Rats in engine bay.

[Toeyoyta]

Anyone have any experience and advice on discouraging rats getting  onto the engine area>  

[Roy124]

Rat Box. 

Checked mine last Spring, quite a few bait eaten.  Checked last week, not a crumb left  no rat or mouse poo either 

[flash22]

Peppermint or capsaicin and put some bait boxes down - ideally you need to find where they are coming from and their food source

[Steven83]

never heard of anything like this, I take it you live in a rural area. 

have you tried leaving a cat in the engine bay? 🤪

only messing, hope you get it sorted. 

[Rosgoe]

This has been brought up before on the forum some rats had chewed through the fuel injector wireing they are attracted to the insulation that the wires are made from can’t remember what exactly. Someone suggested lemon juice squirted over the electrics as flash has suggested you need to find out where they are getting in the only thing with putting bait boxes down is that the poison thins the rats blood down and they will seek somewhere warm to die and can sometimes rot in wall cavities and the stink is awful. I would be inclined to use a couple of rat traps baited with peanut butter watch your fingers!! though when setting them as they are powerfull.

[Rosgoe]

9 minutes ago, Steven83 said:

never heard of anything like this, I take it you live in a rural area. 

have you tried leaving a cat in the engine bay? 🤪

only messing, hope you get it sorted. 

My cat would sort it😀

[FROSTYBALLS]

Think as Roy124 said, use a rat box together with suitable poison.

Last year a member had part of their wiring loom chewed through - think it ended up as an insurance claim.

[TonyHSD]

I remember that very well. It was the lockdown times where cars been not much in use, great for the little fellas to chew anything they had access to. 😐 I made myself a spray mixture of mint oil and soapy water and sprayed all around the car, under bonnet, under wheel arches and, wheels , tyres everywhere as this is where they go in from. Bite boxes near the car work well too, usually when they eat that thing they are seeking a light natural open space to die. , that what the pest control guy told me, as I had them in my house at that time, touching the wood they had gone mostly 🤫🐀😖

[Crustyoldavensis]

Ferret droppings will deter rats...

 

[tavy]

I had a rat under the hood a while ago, even my dog pointed to its direction.

The rat accommodated by itself inside the air filter box and accumulated cat food everywhere inside the engine compartment.

So,I removed the air filter box, clean it and changed the air filter, but for preventing doing this again I shortened the air intake tube (there was an U-shape tube before the air filter box) and woven a metal wire net at the entrance of air filer box so that only an insect can get in.

In the end I killed a rat with some poisonous toffes thrown in engine compartment, and the rat was so greedy that immediately ate the bite, such that in few days died...

My tomcat didn't care about the rat at all 😁.

Fortunately the rat didn't destroy anything excepting the air filter.

[Roy124]

16 hours ago, flash22 said:

Peppermint or capsaicin and put some bait boxes down - ideally you need to find where they are coming from and their food source

I think as Rosgoe said, we already know the food source.😁

Nor rats but mice :

My lawn mower went in for service.  There is a plate in the blade box to stop grass being blown through the engine mount.  It was a secure place for raising baby meeces. 

Rodents get anywhere. 

[Big_D]

When I worked in the customer services department for a German Sports car manufacturer, I remember getting a call from a customer to say the wiring in the engine bay had been eaten by rats. This particular customer wanted us to replace his wiring under warranty. I explained that this had been caused by rats and wasn't a warranty claim. I was then told that he lived in a million pound mansion and there was no way that there could be rats on his property.

I'm sure that if the rat had known it was on such an expensive property, it would have immediately left without doing any damage. Everyone knows how polite rats can be when they know you're rich.

Needless to say, his car wasn't repaired under warranty.

[tavy]

Yeap, rats and mice are not polite enough to respect a multimilion pound mansion...😄

[Toeyoyta]

Thanks everyone for the comments and advice.

I have seen others saying rats do not like the smell of peppermint and also moth balls. Not sure of moth balls availability these days but I have obtained a small bottle of "Peppermint Arvensis" liquid. Dripped a few drops onto some cotton pads and placed under the bonnet overnight. No further signs of the rat over 3 days so fingers crossed. The cotton pads were the flat round type women use for face creaming or makeup removal.

Rats have been a problem in local gardens from bird feeders etc but my first knowledge of vehicle intrusion. 

 

[Roy124]

You can get moth killer but not sure if new would be as effective as original. 

I have just moved my uneaten rat bait from the shed where my wife says there are rats back to the garage where something ate all the bait before