MENACING MICE Messing EVERYTHING Up

wayoflife

wayoflife

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Staff member
About a year ago, the AC on our Duramax started blowing cold all the time and regardless if the switch was on or off. Looking under the hood, I could see that the compressor was always engaged and clearly, that was the reason for it. Assuming it was just a bad relay, I replaced it and the problem persisted and the only way to get it to disengage was to pull the fuse. And, being that I'm a busy guy, that's what I did and didn't give it another thought, especially with the cooler months coming.

Fast forward to a year later and I finally decide to take it into the dealership and have it looked at, twice because they didn't do shit the first time and long story short, this is what they found.
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Underneath the fuse box, some mice made themselves a home and you guessed it, started chewing through the wires.
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Apparently, a few were so bad that they were literally still attached by a couple of strands. The service advisor was amazed that our truck was running at all and even more so that we weren't at least throwing codes.
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Turns out that the relay control circuit was grounded out and that was causing the compressor to be engaged all the time and repairing the wires got everything working again.

The biggest problem is that this isn't the first time we've had mice problems and it's not from leaving our rigs parked for extended periods of time. We've had mice under the hood of our 392 and just from a single visit to our ranch. Total pain in the ass.
 
WJCO said:
Pain in the ass.
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Yeah, been looking into all the gadgets and gizmos that you can buy these days to keep the pests away but they all have mixed reviews on how well they actually work and some have issues with killing your battery. Traps are the easiest solution but out in a field, where do you put them to be the most effective? Next to the tires? LOL
 
wayoflife said:
Yeah, been looking into all the gadgets and gizmos that you can buy these days to keep the pests away but they all have mixed reviews on how well they actually work and some have issues with killing your battery. Traps are the easiest solution but out in a field, where do you put them to be the most effective? Next to the tires? LOL
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We have a similar problem. Mice from the woods around the house try to take up residence under the hood. Their favorite is on top of the battery- they like the felt insulated blanket that wraps the battery. As long as we drive daily or near daily it’s not a problem, however if the vehicle sits for a few days all bets are off. I pop the hood every few days and check it out. Maybe a hungry cat would work?
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The Jeeps in the garage have their hoods open- supposedly this eliminates the safety and security the mice feel and they will not nest there. IDK, but it has worked so far.
My small trailer has had all its wiring eaten- several times. I gave up on that and use a removable light system.
 
AZVAJKU said:
We have a similar problem. Mice from the woods around the house try to take up residence under the hood. Their favorite is on top of the battery- they like the felt insulated blanket that wraps the battery. As long as we drive daily or near daily it’s not a problem, however if the vehicle sits for a few days all bets are off. I pop the hood every few days and check it out. Maybe a hungry cat would work?
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The Jeeps in the garage have their hoods open- supposedly this eliminates the safety and security the mice feel and they will not nest there. IDK, but it has worked so far.
My small trailer has had all its wiring eaten- several times. I gave up on that and use a removable light system.
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Well, driving our rigs hasn't kept these buggers out and we've even brought the buggers home to Carson City. Gonna start doing the open hood thing at the ranch and try to do as thorough of an inspection as I can and often.
 
Wow, that’s a bummer. When our daughter moved to Montana, it was in April ( a couple years ago) when it was still snowing and cold. She had squirrels under her JKs hood, did similar things (took the shop about a month to fix).
She’s been propping her hood every day now, regardless of weather, and so far it has been working.
 
Mike Pierson said:
Wow, that’s a bummer. When our daughter moved to Montana, it was in April ( a couple years ago) when it was still snowing and cold. She had squirrels under her JKs hood, did similar things (took the shop about a month to fix).
She’s been propping her hood every day now, regardless of weather, and so far it has been working.
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So far, the hoop prop thing seems to be the consensus as to what helps the most. It's what I'm gonna have to try.
 
wayoflife said:
Yeah, been looking into all the gadgets and gizmos that you can buy these days to keep the pests away but they all have mixed reviews on how well they actually work and some have issues with killing your battery. Traps are the easiest solution but out in a field, where do you put them to be the most effective? Next to the tires? LOL
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I often see that people leave the hood of the vehicle up since they are more afraid of rats than they are of sun, rain, snow, hoodlums, etc.

Otherwise, I have heard that peppermint oil is effective. Many products available.
 
Ddays said:
A lot of the wire insulations are made with soy-based and/or vegetable oil-based stock - they think you're a great guy and providing snacks
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Back in 2000 Comcast was sourcing coax cable that had a coating that smelled like peanut oil, idea was to make it easier to pull cable through conduit, over the guide rollers for aerial runs yet be biodegradable. Squirrels loved that shit.
 
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