[Thad E Ginathom]

It turns out that I am not the only one who has been puzzled, for a long time, as to why these things are called "tar brushes."

I thought I'd post this enlightening exchange from another thread. It may be helpful to non-Hindi-speakers, and those with other local languages. It's also fun!

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

... ... ... I think this is what I call a wire brush. That is what painters and workmen in UK would call it. ... ... ...

Originally Posted by blackwasp

Yes sir ! When I first asked the shop keeper for industrial wire brushes, he was flummoxed. Looks like I was speaking a different language. Then his face showed recollection when I said tar brush.

Originally Posted by FarPatel

I too couldn't figure out for months where or how these brushes were used to apply tar (as in bitumen), until my wife looked at me like I'm stupid, and said 'tar, as in wire in Hindi'. Really felt dumb then.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Wonderful!

Thank you so much for solving the mystery. ... ... ...

The posts are snipped. Follow the links to that thread for the complete conversation

[sumeethaldankar]

Originally Posted by Tanveer_2558

Hi, Glad you opted for my solution, Do share your feedback here soon.

Last two 2 days it was raining heavily and the car was unused for both days of the weekend. Perfect scenario for a rat attack. I opened the hood in the morning today to check any rodent activity and was pleasantly surprised that were no unpleasant droppings, smells and disturbances. Cranked the car and she started just fine. The wire/Tar brush is a success and i hope i don't have to ever keep tobacco and keep looking under the hood almost every day henceforth.

Thanks a lot again for this brilliant idea Tanveer.

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

It turns out that I am not the only one who has been puzzled, for a long time, as to why these things are called "tar brushes."

Nopes, i was confused too. Even i thought it was related to the road construction Tar till i realized its's code mixed word in Hindi.

[Tanveer_2558]

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

Last two 2 days it was raining heavily and the car was unused for both days of the weekend. Perfect scenario for a rat attack. I opened the hood in the morning today to check any rodent activity and was pleasantly surprised that were no unpleasant droppings, smells and disturbances. Cranked the car and she started just fine. The wire/Tar brush is a success and i hope i don't have to ever keep tobacco and keep looking under the hood almost every day henceforth.

Thanks a lot again for this brilliant idea Tanveer.

Glad your tension free too now! Just keep a check on the strap which are holding the brushes every couple of months, I still haven't changed any straps since years now but still just to be sure, Do spread the word around and help others as well who are facing this issue.

i was confused too. Even i thought it was related to the road construction Tar till i realized its's code mixed word in Hindi.

Some people will understand it as a wire brush/ Tar brush and there was also one more name which i can't recollect now, Whatever the name maybe as faar as it solves our problem.

[sumeethaldankar]

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

Last two 2 days it was raining heavily and the car was unused for both days of the weekend. Perfect scenario for a rat attack. I opened the hood in the morning today to check any rodent activity and was pleasantly surprised that were no unpleasant droppings, smells and disturbances. Cranked the car and she started just fine. ...


.

Had poped the hood in morning and was dismayed to find rat droppings on the battery. It was raining continuously for 2 days sat and sun and car was unused for sun only. I hope the rat got bruised by the brushes and wont come back. I am thinking of fixing a brush on the battery as well. Dont know what else to do.

[Tanveer_2558]

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

Had poped the hood in morning and was dismayed to find rat droppings on the battery. It was raining continuously for 2 days sat and sun and car was unused for sun only. I hope the rat got bruised by the brushes and wont come back. I am thinking of fixing a brush on the battery as well. Dont know what else to do.

Recheck the places you have attached the brushes, Make sure you cover the total engine bay from all the sides, We can sometimes under estimate the intelligence of these rats, They find ways to get into the spot where they want to, All we should do is, Block all the paths and places that lead to places where visible wires are located.

[sumeethaldankar]

Attaching pics of the brush setup. I had observed rat droppings on the battery last week. I tried fitting a brush in that area but was not successful. I will observe for a few days and see for any signs of intrusion and try and attach the brush again if needed. I had cleaned the engine bay hence the wetness in the pics. I still think the existing brush setup is a good deterrant for repeat offences for rats.

