot protection
Marmot protection
Cheers
Greg
| I sent one final shout after him to stick to the track, to which he replied “All right,” That was the last ever seen of Gibson - E Giles 23 April 1874 Lifetime Member My Profile My Blog Send Message Moderator |
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Follow Up By: Allan B (Sunshine Coast) - Friday, Dec 15, 2023 at 09:40
Friday, Dec 15, 2023 at 09:40
Greg, marmots are described by Wikipedia as "large rodents with characteristically short but robust legs, enlarged claws which are
well adapted to digging, stout bodies, and large heads"
So apparently not the only "kickarse pigs" in that country!
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Reply By: Member - Murray R (VIC) - Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 20:12
Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 20:12
Allan
Down here in Vic alot of farmers use urinal cubes and place them every where in their harvesters when they park them up after harvest. Have been told this by quite a few so only assume they work.
Murray
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Reply By: Member - Gordon B5 - Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 23:52
Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 at 23:52
Haven't read all of these comments, but we had rats chew the
wiring on our Tiguan. was between engine and firewall. Didn't know the cause at the time, nearest VW dealer 2 3/4 hours one way, thought it would be a warranty job. Go back to pick up the car, Rodents. Next time we went away I left the bonnet up, a fluro light on 27/7 across the engine bay wax block bait underneath the car & naphthalene in the engine bay. they got us again. After that when we go away we just leave the car out side. No more problems to date. We now live in WA, this was in the country in SA, we were remote nearest neighbour was 2k away.
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Reply By: Peter J4 - Friday, Dec 15, 2023 at 06:44
Friday, Dec 15, 2023 at 06:44
Years ago we had it happen to every vehicle in a group of four one night camped in the Victorian High country.
The one they liked the most was a month old turbo 70 series ute and they chewed the knobs off the oil cap, large holes in the washer fluid bottle, radiator reservoir and the plastic intake hose between the air cleaner and turbo plus the positive battery terminal cover.
A couple of holes in the little coolant hoses above the thermostat housing on two 60 series and a few bits of under bonnet
wiring nibbled on our Humvee. The prolific amount of rat tracks in the dust under the Humvee bonnet was what alerted me to the possibility of damage to the vehicles.
We were camped alongside a creek on a grassy flat and all of us had the engine bay facing the scrub and the trees.
Investigation found holes at the base of most of the trees so we assumed they all had rat nests.
I guess that most of us that have been travelling for many years will have had a mouse onboard at some stage , that can make a mess when the little buggers sample a UHT milk and other packets in the storage
bins!
On the mates
farm we hang those
toilet dunny blocks on a bit of fencing wire in the engine bay and chuck a few Talon baits underneath them now he doesn't have a dog.
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Reply By: Chester S1 - Friday, Dec 15, 2023 at 11:24
Friday, Dec 15, 2023 at 11:24
just to show how often we see it, had a mux towed in yesterday stuck in limp
home,
diagnosis found rat/mice have chewed turbo control solenoid
wiring and air bag impact sensor
wiring,
1 hour later all good to go, cheers,
Chester.
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Reply By: IvanTheTerrible - Friday, Dec 15, 2023 at 21:07
Friday, Dec 15, 2023 at 21:07
One of out most common jobs is rodent repair. Currently have a Hyundai in the
shop that was attacked by rabbits
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Follow Up By: Bob Y. - Qld - Saturday, Dec 16, 2023 at 09:09
Saturday, Dec 16, 2023 at 09:09
Definitely the killer rabbits from Monty Python, no doubt?
Bob
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Reply By: Allan B (Sunshine Coast) - Monday, Dec 18, 2023 at 17:17
Monday, Dec 18, 2023 at 17:17
.
Thanks everyone for contributing to this subject. It was helpful.
The concept of illuminating the engine bay has been widely promoted for some time and several positive experiences of that here affirm its benefit. Certainly it is an easy and convenient arrangement and I now intend to arrange an LED light in my engine bay and perhaps under the body where exists a number of vulnerable cables.
Once again, many thanks.
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Follow Up By: Kenell - Tuesday, Dec 19, 2023 at 12:59
Tuesday, Dec 19, 2023 at 12:59
Allan, I appreciate that you have drawn a line under the thread that you started but hope you don't mind my late thoughts on the subject.
I rather liked the suggestion of the urinal blocks. Whilst my evidence concerning their efficacy is anecdotal I am sure others can back it up. I have been visiting urinals for a long time and can say enequivocally that I have never seen either a rat or a mouse in the vicinity of one. Now I realise that there may be other factors involved such as the fact that the lights are usually on when I visit and they may also be the deterrent. Then there is the reason that blokes visit the urinal that could be putting the critters off.
So, considering everything, if I was you, and you are particularly keen to keep the blighters out of your engine bay, you should combine the three remedies ie lights, urinal blocks and -
well you know the third one. As a suggestion, given your advancing years (and probable weakening prostate) you might need a stool to assist with access to the bull bar in order to achieve the objective. Oh and as my GP tells me all the time - drink plenty of fluids !!
Good luck mate and hope I have helped.
