Last couple of times I've used the Cabota, there's been a distinct aroma of eau de' mouse.

It's been too hot and/or I've been too busy and/or not in the mood to deal with it.

The stars aligned today and I attacked it. I knew it was between the headliner and the roof of the cab. There are 16 10mm bolts of various lengths and a dozen or so of those wretched push-pin plastic fasteners holding the two pieces (headliner and roof) together and all of the cold end of the AC plus all the ducting and gates/actuators/plumbing/wiring is sandwiched in there.

Things came apart fairly easily, especially once I realized that the push pin fasteners were the kind where you push the little pin IN to release it. Fortunately, the roof is plastic and doesn't weigh much. Vacuumed out the mouse house, a handful of seed and one deceased baby meese. Hosed it down liberally with Febreeze and then the fun began.

Getting that headliner back up in position and getting all the bolts started was REAL fun. Trying to hold the headliner up with one hand, fish around for the hardware with the other and get the bolts started in blind holes whilst working over my head was just SUCH a joy.

Amazingly, I stayed relatively calm (only required one minor and quite mild dose of verbal lubrication) and got it done with no parts left over. Even had to take it partway back off because I discovered that the left hand A/C duct had to go in from underneath. I was able to wiggle it in without having to drop the whole headliner which would almost certainly have generated an impressive stream of verbal lubrication.

Anyhoo, it's done and it smells MUCH better in there.

Until I fart...

If that is an issue, be glad you don't have a Yaris.

I fight a running battle with the varmints nesting in my mower and SxS. So far I'm winning 2 - 0 + a bunch of baby meeces that got put out for the local owls and raptors.

As you know - some of you have found out the hard way - mice like to chew car wiring. I once had a Chevy Silverado with long crank time before starting and a camshaft position sensor code. I suspected something was up when I saw the mouse nest near - and in - the underhood fuse box. So I fished around behind the intake manifold where the sensor is and came up with a handful of loose wires. I had to remove the intake to get to them for repair, and there was mouse nesting under that, too. There are plenty more examples.

The bastards destroyed the wiring harness on my NH TC-40.I hate meeces to pieces.

This stuff works amazing at eliminating odor. Just make sure to get the unscented version, the scented version is awful.

quote:

Originally posted by MGMAN45:
The bastards destroyed the wiring harness on my NH TC-40.I hate meeces to pieces.

The little bastards ate the wiring harness on my John Deere 4600.

My 2015 VW TDI wiring was munched on by Pack Rats. VW warranty took care of the repairs and I soon afterward sold the car back to VW.

VW people told me German wiring coverings are the favorite food for those little critters.

quote:

Originally posted by PHPaul:
Getting that headliner back up in position and getting all the bolts started was REAL fun. Trying to hold the headliner up with one hand, fish around for the hardware with the other and get the bolts started in blind holes whilst working over my head was just SUCH a joy.

Easier if you just lay the tractor on its side.

I just upped my rodent prevention around the house. I saw evidence of chewing near/on the seal to out Bilco basement door. I have two ‘bait houses’ setup, but haven’t refreshed them recently.

I cleaned & refreshed both, and I bought two more from Amazon. With a dog I put them where she can never get near, under a tight deck & the other covered by a wood house with a large rock.

I have a few traps in the shed, but a refreshed bait house is on duty 24/7/365. No I don’t care if a dead mouse dies anywhere, I just want them dead,

quote:

Originally posted by henryaz:

Easier if you just lay the tractor on its side.

Now why didn't I think of that?

Years ago during deer hunting season would go to a brothers house (old wood frame off the ground farm house) out in the country that had a bad mouse problem .... would set and bait multible traps.. After lights out you could hear the snap sound of the traps activated through out the night.. also with the lights down real low in the living room and watching tv with a BB gun in our laps on the ready to pick off some of the little critters as they scampered along the edges of the wall baseboards. With the proper lead distance made for good target practice....... ............. drill sgt.

A two weeks ago I pulled the transmission out of my Jeep. Mouse house.



While I had it out of the way I did frame repair where the belly pad mounts. Cutting out the rusty mounting locations…. mouse house.

 
For my Kubota, it is not so much the mice that are a problem. They do bring the Mesquite seed pods up into the engine compartment to eat, and leave quite a mess, but they do not bother the wires. The real problem is the black widow spiders that leave webs all over the underside. I have to take a stick and sweep off the webs almost every time I use it, and I am still not sure the spider is not lurking up in there somewhere.

My home AC condenser crapped out the other day, turns out a mouse made a nest where the relays and wiring is located and chewed one of the wires. Anyone have anything that might keep them from returning?

Got the word yesterday that the tree rats got my wiring on the 2015 chevy silverado for another $540! That's $1700 this year alone

Repaired a 2013 Toyota Tundra today. They found their way under the intake manifold, left nesting material and chewed through a knock sensor wire. A while back I had a 2002 Chevy S-10 that wouldn't go over 50 mph and struggled to get even there. Even for a four-cylinder automatic, that's bad. The air filter box was so packed with nesting that the engine simply couldn't breathe.

Many engines have decorative/soundproofing plastic covers on them these days. Most of them simply pull off. Remove them every so often and look for signs of nesting.

quote:

Originally posted by ryan81986:

My home AC condenser crapped out the other day, turns out a mouse made a nest where the relays and wiring is located and chewed one of the wires. Anyone have anything that might keep them from returning?