[Shashankjk]

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

Attaching pics of the brush setup. I had observed rat droppings on the battery last week.

They climb from the bottom. See if you can move the brushes near the bottom of engine bay, near the places where there are gaps for the rodents to climb.

[sumeethaldankar]

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

Had poped the hood in morning and was dismayed to find rat droppings on the battery. It was raining continuously for 2 days sat and sun and car was unused for sun only. I hope the rat got bruised by the brushes and wont come back. I am thinking of fixing a brush on the battery as well. Dont know what else to do.

Had opened the yesterday and again found some rat droppings on the battery. Now judging from the size of the poop droppings it seems to be a small rat. Also the last time the size of the droppings was small meaning and i hope that it was a different but rat. My last post was last month so i hope those buggers grow big in a month.

Anyways i am not sure now how to safeguard the battery. The good news is the places where there are brushes installed are safe and there is no violation in terms of droppings etc there. I have also installed a additional brush between the air filter console and the battery but i am perplexed as to how the fix the battery issue.

I don't want to install a brush on the battery as it might not allow the hood to close properly. Any suggestions? I am thinking of making something homemade spikes eg using old leather belt and paper pins to be affixed on the battery.

[Shashankjk]

Just saw a new product of Amazon. Not sure how effective it is.


Autoglaze - Car Rat Repellent - 2 nos. https://www.amazon.in/dp/B01FOC23SU/..._KAQ6xbJKBEMQW

[sumeethaldankar]

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

I don't want to install a brush on the battery as it might not allow the hood to close properly. Any suggestions? I am thinking of making something homemade spikes eg using old leather belt and paper pins to be affixed on the battery.

So I created my own spikes pointy thingy to deter rats from making my car’s battery as their private bathroom. I made this with a broken rubber stand the kind you find at the bottom of shoulder bags etc. The place where it is sown to the bag was used to insert the paper pins and the base was glued by a plastic cover and further secured by insulation tape. The spike is secured to the battery by a zip tie.

Let’s see how this thing works on the rats. On a funny note my car’s engine bay is looking weirder the more anti-rat stuff I add to it. If there was a thread for a ‘weird and wacky engine bays’ I guess mine would be featured in it. Whenever I go to fuel pumps to get CNG I have to open the hood and I often get stares and smiles from people and they come to ask what the brushes are for. Some joke one for boot polish the other for brushing hair. I then have to explain the purpose for same to them.

On a serious note the last rat attack cost me directly+indirectly close to 22k so I really don’t care what people say and how weird the engine bay looks as long as those buggers stay away from car I am happy.

[thoma]

I don't know if this has been discussed here before, thought will share this idea. It is the

GazeBox

foldable garage.

Maybe we can make a better and cheaper jugaad here.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by thoma

It is the foldable garage.

Fantastic expensive toy. Very desirable

But useless for rat control: look at the size of the gaps!

[Pink Floyd]

Sprinkle a packet of chilli powder over the engine bay once every 20 days or so to keep rats away. Its working.

[sumeethaldankar]

It has been month now that my engine bay is free from rat nonsense. I am quite happy at the outcome. No rat now uses my battery as his bathroom ever since I put the home made spike. Yes the workmanship of same is not of high quality but man does it get the job done.

Also I covered the top 2 brushes with a 15 Rs Steelgrip insulation tape. This tape is supposed to be heat/fire resistant and also helps camouflage the brushes with the rest of the surroundings a bit. One can first wrap the brushes with the all black insulation tape before installing the brushes so that it does not look too odd.

Attaching a couple of pics of same.





Also i would like to add i had given the car for service a couple of weeks back and the brushes survived the engine bay wash and remained intact. I had only removed the top right brush as a precaution since it was close to the air filter. Rest remained as they were.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by sumeethaldankar

Also I covered the top 2 brushes with a 15 Rs Steelgrip insulation tape. This tape is supposed to be heat/fire resistant and also helps camouflage the brushes with the rest of the surroundings a bit.

Another idea: just saw the handles off?