Rodents vs. Engine Compartments

Hi, I’m Marsha, the receptionist at Wareing Sturgis Ford.

I’m opening today with a riddle.

What do dryer sheets, Irish Spring soap, peppermint oil, clove oil, cinnamon oil, socks full of mothballs, cayenne pepper, and a house cat all have in common?

Need more time?

They’re all on the list of things people have tried to keep rodents from setting up house in their vehicle’s engine compartment.

And it’s more common than you’d think.

Vehicles get invaded every day by critters sharpening their tiny teeth on wiring harnesses and hoses. It can leave an owner with thousands of dollars in repairs — and unfortunately, that damage often isn’t covered by insurance or warranty.

In the past two weeks alone, I’ve visited with four different customers in our waiting area dealing with this exact problem. Two of them were in for the second time.

And one of those customers even brought the culprit with her… sort of.

When the tech opened the hood, he was surprised to find a healthy cottontail rabbit sitting up on the intake like it owned the place. Don’t worry — it was safely released to a new home.

After hearing so many stories, I decided to do a little research. What have people actually done to deter rodents from burrowing into vehicles?

Like most human problems, I found there are countless home remedies — and some of them are pretty humorous.

It starts with dryer sheets. Some folks lay them in the engine compartment to irritate rodents with a strong fragrance. (Of course, you’ll want to remove them before heading to work.)

One person took it a step further and stuffed dryer sheets into gopher holes in his yard. I immediately pictured a lawn full of what looks like tissue-paper land mines… not to mention an irritated wife.

Other remedies range from mild to downright brave:

• Some people spray the engine compartment with peppermint, cinnamon, or clove oil — even cayenne pepper.
• Others make “engine sachets” using shaved Irish Spring soap or mothballs.
• And one very fearless individual reportedly sprayed their engine with feline spray.

One desperate classic car collector went all-in and developed a unique car cover with a weighted outer edge — apparently rodents aren’t smart enough to recruit heavyweight relatives to lift it.

You can also go high-tech with battery-operated sonic repellents. This is the fragrance-free option… but you might want your garage as far from your bedroom as possible. Between bright lights and constant noise, your garage could turn into a rodent disco.

All kidding aside, I’m sure some of these work.

But I also looked at what pest control professionals recommend (and I found an interesting article from the NC Museum of Natural Sciences). The bottom line is this:

Our vehicles provide warm, protected environments for rodents to eat and nest. And while some say modern soy-based wiring insulation is more attractive to rodents, wiring damage has been happening for decades.

So here’s the practical, expert advice:

• If your vehicle is parked outside, move it often. If you don’t, critters may keep returning to their new “tree.”
• If your vehicle is parked in a garage, don’t leave food inside. Rodents have been known to chew through bumpers to reach food stored in trunks. Also be mindful of pet food storage.
• Choose parking spots carefully when you can. Parking away from shrubs and wooded areas can help, especially here around the Hills where critters thrive.
• If you’re parking in a garage, consider leaving the hood open. It makes the space less comfortable for nesting.
• There are products like rodent tape — a specialized tape impregnated with spicy capsaicin — that can be used as an additional wrap for vehicle wiring.
• Most professionals recommend starting with natural deterrents like peppermint oil. Spray and re-spray as needed.
• And lastly… there’s always the most faithful deterrent of all: a good mouser.

Hopefully you’ll never experience rodent damage to your vehicle — but if you’ve been through it, or you have a solution that worked, I’d love to hear it.

Thanks so much for reading. And let me close with one more riddle:

Mice are here to feed the Raptors — not feed on the Raptors.

— Marsha