[Gansan]

Originally Posted by viper

Almost impossible to source legally.

Not really. Go to any kirana shop, ask for "ant powder" and you will get it.

[Raccoon]

Originally Posted by ghpk

If you feel your car has colony of ants, use the Boric Powder method.

take little flour, mix some sugar powder and boric powder. make it like dough, using water.

make small balls and place somewhere in car for few days, and if your car had queen ant multiplying ants, she's be dead soon.

This method also works great for kitchen ants/roaches.

Infact the sugar makes them eat, and boric powder makes their stomach fail.

This is by far the best and safest method. It will kill the queen. Don't waste too much time with the other ants. The queen will replace them faster than you can get rid of them.

[madhukar_n]

I have a unique problem. There are black ants flying out from the blower when i switch on my AC. The AC is in internal circulation mode. I have got the blower cleaned twice, but still the ants keep flying out.

It is quite irritating. We have tried put naphthalene balls(powdered) in the duct but still not much use. The service guy is to use HIT and leave it for a day by not using the car and then see. The other option is completely open the dashboard and get it cleaned.

Anyone faced this situation ? Any pointers ?

Thanks.

[f1fan]

In my old Alto, I had problems of small roaches. A nice dose of HIT (see to it that you don't spray it on transparent plastic/Dash as it leaves stains. Dash stains can be cleaned to a certain extent but stains on transparent plastic cannot be removed) and then kept the car in the hot sun for a day with all windows rolled up did wonders. Never faced the problem again.

You can try it out too.

[aargee]

Here're some similar threads...
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...nside-ffe.html
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/shifti...onnet-car.html
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/tyre-a...ects-away.html

[ankitvarshneya]

I am facing a big problem because of ants. I had sprayed hit on the tyres and below the mats of my car just before i left for home for diwali. After five days when i came back i saw ants were still there in the car, infact even more this time. Also i noticed a lot of dead ants on the seats and below the mats, possibly because of the insecticide.

is there a permanent solution for this. spraying insecticide and making your own car a graveyard isnt a right solution. has anyone used laxman rekha , how effective is it?

[narayan]

Guys
I just bought a 2009 Vista and had got the interiors completely cleaned professionally. 2 days back I noticed ants moving behind the glass surface of the HEAD UNIT !! when i removed the head unit, there was a big bunch of red ants moving around. Immediately, i removed the entire music system and took it home and placed some honey near it. a few thousands of ants came out and then i did some visual check and noticed that there were still quite a few staying back in between the thin metal layers of the music system. tried blowing them off. once I was sure all were gone, put the music system back.

Today i noticed that there are still many red ants ( and a white powdery substance in other parts of the car - may be ant eggs )

i am clueless what these ants are surviving on ? there is no bad smell indicating a dead animal on which the ants might be feeding ?

How do i get rid of these buggers permaently ?

[pcpranav]

Ahh! quite an old thread, but still relevant today.

I have open car parking just besides many big trees including coconut trees. Occassionally, I dont use the car for many days, so vehicle is stationery. Luckily my car isnt that vulnerable to coconut fall, but few other vehicles in our compound were earlier damanged. The dry leaves keep falling and get stuck in the crevices of vehicle - routinely doing car wash cleans but some debris surely gets stuck deep inside (eg under front cowl or beadings), such debris can invite rust or insects.

Speaking of Ants : I believe the ants love the coconut trees, I have seen them running on the trees and leaves. Maybe because of the long leaves hanging and sometimes touching my vehicle, the ants maybe sliding or jumping on my vehicle.
They are dancing all over my car. Often I have been applying LaxmanRekha (for cockroaches pack) lines on the rubber beadings (some inside spots are their colony!), door inner edges, bonnet panels (not engine side), and sometimes draw lines over roof too, most importantly to avoid them getting inside the car. Few times somehow ants did enter inside, and I put some lines to get rid of them successfully. These LaxmanRekha lines do work surely, wherever they are applied. Maybe the chemical kills the ants when they walk (eat) over it, and even restrict the movement across the lines.

However after a full car wash (or monsoon season like now), the lines are washed and ants again reappearing.
Latest case: The car was used less these day, and yesterday evening I saw lots of ants across. I had kept the car door open just for a minute to place some luggage, and noticed just few ants sneaked inside the car! Immediately went to nearby garage for full washing (first using diesel, and then shampoo), and quickly reapplied the LaxmanRekha lines on the rubber beadings, and I was hopeful that washing (smell & cleaning) will avoid the ants. And today morning again I saw ants roaming around, so again re-applied the lines and spray some handy WD40 (I guess the smell would repel the ants).

I will get the long leaves cut, maybe restrict the ants coming down on my vehicle. I even sprayed bit WD40/Diesel on the dry branches of tree - not sure if that worked, but rains surely washed it!
I havnt noticed ants running on my car tyres, but many times noticed on the ground itself. What more can be done to get rid the ants - outside and inside the car ?

[Mtor]

Hi
I am also facing this problem.
Due to the Covid 19 situation, my Skoda Rapid was parked for 2 weeks in the open parking and then it was not switching on
Got assistance from Skoda service who towed the vehicle and later called to inform that the problem is with battery and BCM unit due to ant infestation. It’s just a 6 month old car and they are not agreeing to cover it under warranty as it is not a manufacturing defect but due to ants .
Gave a quote of 46K!
Any experience or remedies please

[GTO]

1. Boric acid + sugar balls work like a charm . Had red ants in one of my cars and it worked superbly . Thanks to all who recommended the same.

2. Mom strongly recommends this "ant powder". Available for <20 bucks at local shops. We used it at a spot in the house & it appears to be effective.

[Hatari]

Had parked my car under a tree with flowers. Noticed some small red ants on the bonnet etc, but didnt think much of it.

A week later at my friends pace left my lunch bag in the car for an hr and came back to find it full of ants.

I am very particular about no food in the car, and have never faced this in decades of driving.
Maybe there's a dead insect inside somewhere?

Anyone know how I can get rid of the ant problem?

[anjan_c2007]

Kerosene is the best ant repellant. But the downside is that kerosene odour will be intolerable by the occupants too. Hence, if kerosene is applied a day prior to a holiday or a day when the car is not used the car interiors can be ant free. Kerosene is best applied with a paint brush on the metal components only in the interior like the base of the seat, brake lever and so on. Many more metal items like tools etc can be spread on the floor mat over which a plastic sheet is kept. Kerosene can be applied over the surface of all these tools. Also kerosene in open bowls can be kept to spread its odour across in the affected areas.

After an exposure of at least 24-36 hours, the metal items can be removed and the kerosene if any on their surface, can be wiped dry using a cotton cloth. Similarly, the components of your car coated with kerosene can too be wiped dry.

A good car interior freshner can be sprayed after wiping all traces of kerosene.

If there is good sunlight, parking the car for a good time in the sunlight will alternatively drive away the ants.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Hatari

Anyone know how I can get rid of the ant problem?

Option 1. Use boric acid + sugar + atta balls. Read up all the posts on this thread.

Option 2. Terro Ant Killer. Expensive, but it's a pack of 6 (in case you don't want to DIY with Option 1).

Option 3. Amish.