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The Kitchen Table

Rat damage

15 years ago

Took my Honda Civic 03 to Honda garage yesterday because car was acting strange and the mechanic found and replaced this part. Was suggested that I put moth balls under the hood so this won't happen again. ( Rat damage ) Has anyone else dealt with this problem before?

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Comments (7)

marie_ndcal
15 years ago
Not rats, but mice can do damage also. Had that happened when one of the cars was in the garage, locked up, with mothballs and decon while we traveled living in a rural area. Got inside the heater etc and made nest.
jannie
15 years ago
I was at the Honda dealer last year when a woman came in with trouble in her car. They diagnosed a spider had woven a web and caused the damage. Do they make Raid Auto?
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Diane 9 I'll bet it's packrats that have eaten your engine wiring - we had over $1200 in damage done to our FJ by the little buggers - thank goodness we had rat damage coverage in our insurance (who knew??!) For THAT particular problem, the only thing that has worked to keep them out is to hang lights over the engine compartment at night. Or put the lights under the engine block at night. Also, don't park near pack-rat hot spots like areas with a lot of bushes or debris. Other than that, I've been battling all the cute little rats, rabbits, chipmunks, squirrels and gophers around here for a decade. I don't intend to eliminate every single one - I DO understand I live in the desert - but I also want to grow cacti, mesquite, agave, etc. All of which are super yummy to the little beasts when they are young and tender. Lots and lots of chicken wire cages, and then occasionally rat traps, a gopher bomb every once in a while (they have a freakin' condominium complex dug under our shed) and a judicious application of pellet shot when my husband needs target practice. I still lose a number of new plants, and we haven't put a dent in the population by any means (nor do we intend to) I try to be more defensive than offensive, but since they've clearly declared jihad on my desert rehabilitation efforts, it does get ugly sometimes.
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sheilajoyce_gw
15 years ago
DD had a skunk make a nest under her hood up by the windshield wipers. She took it in to have the dealer treat the smell, and it was better. Took months after to finally get rid of all the smell.
joyfulguy
15 years ago
What? A skunk made a smell near its own nest?

When the people started the car, was it?

That'd be surprise, wouldn't it? (For both the skunk and the human occupants of the car).

Seems to me that I read lately something about, "unanticipated results".

That'd add flavour to one's day, wouldn't it?

ole joyful ... who, to his knowledge, hasn't had a skunk anywhere near his car
maire_cate
15 years ago
My neighbor had a problem with squirrels chewing the wiring harness under the hood of their VW which they parked outside. They finally started putting an aluminum pan with used cat litter on top of the air filter every night after the engine cooled down.

That worked. Then they discovered that the squirrels had chewed all the edges of their patio furniture and gutters.

They really are pesky creatures.
amyfiddler
15 years ago
Yep, had a rat in my Acura. Unbelievable. I hear it happens a lot -

We've since eliminated the rat infestation issue we didn't know we had - $3000 later we have a brand new crawl space (how sexy - I almost demanded we have a party down there for all the money we spent on the gutting and recovering) -

I tell you what's fun though. Having a Rat Exterminator truck parked outside your home for a day. The neighbors who never spoke before suddenly want to know "how we're doing" - I just tell them that the exterminator is scaring off all the rats, so they better watch out for rats at their house in the next few days (not true, but fun to see the reaction, heh heh)
susanjf_gw
15 years ago
just showed this to dh..he said it's quite common? guess his dad when he had a gas staion, worked on cars with problems...

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