When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Anybody got any advice on keeping mice out? My Camaro stays parked out by a shed (I have no garage) and doesn’t move regularly. Changing a water pump tonight so I could get it driveable I had a visitor under the hood. Wanna try and get a hold on it before they tear into wiring.
I had NO trouble for almost 20 years in Michigan, storing every winter in a 100 year old barn...put down Bounce dryer sheets and Moth *****. (A can in the interior, and a can in the engine bay) When I moved to NC, it stayed there for several years with no issues. I was able to move the car here and used the same method, but they still destroyed the car. (NC is an inspection state, and I didn't want to install another converter to make it legal), so it sat more here...and I didn't have a building to store it. So it was in the elements more. I had it covered...but covers don't stop mice.
I really should have sold it, instead of moving it...
If it's outside it's nearly impossible to keep them out. One of my cars used to sit outside most of the time and I would just check it a lot, open the hood, inspect, open up the doors and hatch and inspect, etc... Now 2 are inside a garage and 1 inside of a enclosed carport garage both of which I painstakingly spent several months mouse proofing. So far they have not got into either building. I made sure every crack/crevice was foamed up around trim, roof to walls, bottom of doors have rubber thresholds on the concrete and seal with the garage door rubber seal etc... I mean I got in there and sealed it all up. Not even wasps or mud daubers can get in. The only way in is if a door is open and they die in there because they can't get back out.
The interior is most vulnerable through the Heat/Ac box. Mice can get inside there and come in through the heat door and right into the dash. If you keep that heat door closed (move hot/cold slider to hot), that will help keep them out of the interior. Slide it firmly where you can hear the heat door close tight. They typically can't get in through the doors, ttops or hatch as long as the weatherstrip is good and everything shuts tight.
Still though, outside, they can get into everywhere under the car and the engine bay and there's really not much you can do unless it's driven a lot.
If it's outside it's nearly impossible to keep them out. One of my cars used to sit outside most of the time and I would just check it a lot, open the hood, inspect, open up the doors and hatch and inspect, etc... Now 2 are inside a garage and 1 inside of a enclosed carport garage both of which I painstakingly spent several months mouse proofing. So far they have not got into either building. I made sure every crack/crevice was foamed up around trim, roof to walls, bottom of doors have rubber thresholds on the concrete and seal with the garage door rubber seal etc... I mean I got in there and sealed it all up. Not even wasps or mud daubers can get in. The only way in is if a door is open and they die in there because they can't get back out.
The interior is most vulnerable through the Heat/Ac box. Mice can get inside there and come in through the heat door and right into the dash. If you keep that heat door closed (move hot/cold slider to hot), that will help keep them out of the interior. Slide it firmly where you can hear the heat door close tight. They typically can't get in through the doors, ttops or hatch as long as the weatherstrip is good and everything shuts tight.
Still though, outside, they can get into everywhere under the car and the engine bay and there's really not much you can do unless it's driven a lot.
Great idea about the heat door!
I had recently resurrected a car which was in a storage building for 25 years. Lots of nests, dead critters, turds and **** to clean up. I suspect they made their way into the interior through the airbox. Cleaning all that up was by far the worst part of working on it. I'll never buy a car which stinks again.
They make these lil bags called "Rodent Repellant" and they work. I put one under my dash and keep a few under the hood next to the firewall while my car sits in the shop 99%of the time. No problems with mice ever since someone turned me on to this product. I get it at Tractor Supply, looks like a hackey sack. Smells like pine or something plant based, actually quite pleasant.
I’ve used drier sheets and have had no problems, even place a few under the hood near electrical to help keep them away.
You've had no problems because no mice have entered your car. If they did, those dryer sheets would do nothing to stop them from doing what they do. In fact, it would give them something to make a nest out of...
Now 2 are inside a garage and 1 inside of a enclosed carport garage both of which I painstakingly spent several months mouse proofing. So far they have not got into either building. I made sure every crack/crevice was foamed up around trim, roof to walls, bottom of doors have rubber thresholds on the concrete and seal with the garage door rubber seal etc... I mean I got in there and sealed it all up. Not even wasps or mud daubers can get in. The only way in is if a door is open and they die in there because they can't get back out..
Take my word for it, they aren't in there because they don't want to be in there. If there was something enticing them to be in there, they'd chew right through the wall as in this pic taken at my friend's farm. This room was built to hold animal feed, giving them a pretty good reason to want to be in there, so they created themselves several of these mouse doorways .....
Another shot of just how determined mice can be when they smell food. I think that right there is their prime motivation, they smell food and they WILL get in. I wonder how many cars get invaded because of people eating in them, leaving crumbs that we may not see(or smell) but are a literal dinner bell for Mickey & Minnie ?
