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-   -   Rat damage to cars | Protection, solutions & advice (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/2729-rat-damage-cars-protection-solutions-advice-122.html)

Will setting up some strobe lighting in a few safe spots under the hood help ?
I suggest strobe lighting because :

a) The flashing in itself might be a deterrent as in could be perceived as motion.

b) The lights would be on for a shorter interval and hence use less power.

Might only make sense for people who drive regularly to prevent the battery from going flat, unless an auxiliary battery was used. But then again people who drive regularly may not have an issue with rats.

So far the stray cats i feed, hanging around my car have been the best rat deterrent. The only time rats have entered my engine bay was when my roof had a leak and the car was parked in the garage during the monsoon for a few days before I could get it fixed. The cats can't enter but rats can squeeze under the shutter. Luckily they didn't bite anything and just roamed around and pooped on stuff A LOT

Guys, am in a dilemma and need some guidance.

Just got a Carcat Red 4th Gen to safeguard against Rodents however, i am just not able to locate a suitable place under the Hood of my KIA Seltos to tie it up using the provided Fastener Ties. And I do not want to go the Drill route.

I found 1 suitable area that i have marked with a Red Arrow, to slide and fit the Carcat device between those 2 pipes. But as it is at a lower position, so am not sure if it will be effective.

Apologies for this absolute noob query, but can someone help me understand which are the screw-nut for the Positive & Negative Terminal of the Battery here? Battery make is Clarios and it looks a bit different than the Amarons and Exides. Are the ones i have marked correct?

I was planning to fit this Device on my own, but i might end up fitting it outside at a Car Accessories Shop.

Appreciate any advice.

In the first image you have shared, the terminal cover towards the left is marked +ve.

I had been observing high idle RPM (around 2000) on my Honda Brio and low fuel mileage around 8kmpl in bangalore city traffic. Also, the car would go speed of 20km/h without any accelerator input. I kept on ignoring it for 3-4 months but when finally got to have it checked, it was instantly diagnosed to the rat bite in the below picture.

Those familiar with ICE engines, how can this rat bite result in high idle RPM? I was surprised the car was even running and no check engine light either! Wondering what all damage I may have done by driving like this for months? I wish I would have opened the hood myself and even a duct tape would have solved this much earlier.

I suspect it is an auxiliary air feed into the engine. Rat bite created the lean air fuel mixture which ECU was trying to compensate by injecting more fuel to equalize causing the rpm to race up.

-BJ

There would be lack of air supply to the engine, in return reducing the AFR. If AFR goes less, result is a richer mixture. That explains as to why you were getting bad fuel economy. In arguments, one may say, there was excess supply of air to the engine due to leak, obviously the surrounding air would be hot so higher IAT, higher AFR, making lean mixture, and reducing the power output. You may take this in any way, but there would be some level of damage especially because the air pipe would have contaminated air, as these pipes are usually having air after filtration from air filter, so there would definitely be some degree of damage, though you may not notice it. Hope this helps.

Happy Motoring!

Thanks for your response and Sorry, i should have been more specific in my query.

I am aware the left side is +ve Terminal and the right is -ve.
What i was trying to ask is if the Screw-nuts i have pointed to are the correct ones to hook up the +ve and -ve wires of Carcat Device.