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Follow Up By: Allan B (Sunshine Coast) - Tuesday, Dec 19, 2023 at 13:12
Tuesday, Dec 19, 2023 at 13:12
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Thanks Kenell, that was a great help and I'm sure there is much wisdom in there ……. somewhere.
I only hope that I can maintain some sense of humour if the blighters chew up my
wiring.
p.s. Errr, what was the third remedy again?
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Follow Up By: Member - Outback Gazz - Tuesday, Dec 19, 2023 at 19:24
Tuesday, Dec 19, 2023 at 19:24
G'day Allan
Sorry for the late reply !
A chap who works with a friend of
mine has spent the last few years researching rodents on why they live where they do and why they eat what they eat in peoples homes and what can be done about it. He has some sort of electrical background apparently and has trailed numerous devices he has made but predominantly for homes and 240v applications ! He said light is the best deterrent and brighter the better.
His latest and best device and one that is currently in the patents office is a very very
bright white light but with a strobe effect - the trails with his new device showed rodents couldn't stay 5 seconds within metres of the strobe light.
So I'm sure a highly skilled and talented bloke like you with all things electrical could knock up a simple 12v LED light with strobe effect faster than I could down a dozen beers on a 45 degree day lol
As an added bonus you could use those multi coloured led's when you and Roz are
free camping where rodents aren't in the vicinity and strut the sand dance floor fantastic to a few of your old favourite tunes !
All the best
Cheers
Gazz
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Follow Up By: Allan B (Sunshine Coast) - Wednesday, Dec 20, 2023 at 09:45
Wednesday, Dec 20, 2023 at 09:45
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Yair, thanks Gazz, the strobing LED idea has appeal. It is practical to briefly push a high current pulse through an LED without destroying it as the temperature has no time to rise. Witness the LED photo flash on cell phones. It also has the advantage of low power consumption. I'll get on to it straight after Christmas.
As for Roz & I 'tripping the light fantastic' it reminds me of the evening social club barbecue/dances we had out on the donga at
Woomera. It was my task to rig lights for them too. Ahh, twisting with Chubby Checker.
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Reply By: Croc099 - Monday, Dec 18, 2023 at 23:09
Monday, Dec 18, 2023 at 23:09
One should always bring a flute with them.
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Follow Up By: Member - McLaren3030 - Tuesday, Dec 19, 2023 at 06:38
Tuesday, Dec 19, 2023 at 06:38
As long as you know the correct tune to play. :-)
Macca.
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Reply By: Member - LeighW - Tuesday, Dec 19, 2023 at 10:07
Tuesday, Dec 19, 2023 at 10:07
Like to know why a light would keep them at bay, when I was in the park we had mice troubles at the mice were visible in the parks
camp kitchen during the day. Also while walking along the beach I have seen rats scurrying about and while walking through a
barn mice and rats scurring everywhere.
I would not have thought a light under the bonnet would worry them unless there like me and like total darkness to sleep.
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Follow Up By: Allan B (Sunshine Coast) - Tuesday, Dec 19, 2023 at 11:15
Tuesday, Dec 19, 2023 at 11:15
Hi Leigh, I must confess that was my consideration when I asked this question. However there is much support for the illumination. It is however possible to draw the wrong conclusion from an action. If you place a light and no rodents come, that is not positive evidence of effectiveness…… it may equally be that they may not have come even without the light. However, I can raise no argument with those who endorse the light effectiveness. I expected that maybe someone would attest that they used a light and still got attacked, but there were none such in this
forum thread. So it will do no harm to try a light.
I expect that a cat could be effective but it is probably not acceptable to have a cat restrained under the bonnet. lol
There are lots of sonic devices on offer but I do wonder if hanging a Hiclone under the bonnet would help?
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Follow Up By: Member - PhilD_NT - Saturday, Dec 23, 2023 at 19:12
Saturday, Dec 23, 2023 at 19:12
Allan, I could lend you a female Silky Terrier that likes to chase rats. She loves getting up as far as she can under cars, caravans, outside work benches, up bougainvillea and anywhere else.
Trouble is, she can cause just the same amount of damage as rats in doing so.
Disconnecting front indicator lights on my ute by tugging on the cable has been easily fixed a few times, but it's what she did to a loom under the caravan that has been a problem. I was able to replace the section of damaged loom for $100, but whether the electronic stability control fed by it is damaged is yet to be found out.
I'm not against rehoming her, although wife and our family next door might prefer to rehome me.
Pet dog wiring damage
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Follow Up By: Allan B (Sunshine Coast) - Sunday, Dec 24, 2023 at 08:40
Sunday, Dec 24, 2023 at 08:40
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Ah, easily prevented Phil……..
Just get an extension cord, cut the socket off, hook the brown wire on to the chassis, switch on. Bingo!
What? The RCD tripped? Damn modern technology.
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Follow Up By: Member - PhilD_NT - Sunday, Dec 24, 2023 at 16:23
Sunday, Dec 24, 2023 at 16:23
I thought that you had given up giving electrical advice.
In this case it amounts to matrimonial advice, as it would definitely result in divorce.
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Follow Up By: Allan B (Sunshine Coast) - Sunday, Dec 24, 2023 at 17:38
Sunday, Dec 24, 2023 at 17:38
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Err, yes, thanks for reminding me!
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