Pray for my wallet

[OT Ducati]

Ill let you know if they find anything.
Ill try the peppermint too. Anything to help keep them away. I park in a garage and i think our two mice killers are slacking on the job.

They must be over fed

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[DrSteveBrule]

I still blame the sister.

 

[Basic Cable]

Luckily, my wife keeps her car an absolute disaster and if there any mice, they'll go to her gross mess of a car.

 

[Electrifiedsince2013]

Yeah the newer wiring sheaths are made out of soy.. happens to Audi Etrons too

Really, that doesn’t sound good for the future of cars. I wonder how appealing the soy sheaths are to little pests like mice?

 

[Electrifiedsince2013]

I found a rattlesnake in my garage a couple of months ago, he would have taken care of the rodents. But I decided to go drop him off in the desert.

Good call removing the rattlesnake. ?

 

[Logal727]

Really, that doesn’t sound good for the future of cars. I wonder how appealing the soy sheaths are to little pests like mice?

very appealing unfortuantely

 

[21st Century Pony]

Are mice more likely to get into am electric car? Never had a mouse in any of my cars before. I did have ants once though

Oh yes they do. Sonny Boy had it happen to his Ford Fusion Energi. They chef up a LOT of wiring... took months for the dealership to trace and replace. Evidently the new wire cladding is partly made from soy, and that equals food for mice especially in Winter when food sources are limited.

 

[dr__bob]

A few years ago I had a Beemer. One day I noticed that the outside temp sensor wasn't working. I figured I had scraped it off on a parking spot curb or something like that. I took it in to the dealer, who popped the hood (I hadn't, since there aren't any user serviceable things inside anymore besides wiper fluid). He immediately said: you've got a bigger problem! Every nook and cranny under the hood was filled with snail shells! We had a rat who liked to feast on escargot with a side of cable. Besides the temp sensor cable, he had also eaten through the horn cable. But that was the extent of it. I should have known that something was up, since my wife and I had noticed that the snail population in our backyard had gone down significantly! A bit of rat poison and a better seal around the back door solved that problem... At our previous house, we had parked outside in the countryside and never had a problem, although neighbors were continuously having issues with weasels eating the brake lines. Then we move to suburbia, park the car in a garage and had rat issues... Go figure.

 

[PatrickG]

Yeah the newer wiring sheaths are made out of soy..

It is not an EV thing, all cars now have soy based wiring.

I wonder how appealing the soy sheaths are to little pests like mice?

Evidently the new wire cladding is partly made from soy.

This is an old joke that turned into a myth that won't die, often you'll hear dealership techs parroting it as fact.
https://www.torquenews.com/1083/car-talk-helps-bust-myth-soy-why-rodents-are-eating-your-car-s-wires
Here's my list of vehicles that have been damaged by rodent chewing (usually during winter storage in a shed near a wooded area).
1972 Honda CT70
1978 Honda Z50
1966 Ford Mustang
2000 Mercury Sable
2006 Chevrolet Corvette
2003 Yamaha YFS200 Blaster
Several pieces of seasonal power equipment (mowers, leaf blowers, snow blowers, etc.)

Vehicles of contacts in my network that have had notable damage by rodent chewing:
2006 Ford GT
2016 Dodge Dart
2013 Nissan Juke
2020 Jeep Wrangler
2016 Ford C-Max

The most upsetting was of course the Ford GT, though the damage was minor and the worst problem was that a rat that had eaten poison died near the engine and wasn't discovered until the smell had become bad enough to be quite difficult to remove. The car was an investment that had never been driven.

The most costly was the Ford C-Max at over $8000 worth of electrical damage and ~6 weeks at a dealership, mostly waiting on parts.

 

[MParkour]

Update as of 11/10: The one tech assigned to the car was out monday-wed and they didnt have anyone working on it...
Good/bad news is that they found the mouse dead in the cabin air filter. "cabin air filter is on back order".
Worse news, they havent found the short yet but they can "see" it when they unplug the wiring harness. They are working on tracking it down.
Im going to call them again tomorrow morning to see if they are closer. 11/15 will be 2 weeks at the shop.

 

[T.S.]

Update as of 11/10: The one tech assigned to the car was out monday-wed and they didnt have anyone working on it...
Good/bad news is that they found the mouse dead in the cabin air filter. "cabin air filter is on back order".
Worse news, they havent found the short yet but they can "see" it when they unplug the wiring harness. They are working on tracking it down.
Im going to call them again tomorrow morning to see if they are closer. 11/15 will be 2 weeks at the shop.

So...I get all the way too end, and there's no ending! What happened?

I ask because I just moved, and my baby is now living outside with a ton of squirrels, who have chewed through the wires of my new neighbors' cars.

I was going to try peppermint and a good car cover...

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

I was going to try peppermint and a good car cover...

I use Grandpa Gus’s. Toss a couple in the frunk and change them regularly.

https://a.co/d/031eoLL

 

[MParkour]

So...I get all the way too end, and there's no ending! What happened?

I ask because I just moved, and my baby is now living outside with a ton of squirrels, who have chewed through the wires of my new neighbors' cars.

I was going to try peppermint and a good car cover...

Sorry about that, I don't remember what happened exactly with the wires but I believe it was under warranty and wasn't actually chewed on by the mouse. The only charge I have from that time was 46 bucks for a new air filter. I havent had any random notifications since then. I'm at 58K miles and have only had some weird one off issues (screen going black for a few seconds, speedometer disappearing, etc). The car has sat outside multiple times for extended periods and hasnt had anymore mice living in it.

 

[phil]

Sorry about that, I don't remember what happened exactly with the wires but I believe it was under warranty and wasn't actually chewed on by the mouse. The only charge I have from that time was 46 bucks for a new air filter. I havent had any random notifications since then. I'm at 58K miles and have only had some weird one off issues (screen going black for a few seconds, speedometer disappearing, etc). The car has sat outside multiple times for extended periods and hasnt had anymore mice living in it.

I'm glad your wallet was ok. I'm definitely going to use this trick if my sister ever wants to borrow my car.

 

[T.S.]

Sorry about that, I don't remember what happened exactly with the wires but I believe it was under warranty and wasn't actually chewed on by the mouse. The only charge I have from that time was 46 bucks for a new air filter. I havent had any random notifications since then. I'm at 58K miles and have only had some weird one off issues (screen going black for a few seconds, speedometer disappearing, etc). The car has sat outside multiple times for extended periods and hasnt had anymore mice living in it.

Thanks for the update. I'm always frustrated by forums because people ask great questions that many of us have and people offer great advice, and we keep reading and keep reading, but the OP never comes back with the "ending," and we're left hanging, so thank you!

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