Rats in my Jimny cabin filter!
Yesterday when I gave my Jimny for its 3rd service, they removed the cabin filter and it was full of rat droppings (see attached phone). I then asked then to remove the cowl cover and there were droppings there also . The rat enters through an opening on either side of the bonnet, coming from the bottom and enters the fresh air vent. This vent is so ridiculously designed and is completed open (its about 2 inches x 6 inches size.) . Its a stupid design given our issues with rats and wildlife in India and Maruti should have designed the vent with some sort of mesh protection
Unfortunately though Maruti does not sell rat mesh for Jimny, it is available tof the Ignis. The technician (and I give him full credit for the effort in bending the ignis mesh to fit the Jimny's fresh air vent hold and taking the additional effort to also cover both the left and right side entry points . The Ignis rat mesh does not have mesh for both these sides - only for the fresh air vent.
Only downside is that small holes have to be punch to fit the mesh - especially difficult for the left and right side entry points.
I have a video but wasn't able to load it so have attached a screen shot of the mesh installed.
BTW - there was no smell or any sign when the AC was on. Luckily the rat didnt eat through the cabin filter. The techincian told me there are cases where the rat as eat through the filter and ruined the blower motor.
Going to install the same for my Ignis as well.. Those of you have Jimnys and are in Bangalore, please visit Nexa Yelahanka - contact the SA Sunil and the mechanic who did this work is Gautham - he is one of the few mechanics who are familiar with the Jimny.
I have also put a photo of the left side which is now covered with mesh.

I have tried peppermint oil, camphor etc... nothing seems to work against these critters!. The only thing which sort of works is Autoguard - so I'm going back and ordering the Autoguard repellant from Parag Bhai in Mumbai.

Recently I too had this issues in my car park and if you have a closed car park try to place glue pads on all entry points.

I have procured 2 motion sensor lights and have installed them under the car, this lights normally is turned on only during night time and I believe will turn on during any movement under the car.

Its been 4+ weeks of this arrangement and the the glue pad was effective to catch 4 rats so far.

In my CCTV I am able to see the lights turn on and off reduced comparatively in the middle of the night after a month.

The issue with such sprays and essential oils is that they are made of- I don't know what the proper word is, but colloquially- spirits, which evapourate. So, essential oils like peppermint are a solution of mostly this 'spirit' oil and a tiny percent of peppermint extract. This is done to carry the extract as the spirit gets airborne and what really makes essential oils aromatic. Sprays like Autoguard are also made of such ingredients. I think they must be some sort of kerosene derivative, like WD40.

Since my last 'happenstance' with squirrels, I have started applying some neem oil in my last wipe down. I prefer this as they last a bit longer, although a bit more time consuming to apply. This has so far prevented 'coincidence' and 'enemy action', but you never can tell.

Fun(-ish) fact: I recently learnt that manufacturers use soy-based insulation on wiring, as it is "eco-friendly". Well, guess which is cheap and who loves to gnaw on it.

My knowledge on this is around fifty years old and the brain cells are dim. Some essential oils are actually oils which are pressed or extracted from the flower or some other part of the plant. In some cases these takes huge quantities of raw material to get small amounts of oil. Others may be an infusion of the plant leaf or other part in an oil.

Essential oils are very strong and potent, and often very expensive too. In many uses, even if bought pure, they may be diluted in a carrier oil for economy and practicality.

A quick google tells me that yes, peppermint is an infusion. Which means we could make out own!

Common methods I've heard are distillation- Eucalyptus, peppermint, rosemary, etc. & pressing- which I think is for fruits. Haven't heard about infusion. If it is diluted with a carrier oil, the end product is no longer called 'essential oil'. I don't think essential oils could even be used standalone; I think using with a carrier oil is a must.

From what I've heard, making essential oils isn't that easy; it's takes a LOT of produce to yield very little product. At least that's what the person who described me the market told me. I obviously have no clue how it was fifty years ago, but what he told me was that tourism(on hill stations) has basically ruined the market by hyping up essential oils, and to meet that demand almost all essential oils are essentially these 'spirits' with little actual essential oil on them. Probably a combination of both high requirement of raw materials and increasing conservationist regulations, where one can actually grow plants/trees to produce said raw materials.

I got curious myself after typing the last post and tried to search what the 'proper word' is for 'spirits'. While I can't say for sure, I think he was talking about parabens and other such chemicals.

Edit: If you remember what essential oils used to cost then, could you look at the current prices and sort of gauge if selling 'pure' essential oils at the prices listed is really viable?

Reopening this thread, due to damaged wires from a rat bit.

