[Sanidhya mukund]

The forum is filled with reports on rodent attacks on people’s cars. They bite the interiors, wiring, wreck havoc in the engine bays and even leave their droppings everywhere. I myself have had my fair share of wars with those wire biters, wherein one of them died inside the wiper washer tank of my Mercedes.
This time however, I got to face something different- an attack by ants. I had not been keeping too well, as a result of which, I wasn’t able to give much attention to my Ford Ikon, which is basically a toy car now, thanks to the NGT ruling. The car was parked inside my closed garage, totally forgotten for the past 20 odd days. This time period also saw a tremendous amount of rainfall, which caused my garage to get flooded. Since I wasn’t able to attend to it, it stayed that way for some time. It eventually dried up, but left a lot of humidity in there.

Today, I finally got the opportunity to open it, and to my horror, this is what I found:

1. The steering wheel has grown a lot of mould. The carpets have gotten damp and stinky. However, this is the least of my worries.




2. The real cause of concern: The ENTIRE cabin and boot have been colonised by ants. They have laid eggs in every single nook and corner of the car; below the rear seats, inside the boot, in the door jambs, below the carpets, inside the glove box:








To add to my woes, the battery died and the hand brake got stuck due to humidity in the rear drums.

Lessons learnt:

1. Never park in a closed garage for a long while; the havoc that I speak of above took place only in a matter of 20 days.

2. Humidity is bad for your car. In the monsoons, keep driving every now and then, just to keep the brakes etc in good order. This only applies if your car is not a daily driver.

Currently, the car has been sprayed with liberal amounts of bug spray. It will soon be sent to the mechanic for a session of deep cleaning which would involve removal of the seats and carpets.

This is how the car looked just about 1.5 months ago. Seeing the car now, in such a sorry state really breaks my heart:

[Kams_cars]

I feel sorry for the state of the car. At the same time, this is my first time hearing such an incident.

Is there a provision at your place to park the car under the SUN for at least a day? Please try that.

The car wash places have powerful air gun with them, better to task them in blowing the corners inside the car.

[vinu_h]

Had gone through something similar in my Alto. Mini forest it had become.

You'll need to clear out the seats and remove the carpet. Have the vehicle deep cleaned, put in silica gel packs all over. Dry it with 2 table fans overnight, park under the sun for a couple of days.

Most important of all, have the wiring checked out.

[Leoshashi]

Sorry to hear about this, but I'm sure you won't let the Ikon be in this state for long.

Originally Posted by Sanidhya mukund

2. Humidity is bad for your car. In the monsoons, keep driving every now and then, just to keep the brakes etc in good order. This only applies if your car is not a daily driver.

A trick which I've been using since years now. I keep loads of Silica Gel pouches inside GG. To make it less messy, I've now made trays out of speaker cartons and keep numerous bags in them. That helps with moisture and no mould formation happens, despite the car being in hibernation for long intervals like the monsoon season.

If you see this video, you can see pouches lying on passenger seat:

https://youtu.be/_1j5qVUsHc4

Regards,
Shashi

[Raghu M]

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

I've now made trays out of speaker cartons and keep numerous bags in them. That helps with moisture and no mould formation happens, despite the car being in hibernation for long intervals like the monsoon season.

Sir, I have to tell, what an immaculately maintained car. I was surprised at the engine bay, it's just spotless. That car looks just amazing. I think you have loads of that gel packs there. How would you manage when you have to take it for a spin with 2 or 3 people? Do you pack them in the glovebox or you have trick for that too? Curious to know.

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by Raghu M

Sir, I have to tell, what an immaculately maintained car. I was surprised at the engine bay, it's just spotless. That car looks just amazing. I think you have loads of that gel packs there. How would you manage when you have to take it for a spin with 2 or 3 people? Do you pack them in the glovebox or you have trick for that too? Curious to know.

As I said, I have now placed it in a tray made of carton, thus it's easy to remove and replace whenever needed. Have made two such trays, one for front, one for rear section.

[condor]

I sometimes have small black (non-biting) ants in my Safari- but mostly outside. Typical places are below the wiper area, in between panels etc. A few times inside too.

Rather than bug spray etc, I just spray diesel. Safe on paint, and most plastics that I have tried so far. Not as harmful as bug spray/pesticides. And smell will go soon. Also works as a cleaning spray

[Sanidhya mukund]

Originally Posted by Kams_cars

I feel sorry for the state of the car. At the same time, this is my first time hearing such an incident.

Is there a provision at your place to park the car under the SUN for at least a day? Please try that.

