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Old 05-23-2022, 10:52 AM   #1
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Rodents under the hood

Hi,
Any advise how to stop rats from entering the engine compartment?
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Old 05-23-2022, 10:56 AM   #2
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Sorry I don't have a good answer. After this happened I moved it to a less rodent populated place.

At least I assume that was some sort of rodent. it caused a lot of trouble. https://www.irv2.com/forums/f23/e450...on-576664.html
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Old 05-23-2022, 10:59 AM   #3
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A big nasty tom cat, but that's probably not practical. I have heard that coyote urine around the rig works but I have not tried it. The other solutions that are sometimes proposed like Irish Spring soap, peppermint oil, etc. don't seem to have universal acceptance but some swear by them. Since you really can't seal up under the hood the only other thing I can think of is wrapping the wires with 1/8 in hardware cloth, but what a pain that would be. My solution is to park my rig at a cat sanctuary that also happens to have RV parking. It's a tough problem. Good luck.
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Old 05-23-2022, 11:38 AM   #4
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Place several bait stations under the rig or if you are bait averse, a bucket trap, checked and emptied regularly.

Any tricks you may read about are very temporary at best. Rodents get used to whatever you do to discourage them. Baiting and trapping reduces local populations. To put it simply - less burglars means less break-ins.

FYI - it's common for people to blame soy based plastic wire insulation, but some rodent experts say that the reason rodents chew wires is purely instinctual. In their natural habitat they encounter twigs and roots that they chew on, and vehicle wiring resembles these natural structures. It's not about the smell or taste, it innate behavior.

Good luck.
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Old 05-23-2022, 11:40 AM   #5
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I once surprised a resting black snake on my engine when I pulled the engine cover off. Instead of going with my first instinct of murdering it on sight I chose to shoo it away. Given the lack of rodent intrusion in the time since I think I made the right choice. THe mousetraps I keep out in my nearby garage haven't had any customers in a long time either. I don't like snakes but figure one of those particular types to be the lesser of two evils.
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Old 05-23-2022, 01:36 PM   #6
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A couple years ago I found that there were either squirrels or rats picnicking in the valley of my V10, that had chewed a little bit of rubber, but nothing consequential. I put one of these ultrasonic devices under the hood, and also a battery powered motion sensor light underneath the engine, and it really has worked. By the way I don't know if they still do it, but this originally came with a card that said if I gave it a review, either good or bad, and supplied a link to the published Amazon review, they would send me another one. They did, and I put it in my pickup. I did give it a positive review, because it does work great, and I downloaded an ultrasonic app and saw that it is putting out varying volumes of ultrasonic sound. I can't hear it with my own ears, but when I recorded it with my cell phone I got some funny noises.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07LCKBGY8/ref=emc_b_5_mob_t
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Old 05-23-2022, 02:00 PM   #7
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Mice or in my case a large rat can do a lot of damage. I had to replace my tank sensors twice within a month as well as replace network wiring to AGS and generator, water pump wiring, hose reel power, vacuum lines to dash AC. It became a war zone around our coach. I tried poison, traps, flashing lights, glue traps, scents and finally a combination of all of these got rid of the varmint. I had to call in help from prefessional exterminator. It took me another month to get everything tested, rewired and repaired. I can't imagine what a repair shop would have charged me. Now I move the coach often and keep traps everywhere within the area we store our coach.
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Old 05-23-2022, 05:34 PM   #8
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Several years ago some critter was building a nest on top of my starter battery; I sprinked fox urine granules everywhere and the critter went away. Just about drove me away too...
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Old 05-23-2022, 05:53 PM   #9
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As far as the engine compartment goes Lights, Lights, Lights... They hate lights

Ive tried everything.. traps, those noise things, Irish spring, etc.... the only thing that works for me was lights...

I have 2 18" LED strips on the underside of the dog house and 1 up front near the radiator..

Permanently mounted, all 12V on a photo cell. Obviously you have to consider battery draw...

Works well because its a closed area.. Don't have a solution for open areas like the tanks

I also put any bait traps on the other side of the house thinking hopefully it'll draw the rodents away from the RV side....

Good luck what ever you do!
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Old 05-23-2022, 06:05 PM   #10
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I had rodents eat only the red wires going to five of the eight injectors on my GTO. Something about the wire insulation being a certain type, the taste of which they liked. Took me a bit to figure out what happened.

Best advice I got after that was to always leave the hood cracked open when in infested spots. They like the dark and quiet, and leaving the hood up a bit keeps them away.

So now, when the RV is at a site in the middle of nowhere, my hood is always partially up.
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Old 05-24-2022, 10:31 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ralph101 View Post
Hi,
Any advise how to stop rats from entering the engine compartment?

We have long standing practice of carrying a small hood stick in the cabin of our truck and immediately cracking the hood of the truck 6-8" to introduce some light and exposure to the engine compartment. I would also add one of those motion sensor activated "hallway" lights as most critters don't like the notion of a light coming on. Haven't used the light idea yet but am installing under the hood and maybe even the trailer if I can find one that will hold up to the elements.
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Old 05-29-2022, 12:49 AM   #12
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Originally Posted by tetranz View Post
Sorry I don't have a good answer. After this happened I moved it to a less rodent populated place.

At least I assume that was some sort of rodent. it caused a lot of trouble. https://www.irv2.com/forums/f23/e450...on-576664.html
It's the wrapping around the wire that they're after.

A spray bottle with water and ground up d-CON. Spray over the wiring covering/s.
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Old 05-29-2022, 06:18 AM   #13
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I've also heard that a small bag of moth balls works. They also like to crawl up near the engine to get some warmth when it's cold out.
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