They make these lil bags called "Rodent Repellant" and they work. I put one under my dash and keep a few under the hood next to the firewall while my car sits in the shop 99%of the time. No problems with mice ever since someone turned me on to this product. I get it at Tractor Supply, looks like a hackey sack. Smells like pine or something plant based, actually quite pleasant.
Gonna pick some of these up today! Thanks for the info 🤘🏼
Thanks for all the info guys! Gonna try the repellent sacks mentioned above and in the meantime I moved it away from the shed and into my driveway. Hoping that helps a little. Living on the edge of an orchard doesn’t help me much though.
You're forgetting a good place to nest...That's the main reason for cars. I can guarantee you mine was clean, vacuumed, and wiped prior to storage.
Sorry Kevin, I wasn't implying your car is a piggy mess with food attracting them in, because I know how well most of us keep our cars, I was referring to the average guy who treats a car like an appliance, you know, the 95% of the "car clueless" that we car guys are forced to share the roads with. And yes indeed, I've seen mice do some mean damage building their nests, I lost a sweet WW2 Navy Oscilloscope to the little bastards, there wasn't any food in there for them and yet they built a nest in it and their acid pee literally melted the chassis
Nah...no offense was taken. I'm too old to be part of the "I'm offended at every little thing" crowd.
And I totally agree about the masses...I've seen new cars come in to the shop that are in a condition that would shock any of us that know how to take care of a vehicle...
and they do seem to love jute... ever since I bought my 88 IROC vert, the fan was noisy and didnt seem to move much air....maybe needed a new fan... then i took the fan out... the inside of the fan box was completely jammed with shredded jute...and acorns... damn mice!
and now the fan works just fine... i havent found any other damage... so far....
The problem, I think, with some of these old tricks like drier sheets, i how do you test it? If you use them and don't get mice, is that proof it worked, or proof the mice weren't there, or didn't try?
I don't know the answer. After my garage fire, I had to send my '77 Chrysler for detailing. When it came back, it was ready long before the garage (the garage still isn't done). So I had to put it in a local storage facility. There was only one in my area that had an open car-sized unit (everyone else had waiting lists), so that's where the car went. Huge gaps at the door and adjoining unit walls gave my little faith that anything smaller than a gazelle could be kept out. So from day one, I put down the poison (?) or repellent (?) packs they gave me, and supplemented that with tons of drier sheets. I've changed them out several times, to keep the scent level up. I also added 6 large rat sized glue traps, 4 by the over head door, and one in each rear corner of the unit. Lastly, I liberally spray the door gap / opening and along the unit walls (and down inside the metal wall framing) with mouse repellent. It has a not unpleasant cinnamon-like smell.
Take my word for it, they aren't in there because they don't want to be in there. If there was something enticing them to be in there, they'd chew right through the wall as in this pic taken at my friend's farm. This room was built to hold animal feed, giving them a pretty good reason to want to be in there, so they created themselves several of these mouse doorways .....
Both my buildings are all steel. No wood at all. If you post a picture of chewed through steel, I'm going to get really nervous! That is a good point though. There are no "obvious" food sources in my buildings.
I fought rats and mice for years. Tried all sorts of sprays, dryer sheets, cayenne pepper, Irish Spring soap, etc. Nothing worked. Then I installed these type of devices. All rodents gone.
i did the poison and the dam critters would go in the car and die. I tried the bucket with antifreeze but man does that stink and what do you do with a antifreeze soaked dead mouse?
i did the poison and the dam critters would go in the car and die. I tried the bucket with antifreeze but man does that stink and what do you do with a antifreeze soaked dead mouse?
Trash can is good place.
Down the crapper also works.
A dozen of the little buggers is a different matter but the trash still works well. No worse than kitchen leftover scraps (well, maybe a little...)
Keep the trash outside though.
Cats too.
But I can't say I leave either in the cottage when it's closed up for months over the winter. I don't think I'd use that method in a working garage where the pets hang out.
I'm in a rural area cats roam free and an occasional dog will wander in the yard. Plus we have chickens and they can be carnivorous at times. So I hate using poison. But in the dead of winter when the doors are seldom open I'll use it.
Find where they come in. I don’t like anything that smells in my cars.
you gotta walk your house yearly, Morter holes in brick, caulk in wood, siding. Get the good caulk from a siding contractor supply, every house has voids that need to be filled.
put a bigger seal on garage door. New seals on the sides of the door. I did all this and no more mice
My car is in a detached garage, on the other side is a huge corn field, mice in my garage has been a problem since we moved in 20 years ago. Bought one of these back in August, It's caught probably over a dozen mice so far, totally worth the $20 I spent on it.
