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914World.com _ 914World Garage _ The bane of a stored car

Posted by: dr914@autoatlanta.com Oct 9 2018, 12:14 PM

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Posted by: GregAmy Oct 9 2018, 12:24 PM

"Wazzup, yo?"

(I think you meant "bane"...)

Posted by: dr914@autoatlanta.com Oct 9 2018, 12:45 PM

I certainly did thank you very much.

QUOTE(GregAmy @ Oct 9 2018, 11:24 AM) *

"Wazzup, yo?"

(I think you meant "bane"...)


Posted by: Unobtanium-inc Oct 9 2018, 01:29 PM

My brother got into his 87 Carrera the other day, he drives it every few weeks, he was taking his son to soccer and non of the gauges were working, stuff his head back there, all chewed.

Posted by: bbrock Oct 9 2018, 01:54 PM

Ha! Neotoma floridana (guessing from your location). The eastern wood rat. Once had one of those little buggers steal a full 5 gallon bucket of grapes I accidentally left on the step one night. Empty bucket and a trail of scrapes leading to its midden.

Had another one chew through a set of spark plug wires in our Nissan. Sixty dollars to replace them only to have the little bastard chew through the second set that same night.

But the best was when I couldn't figure out why our garden shed smelled like crap - literally. Finally spent a day cleaning it out and mystery was solved when I pulled a box off a shelf to have several pounds of dried dog turds cascade down on me. Anyone remember the ping pong balls on Captain Kangaroo? Just like that, only dog turds. Three shelves full of them!!!

Posted by: Ecke Liebhaber Oct 9 2018, 02:35 PM

A friend of mine had had a V-8 engine with headers sitting in his shop. Cute littlle mousey decided to find a home, crawled up the header ,went into a cylinder through an open exhaust valve. Came and went many times over the cold months, brought in small nuts, and other crap to eat, made a home, used the bathroon in the 'fresh' motor, which rusted and corroded the cylinder/piston/valve. (pissed t on)

They will travel into places you would never think possible and they never make things better.

I hate those mices to pieces.

Posted by: siverson Oct 9 2018, 02:44 PM

I keep 5 mousetraps setup in my garage for this very reason. Sometimes I'll have 5 dead mice. But, I think they are starting to learn as I haven't caught one in months (and no trace of them around).

-Steve

Posted by: bandjoey Oct 9 2018, 03:23 PM

Works every time


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Posted by: Rand Oct 9 2018, 03:56 PM

I'm setting one of these up in my shop. The mice are coming more with the weather changes...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SIlYiiCGLI

Posted by: worn Oct 9 2018, 04:03 PM

That is one great picture. Thanks. Reminds me to tend the TR6

Posted by: bretth Oct 9 2018, 07:11 PM

Oh crap reminds me to re bait the trap in my garage. Haven't got any yet, hope I never do.

Posted by: r_towle Oct 9 2018, 07:18 PM

I found that moth balls on cookie sheets under the car, and a whole bunch of bounce/febreeze drier sheets inside a closed up car tends to keep them away for the winter.

A week prior to using the car I replace the bounce with a box of baking soda on cookie sheets inside the car...that removes any odor.

Posted by: Unobtanium-inc Oct 9 2018, 10:32 PM

QUOTE(bandjoey @ Oct 9 2018, 01:23 PM) *

Works every time

Our old shop was on the East River in Brooklyn, so the rats were big, like my chihuahua big. The guy behind us had a bakery, he got a cat, it lasted three days, they shreaded it.
Mice maybe, but rats travel in packs if needed.

Posted by: horizontally-opposed Oct 9 2018, 11:28 PM

The bane of modern cars, too. And not just Porsches.

I shared a hangar with a couple of friends for a couple of years. One of them asked me to move his GT3 RS to my office so he could swap with his 993. I noticed some water on the pavement under his car after the hangar was all closed up. Looked like too much for A/C system drip, so I popped the engine lid. Rodents had chewed up a lot of the hoses as well as a fair bit of the wiring. Bill to put things right with factory harnesses, hoses, etc? $25,000~. There was also an older Lexus LX470 in there, too. They did about $16,000 in damage to that...totaling what was a very nice and useful vehicle to have around. Turns out the rodents really like the modern, more recyclable materials for hoses and wiring insulation. Soy-based stuff.

While my 914 was left unscathed (maybe the smelly carbs helped?), I was storing a modern car in the hangar that I was about to sell, and feared the worst. Turned out my local dealer knows all the stuff to look for with rodents...as they see the damage fairly often. While my other car was fine also, a friend soon chimed in, as his neighbors parked their Cayenne outside and left it outside for two weeks when they were on vacation. When they returned, they thought they had a dead battery. Instead, it was $28k in rodent damage. blink.gif

Posted by: johnhora Oct 10 2018, 07:22 AM

QUOTE(r_towle @ Oct 9 2018, 06:18 PM) *

I found that moth balls on cookie sheets under the car, and a whole bunch of bounce/febreeze drier sheets inside a closed up car tends to keep them away for the winter.

A week prior to using the car I replace the bounce with a box of baking soda on cookie sheets inside the car...that removes any odor.


Yep drier sheets seem to work for me...been using them for years.

Posted by: Front yard mechanic Oct 10 2018, 07:43 AM

Some mice build small nest and some build.....Attached Image

Posted by: jmitro Oct 10 2018, 08:48 AM

that picture is classic, LOL

Posted by: bbrock Oct 10 2018, 09:19 AM

QUOTE(Front yard mechanic @ Oct 10 2018, 07:43 AM) *

Some mice build small nest and some build.....


