First off. . the previous owner let this car sit for 15 years, last 6 months was outside. . . I found a lot of rubber and plastic body parts chewed through. . things like the brake fluid reservoir, the steering boots, engine relay board cover. . .

When I pulled the engine apart, I was puzzled when I found all this fabric on top the engine under the shroud. . . first thought was the PO started the engine and it sucked in some rags. . then I saw all the rat turds and looked closer at the fabric. .
It was from one of those breathable car covers. . those little critters had built a regular rat hotel on top the engine.

Asked the PO about his car cover and had it been mysteriously missing small pieces. . . he said he couldn't figure out what was tearing it up and eating it.. fortunately it didn't get driven like this. .

Good thing your checking it out.

At least the rats were kind enough to plug up the intake ports too.

The San Diego rats are very smart! ....after all, they were smart enough to move to a warm climate & great beaches!

Did they update the chain tensioners while they were at it?

I wonder how many rats were born in that 2.0 ???

A True Rat-Rod!

I'm glad someone else got a chuckle out of this. . . I was amazed that the little ass---es crawled thru the fan to find this spot. . . so the next thought. . . how about if this was an operational car, you go out in the morning and start it and Presto ! . . . Roasted Rat . It's just gotta to have happened to someone. .

It happened to me a couple months ago. I started it, got 50 ft down the road and heard grzzzount and bzang like something ricocheted off the fan. I thought maybe a bolt or socket got sucked in. The little guy attempted to bid a hasty ado and was not successful. Not pretty. Nor odorless. And for your viewing pleasure I did snap a pic. But I think I won't.