The car wash places have powerful air gun with them, better to task them in blowing the corners inside the car.

Thank you for the reply!
Even I had never heard of something like this before. However, a little googling revealed that it has been faced by people who do not drive very often.
unfortunately, it has been cloudy for the past few days here, so have not been able to park in the sun.

Originally Posted by vinu_h

Had gone through something similar in my Alto. Mini forest it had become.

You'll need to clear out the seats and remove the carpet. Have the vehicle deep cleaned, put in silica gel packs all over. Dry it with 2 table fans overnight, park under the sun for a couple of days.

Most important of all, have the wiring checked out.

Thank you for the reply!
Yes, the mechanic has been instructed accordingly. Will also try the Silica Gel idea. Wiring seems to be okay, will keep an eye on electrical faults.

Originally Posted by Leoshashi

Sorry to hear about this, but I'm sure you won't let the Ikon be in this state for long.

A trick which I've been using since years now. I keep loads of Silica Gel pouches inside GG. To make it less messy, I've now made trays out of speaker cartons and keep numerous bags in them. That helps with moisture and no mould formation happens, despite the car being in hibernation for long intervals like the monsoon season.

If you see this video, you can see pouches lying on passenger seat:

https://Youtu.be/_1j5qVUsHc4

Regards,
Shashi

Thank you for the reply and the suggestion! Your GG is indeed a testament to the fact that it is the little things that go a long way in preserving an old car. Will definitely try the Silica gel idea. Could you please guide me as to where could one source it? Is it possible to buy online?

Originally Posted by condor

I sometimes have small black (non-biting) ants in my Safari- but mostly outside. Typical places are below the wiper area, in between panels etc. A few times inside too.

Rather than bug spray etc, I just spray diesel. Safe on paint, and most plastics that I have tried so far. Not as harmful as bug spray/pesticides. And smell will go soon. Also works as a cleaning spray

An occasional ant crawling on the dashboard etc. would never bother me, but this time, the ants had literally taken over my car! the white stuff that you see in the pictures above were actual pupae! they had laid eggs in literally every single corner of the car. One particularly fiesty ant even bit me really hard; the wound bled for nearly 5 minutes.


UPDATE:
The bug spray has caused all the ants to perish. The car was collected earlier today by the mechanic who will remove all the carpeting and throughly vacuum the car. I expect it to be back by tomorrow.


Thanks for the replies!
Regards,
Sanidhya

[Leoshashi]

Originally Posted by Sanidhya mukund

. Will definitely try the Silica gel idea. Could you please guide me as to where could one source it? Is it possible to buy online?

Yes I got those from Amazon. Link: Silica

[saikarthik]

Very sad to see the condition. The ants might be near the creases for some advantage provided by it.

In my case as an engineer, I had witnessed a strange phenomenon with ants near stalk module. In a particular model of the vehicle there were complaints of ants gathering in the stalk module and on analysis of complaints, my senior found that it was happening to the component supplied by only 1 particular vendor. Then they drilled down on the possible root causes and did some material analysis. Finally, it was found that the ants were attracted by a compound used in that particular grease type & grade. When the lubrication grease grade was changed (post validation of new grease, with slightly more cost), the complaints became non-existent.

P.S - I was not part of this investigation, heard it from senior but was a good learning.

[anjan_c2007]

Appears that after giving lots of Josh to its owner, ants tried to derive Josh from the machine but have been nipped in the bud. Ants during wet seasons usually take shelter in dry places that during other seasons are not to their liking.

It's soothing that you could overcome and check the menace when it was not too late. But sad to see such a phenomenon that usually happens in coastal cities happening in a landlocked place.

Siica gel, as Shashi says is the best tool to keep away moisture from sealed portions of the car. In the engine bay and underbody incl drive shafts, axle and suspensions of the car you can conveniently spray diesel, avoiding wiring, electrical, rubber parts and brake components. Kerosene is also a deterrent for all types of ants and acts as a perfect ANT ANTIDOTE.

Since you're a teambhpian, the Ikon will surely return back to its original condition.

[ramnaresh_2000]

Faced similar issues in my Compass. I fortunately realised it quickly as I start my vehicle twice a week. I park in closed parking with car cover, there is plenty of water available around as it is beside our garden.

Simple trick is to park the vehicle in sun once a week. The heat generated will either kill the ants or they will escape. Then I use ant powder (Gamaxin) all around the vehicle after parked. I use this powder once a week as this gets swept away by water.