That's a wood rat nest. Classic!

Posted by: Mark Henry Oct 10 2018, 09:41 AM

Plastic bucket of water, pop can with a dowel thru it, smear some peanut butter on the can, place on rim of bucket. Set one each corner of store room, near something that they can get on the dowel. Check bait 2-3 times a week.
They fall in the water, can't get up the bucket, dead.... mouse Auschwitz.

I put a bit of prestone in the water, stops the dead carcasses from smelling.

Fresh dryer sheets also work, but you should change them every month.
Also when storing I put a tray of silica crystal desiccant cat litter in the car.

Posted by: dr914@autoatlanta.com Oct 10 2018, 10:28 AM

maybe that is why I have never had mice in my Jag! (LOL)

QUOTE(bandjoey @ Oct 9 2018, 02:23 PM) *

Works every time

Posted by: jfort Oct 10 2018, 02:26 PM

steel wool in the exhaust, too

Posted by: Chip Oct 10 2018, 08:25 PM

Enjoyed every bit. Wish the last owner of my 1.8 had a cat. Car still smells. The tunnel was packed with pieces of the owners manual. They set up a brothel in there.

Posted by: mepstein Oct 11 2018, 03:32 AM

I was cleaning my car a week or so after I fought it home and checked under the dash. Big nest, 4 dried up mice. Then I pushed a vacuum hose from the engine compartment, up the long to the front of the car. Filled up the vacuum 2x. I hate mice.

Posted by: RickS Oct 11 2018, 04:01 AM

On guard 24/7. When not snoozing. Her name is Madeleine Dalhmer. She kills anything smaller than her including rabbits. Attached Image

Posted by: rgalla9146 Oct 11 2018, 04:33 AM

QUOTE(Unobtanium-inc @ Oct 9 2018, 03:29 PM) *

My brother got into his 87 Carrera the other day, he drives it every few weeks, he was taking his son to soccer and non of the gauges were working, stuff his head back there, all chewed.


Hmm... another..... I think you meant 'none'
Birds of a feather.

Posted by: euro911 Oct 11 2018, 05:24 AM

Urinal cakes work as well.

Posted by: UROpartsman Oct 11 2018, 03:51 PM

http://www.victorpest.com/victor-tin-cat-mouse-trap-m310s live trap is inexpensive (~$15), works great, and can catch up to 30 in just one night. Cut down a metal soup can to the same height as inside of the Tin Cat box and drill a bunch of small holes in it. Put peanut butter inside the soup can, and put the bait can inside the trap to attract the mice. That way you can attract lots of mice without the caught ones immediately eating all of the bait.

Dispose of your catch as you like. Anyone know how far away they'd have to be released to not come back to your garage? A mile or two would probably do it.

Posted by: AZBanks Oct 11 2018, 05:20 PM

QUOTE(UROpartsman @ Oct 11 2018, 02:51 PM) *

Anyone know how far away they'd have to be released to not come back to your garage? A mile or two would probably do it.



Dead men tell no tales and dead mice walk no miles.

Posted by: SO.O.C914er Oct 11 2018, 06:29 PM

Damn I must say I’ve been down this road myself. It sucks to fix all that wiring. headbang.gif

Posted by: ConeDodger Oct 11 2018, 07:00 PM

Check out the rolling log mouse trap on YouTube.

Posted by: Rand Oct 13 2018, 11:31 AM

QUOTE(ConeDodger @ Oct 11 2018, 05:00 PM) *

Check out the rolling log mouse trap on YouTube.

You mean like the one I posted above?
Rodents are so destructive. It's a battle here in the PNW.

Posted by: ConeDodger Oct 13 2018, 12:40 PM

QUOTE(Rand @ Oct 13 2018, 02:31 PM) *

QUOTE(ConeDodger @ Oct 11 2018, 05:00 PM) *

Check out the rolling log mouse trap on YouTube.

You mean like the one I posted above?
Rodents are so destructive. It's a battle here in the PNW.


Oh! That’s so cute! You think everyone reads everything! blink.gif lol-2.gif av-943.gif

Posted by: dr914@autoatlanta.com Oct 13 2018, 12:59 PM

we once had a pristine 45,00 mile Nepal orange 75 2.0 from Colorado, immaculate in every way with original paint. Upon receiving the car, we noticed the worst dead animal smell in the world radiating from the car, the previous owner surely knew of it and probably sold the car because of it.
The car was unsalable because of it, so we started the usual things, removing the gas tank, removing the seats, removing the outer rocker panesl,searching for the smell, putting our nose to various areas, the smell was really really bad, After finding nothing we then got more extreme, removing the engine, the back firewall pad the complete interior except for the upper dash, flushing the heater tubes with a steam cleaner up through the exit tube behind the radio speaker, removing the complete ventilation system, all to no avail, the smell persisted.
Finally desperate, we got our best smeller to put his nose all over the car and the worst of it was coming from the right rear heater tube into the body. Having flushed the tube thoroughly, we knew that the smell could not be in the heater tube. There was only one other place it could be and we could not understand how it could be............. Inside the longitudinal!!!!!!! Reluctantly we only had one choice..... to cut the car open. It was a real tragic day that day, cutting a chunk out of a virgin low mile 914, but when we did, there it was, a rats nest packed with six dead rats all inside the longitudinal next to the heater tube muffler. We cleaned the inside thoroughly and welded the piece back in and reinstalled the long carpet along with the rest of the car. FINALLY the smell was gone, and every stitch of the car now very clean.
So although we felt like real butchers to cut this virgin, we had no other choice. I will add to the "damn rodent" feeling we all have here

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