The vehicle in question is a Rapid 1.5TDI MT. I started the car after 15 days, coming back from vacation, and before I could start there was the glow plug warning seen. I did not crank it, plugged in VCDS and checked the engine bay. There was huge chewing of wires at the right side of the engine bay(near the battery) and after scan, I would get all the errors relating to glow plugs and the fuel metering. I suspect it has chewed of a fuel connector, and hence all the errors. Can someone confirm from there expertise/experience, or cross refer and check if it is actually the fuel connector, or do I have to look elsewhere as well for damage.

Engine Fault codes:

8 Faults Found:
10156 - Cylinder 1 Glow Plug Circuit (Q10)
P0671 00 [037] - Electrical Fault
Not Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 00000001
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 2
Mileage: 83977 km
Date: 2021.06.27
Time: 02:48:33

Engine speed: 0.00 /min
Normed load value: 0.0 %
Vehicle speed: 0 km/h
Coolant temperature: 24 C
Intake air temperature: 23 C
Ambient air pressure: 900 mbar
Voltage terminal 30: 12.085 V
Unlearning counter according OBD: 40
Glow status-STATE_GLOW: 48
Fuel temperature-TFU: 26 C
Sensor for engine block temperature: raw value-Coolant temperature: 24 C

10158 - Cylinder 2 Glow Plug Circuit (Q11)
P0672 00 [037] - Electrical Fault
Not Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 00000001
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 2
Mileage: 83977 km
Date: 2021.06.27
Time: 02:48:33

Engine speed: 0.00 /min
Normed load value: 0.0 %
Vehicle speed: 0 km/h
Coolant temperature: 24 C
Intake air temperature: 23 C
Ambient air pressure: 900 mbar
Voltage terminal 30: 12.085 V
Unlearning counter according OBD: 40
Glow status-STATE_GLOW: 48
Fuel temperature-TFU: 26 C
Sensor for engine block temperature: raw value-Coolant temperature: 24 C

10160 - Cylinder 3 Glow Plug Circuit (Q12)
P0673 00 [037] - Electrical Fault
Not Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 00000001
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 2
Mileage: 83977 km
Date: 2021.06.27
Time: 02:48:33

Engine speed: 0.00 /min
Normed load value: 0.0 %
Vehicle speed: 0 km/h
Coolant temperature: 24 C
Intake air temperature: 23 C
Ambient air pressure: 900 mbar
Voltage terminal 30: 12.085 V
Unlearning counter according OBD: 40
Glow status-STATE_GLOW: 48
Fuel temperature-TFU: 26 C
Sensor for engine block temperature: raw value-Coolant temperature: 24 C

10162 - Cylinder 4 Glow Plug Circuit (Q13)
P0674 00 [037] - Electrical Fault
Not Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 00000001
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 2
Mileage: 83977 km
Date: 2021.06.27
Time: 02:48:33

Engine speed: 0.00 /min
Normed load value: 0.0 %
Vehicle speed: 0 km/h
Coolant temperature: 24 C
Intake air temperature: 23 C
Ambient air pressure: 900 mbar
Voltage terminal 30: 12.085 V
Unlearning counter according OBD: 40
Glow status-STATE_GLOW: 48
Fuel temperature-TFU: 26 C
Sensor for engine block temperature: raw value-Coolant temperature: 24 C

10231 - Valve for Fuel Metering (N290)
P0090 00 [165] - Open Circuit
MIL ON - Not Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 00000001
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 2
Mileage: 83977 km
Date: 2021.06.27
Time: 02:48:30

