what's this white cottony stuff in my engine?

haha, probably wadding used by the mech when he topped up the oil to catch stray drops.

 

I guess this could be a possibility, but I've never heard of that being used before. Was it oily, OP, and did you recently take your c in for service? That would explain why it's in the exact same place more than the mice explanation would. A call to the service department would probably confirm that.

 

Didn't happen to me though my guess seeing your photo suggests that ( I do tend to put a rag there when I top up oil in my other car). Also probably the same mech who serviced your two cars. Habit hard to break.

 

Mention this to Toyota. Their engineers will need to fabricate the 2014 C with the new Rodent deterent system and add another light on the dashes computer to monitor it

 

Perhaps the rats nested at the dealership service center.
Was the car held overnight?

Topo Gigio is reported missing.

 

That is the same area where the rodents destroyed my hood blanket insulation. Must be tempting for them due to warmth and access to the above insulating pad. Did your hood pad get gnawed on? or ignored?

 

If there's no other animals around, leave out a small cup of pure antifreeze at ground level. Rodents like mint. Unfortunately, so do dogs and cats, so plan accordingly.

 

Kill them with fire...

 

Come on, Remy would never do that...he is busy cooking in some fancy restaurant. There has to be a more evil mouse out there...

 

Very true !

 

I know it sounds funny, but it's true. And it won't help if you park outside either. When I had my SUV, there were squirrels getting underneath the car and they stored acorns in my air intake, and the squirrels chewed through cabling. Little bastards cost me $500.

 

Best story ever was when I owned a Subaru Legacy GT. On those forums a guy wrote about buying a pet hamster and leaving it in the car for a bit (cool day). It chewed through the box and he couldn't find it when he got home. He assumed it escaped. He woke the next day, went to start the car and no dice. Long story short, had it towed to the dealer, thousands in under dash wiring destroyed. Hamster FOUND ALIVE by the dealer tech. He had to turn it into insurance due to the cost (we are talking special order dash harness, removing the entire dash board/airbags etc it was nuts). If I remember right, he name the lil bugger rambo since he survived all that...