Gen III - Rodent Damage - $900.00

I must be missing something - the link has to mostly do with the GenII Prius (though the back looks the same).

I took off the side panels for soundproofing, and took care of the rear entry (mesh).

My worry is the front. I still haven't seen details on how to keep them out of the air vent system (where to put the wire mesh under the hood).

Since the first post on the GenIII a year ago, I've bought many tons of DCON green blocks - put them everywhere in the garage - and they do seem to work - every now and then you see some nibble marks...

 

could you wrap the whole airbox in mesh?

 

Large grid wire mesh can be bought at Home Depot, and will keep them out of the airbox if placed over the air intake. A large grid mesh (1/4" or more) will not block the airflow enough to notice.

or get a cat.

 

Search doesn't reveal a thread, just additional anecdotes, apparently. Do you have a pointer?

We have at least one semi-resident coyote, maybe that helps my cars. I occasionally have to dispose of furry critter residue in the driveway.

 

rrolff:
Try a live trap. Set it under your car every night. If you catch one just drop him off some place on the way to work. You can buy these electronic things that keep rodents away as well.
Cheers:
Hal

 

I used to use the live trap method - then I would put it in the bathroom with our cat. After a while, the cat got its exercise, and I ended up with a bit of mess to clean up.

Since then, I've decided it's far more humane to throw tons of poison all over the garage (high, low, drawers etc).

While I don't have any more mouse/rat problems, i'd still like to learn how to block the HVAC air intake to the car - just in case....

 

http://priuschat.com/forums/knowledge-base-articles-discussion/51005-mouseproofing-prius.html

 

OK - now you guys have me really worried. Just found a bunch of fluffy fibrous material nestled on top of the oil fill cap. Stuff is so white - and so very clean - it looks almost like shaved ice or frost. And it looks new.

We never had this problem here before.

I'm afraid to even think of where this material came from. I'm hoping it was never part of the inside of our 4-1/2 month old Prius. Toyota touts its use of recycled organics. I hope they at least removed any tasty aroma.

 

Just think, if they got in your car, where are they in your house right now and what are they doing.

 

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Sorry to hear about your rodent damage, but I'm envious of your "service technician who made you a three-wire section & spliced the MASF wiring" for you. I had only two wires on the main wire harness that goes to the whole hybrid system get chewed, along with lots of fluffy white material chewed....the tech folks at Toyota told me the wires were not splice-able and they had to take the car apart to fix it. I pick up the car today with a $6,500-plus bill. This has got to be a design problem when your car can be taken down by a rodent!

Car sits outside in front of the house, on the street.

Does anyone know how I can stop this from happening again (without putting poisons out - lots of neighborhood pet cats in my area)?

Thanks in advance for anything that will work.

 

Man, You got ripped off Big Time

 

Dhunt, did the service tech ever identify what the fluffy white material was - and where it actually came from?

You have me deeply worried here. I had the exact same stuff nested on top my oil-fill cap.

 

Check out these picks, it shows where the white fluffy stuff came from
in my car. Is your car missing this insulation?

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...g/78686-mouse-bedding-in-fresh-air-inlet.html

 

Can't find any missing insulation - so far. My "pile" was frosty-white, very clean, and silky in texture. Nothing like that exists in our car port.

I'm worried that in its drive to create a green vehicle, Toyota may be using recycled, organic-based materials to insulate critical wiring that vermin find irresistible to munch on...

 

I was going to suggest those high frequency sonic devices, but those are plugins for the garage. They do work. I have them in the house and cellar as well.

One thing that's a no-no. Never leave food in the car (even crumbs), or any windows open. That doesn't seem to be the problem here, which makes it kind of scarey parking outside overnight.

Sounds like this is a good application for poison traps--where the bait is inside housing and larger animals can't get to it. Never put these things in the house, though! The mice die in the walls-no matter what the exterminators tell you.

 

This happens all the time. The Srvc team said another one came in the same day I picked up my car. They've done several just this month. Just takes one $3,000 part and 23 hours of labor to rip apart your car and put it back together. Good job...lots of work. Bummer.

 

Yes, the white fluffy stuff was from the fender liners on both the left and right front fenders. Makes a great nest for rodents. You should get it inspected before they do more damage and get down into the door walls.

Found a repellent that actually seems to be working. It contains pouches of balsam fir bark - very strong odor (got it at the local hardware store in the rodent repellent area). I put it under the hood each night when I park my car for the night and take it out and put it in a sealed container when I drive somewhere. Also put double-sided foam strips inside the engine compartment and covered it with cayenne pepper. No gnawing yet...and it's been a week.