Engine speed: 0.00 /min
Normed load value: 0.0 %
Vehicle speed: 0 km/h
Coolant temperature: 24 C
Intake air temperature: 23 C
Ambient air pressure: 900 mbar
Voltage terminal 30: 11.746 V
Unlearning counter according OBD: 40
Battery voltage: 12.0 V
Valve for fuel metering: feedback value measured-CFB_VCV_MES: 0.076 A
Voltage equivalent of valve for fuel metering-VP_CFB_VCV: 3.2877 V
Fuel pressure regulator valve: specified value rail pressure-LV_PCV_CTL: 00000000
Fuel Pressure Regulator Valve-PCV: 0.000 %
Fuel Metering Valve-VCV: 0.000 %
Fuel high pressure: actual value-FUP_FIL: 0.635 MPa

10113 - Fuel Pressure Regulator Valve (N276)
P2294 00 [165] - Open Circuit
MIL ON - Not Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 00000001
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 2
Mileage: 83977 km
Date: 2021.06.27
Time: 02:48:30

Engine speed: 0.00 /min
Normed load value: 0.0 %
Vehicle speed: 0 km/h
Coolant temperature: 24 C
Intake air temperature: 23 C
Ambient air pressure: 900 mbar
Voltage terminal 30: 11.746 V
Unlearning counter according OBD: 40
Battery voltage: 12.0 V
Fuel pressure regulator valve actual value-CFB_PCV_MES: 0.076 A
Voltage equiv. current of regulating valve for fuel pressure-VP_CFB_PCV: 3.2877 V
Fuel pressure regulator valve: specified value rail pressure-LV_PCV_CTL: 00000000
Fuel Pressure Regulator Valve-PCV: 0.000 %
Fuel Metering Valve-VCV: 0.000 %
Fuel high pressure: actual value-FUP_FIL: 0.635 MPa

9874 - Boost Pressure Control Valve/Solenoid (Bank 1)
P0045 00 [165] - Open Circuit
MIL ON - Not Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 00000001
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 2
Mileage: 83977 km
Date: 2021.06.27
Time: 02:48:30

Engine speed: 0.00 /min
Normed load value: 0.0 %
Vehicle speed: 0 km/h
Coolant temperature: 24 C
Intake air temperature: 23 C
Ambient air pressure: 900 mbar
Voltage terminal 30: 12.085 V
Unlearning counter according OBD: 40
Charge Pressure Actuator: acknowledgment-ANG_BPA[0]: 11.176 %
Charge Pressure Actuator: activation-ANG_SP_BPA[0]: 20.000 %
High press turbocharger actuator: actual uncond volt value-V_BPA[0]: 0.864 V
Turbocharger boost control: offset open-V_BPA_BOL[0]: 0.498 V
Turbocharger boost control: offset closed-V_BPA_TOL[0]: 3.501 V
Charge air pressure: actual value-MAP_MMV: 200.00 hPa
Sensor for temp after charge air cooler: raw value-TBA_MES: 24 C

9871 - Exhaust Gas Recirculation Cooling Valve Control
P2425 00 [037] - Open Circuit
Not Confirmed - Tested Since Memory Clear
Freeze Frame:
Fault Status: 00000001
Fault Priority: 2
Fault Frequency: 2
Mileage: 83977 km
Date: 2021.06.27
Time: 02:48:30

Engine speed: 0.00 /min
Normed load value: 0.0 %
Vehicle speed: 0 km/h
Coolant temperature: 24 C
Intake air temperature: 23 C
Ambient air pressure: 900 mbar
Voltage terminal 30: 12.085 V
Unlearning counter according OBD: 40
Sensor for temp after charge air cooler: raw value-TBA_MES: 24 C
Charge air pressure: actual value-MAP_MMV: 200.00 hPa
Air mass: actual value:: 0.00 g/s
Air mass proportion filtered-FAC_MAF_CYL_KGH_RATIO_FIL: 1.00000
Sensor for engine block temperature: raw value-Coolant temperature: 24 C

Readiness: 0 0 0 0 1

Like I said earlier, I have tried spraying face powder inside & it seemed to work. Last week the car adjacent to mine had rat infestation but my car didn't have any signs of rat inside. So far powder is the cheapest way I have found to keep rats away. Strong smell of the face powder keeps rats away as their smell power