[Aravind_M92]

Had similar affair with my City too. Had a red ant attack!
I live in a region with rural area with a fair share of frequent showers. Frequent showers = Poor roads = muddy roads.
I usually get the underside of the car cleaned during May and November when the rains cease for a little while. Remember reading somewhere during monsoons it is better to leave the sludge on as it would form a protective barrier to prevent further damage if there's any exposed area. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Well coming to the point of lockdown and no place to get the underbody cleaned, the sand acted as a nidus for those red ants to form a nest! I strictly have a no open food policy in the car. But the ants were new! They were all over in the cabin. The second hiding place was in the roof rubber lining. Now I've made it mandatory to clean the underside of the rubber lining every time I get a power wash done.

[asbshyam]

One more solution for excess humidity in a car's cabin.

I had to leave my City unused for months together and used the below product. I followed the instructions, peeled the seal, left it standing on the passenger seat vertically. The full container was full of water when I came back. The car was dry, free of any foul smell and mold-free after 8 months. I would have left another pack in the back set or the boot if I knew I would be off for 8 months.

Please have a few handy if you need to leave your cars or wardrobes locked for long durations.

https://www.amazon.in/Abzorb-Moistur.../dp/B01BTY8C9Q

[Sanidhya mukund]

Originally Posted by saikarthik

Very sad to see the condition. The ants might be near the creases for some advantage provided by it.

P.S - I was not part of this investigation, heard it from senior but was a good learning.

Thank you for the reply!
They had mainly laid eggs in the door jambs and boot edges. I guess those regions were easy to access for them and were also sufficiently aerated, so I guess they preferred those areas.

That was a very interesting story, I had heard something similar a while ago. It was said that cars with soy based wiring were more attractive to rodents.

Originally Posted by anjan_c2007

Appears that after giving lots of Josh to its owner, ants tried to derive Josh from the machine but have been nipped in the bud. Ants during wet seasons usually take shelter in dry places that during other seasons are not to their liking.

Kerosene is also a deterrent for all types of ants and acts as a perfect ANT ANTIDOTE.

Since you're a teambhpian, the Ikon will surely return back to its original condition.

Thank you for the reply, sir!
Even I heard a lot about kerosene, but refrained from using it mainly because of its strong smell. Also, it could potentially stain the carpets. But of course, it might be a good idea when it comes to spraying on the underbody or in certain parts of the engine bay.

Originally Posted by ramnaresh_2000

Faced similar issues in my Compass. I fortunately realised it quickly as I start my vehicle twice a week. I park in closed parking with car cover, there is plenty of water available around as it is beside our garden.

Simple trick is to park the vehicle in sun once a week. The heat generated will either kill the ants or they will escape. Then I use ant powder (Gamaxin) all around the vehicle after parked. I use this powder once a week as this gets swept away by water.

Thank you for the reply!
Even in my case, the driveway and garage are very close to my garden. I guess the rains must have disturbed their habitat within the soil, causing them to look for alternatives. Good to know that you were able to control the ants before things got any worse. Would have been a lot more difficult in a complex car like the Jeep Compass because it wouldn’t be as easy to remove the carpets, dismantle the seats etc.

I wasn’t able to park in the sun because the weather in Delhi has been such that there hasn’t been sunshine for the past 1-2 weeks.

Originally Posted by Aravind_M92

Had similar affair with my City too. Had a red ant attack!
I live in a region with rural area with a fair share of frequent showers. Frequent showers = Poor roads = muddy roads.
I usually get the underside of the car cleaned during May and November when the rains cease for a little while. Remember reading somewhere during monsoons it is better to leave the sludge on as it would form a protective barrier to prevent further damage if there's any exposed area. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
Well coming to the point of lockdown and no place to get the underbody cleaned, the sand acted as a nidus for those red ants to form a nest! I strictly have a no open food policy in the car. But the ants were new! They were all over in the cabin. The second hiding place was in the roof rubber lining. Now I've made it mandatory to clean the underside of the rubber lining every time I get a power wash done.

Thank you for the reply!
I don’t think it is a good idea to leave the mud deposits on the car for long; it could eventually lead to rusting and could even potentially harm your paint.
It seems like the ants have a habit of getting into difficult to reach places. Even in my car, they had gone under the carpets and laid eggs all over.

Originally Posted by asbshyam

One more solution for excess humidity in a car's cabin.

Please have a few handy if you need to leave your cars or wardrobes locked for long durations.

https://www.amazon.in/Abzorb-Moistur.../dp/B01BTY8C9Q

Thank you for the reply!
Seems like a great solution! Will definitely try this. Thanks for the link!