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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-41.html)

Will you please elaborate the procedure you follow. Can you spray diesel when the engine is hot/warm? Quantity of diesel to be sprayed (approx).

Just spray mildly all over the engine a bit more where you think the rat can sit.I use a spray bottle similar to the one used in a barber shop.

yes. Get a rat poison (good branded one) from local store and mix it with biscuits. Ensure that you do not have water source nearby, as rat are smart enough to drink it to neutralize it.

Alas! What I feared is happening, the front left door is in tatters. I don't know when I will be trapped inside the car!
Worse still, It rained today and my wind shield washer stopped working, the remains seen in the RHS strut mount is the power supply cable for it.
Nippon guy agreed to set it right but only next week and has agreed to call me when he is at that dealership.

Rats will simply cut the wind shield spray tube and drink like through a straw. Not joking, it happened to my Swift twice.
I am now keeping my cars outside and rat biscuits were kept inside the garage.

To be continued...

This was tried by Peter in his car, and he has some packrats sitting on top of the unit!! Seems like it doesnt work with packrats.

I've found another ultrasonic repellent from a company called Varna, who claim that their unit works for any rat. I have not bought it yet.

I placed rat cakes, twp packets and after two days nothing is left in the garage. Kept one more pack and gone that night itself. But as it was raining the rats could have survived as if it drinks water, that saves them.

I have confirmed that the product called Rat Vanisher does not work with rats (at least for Bangalore rats!).

Next attempt is the diesel spay recommended by yogi1771. I tried with a mild spray of kerosene, and it appear to work. Not sure of the risk of kerosene. I have to get diesel and try.

Why not just do a water wash once a month? They will spray diesel / polish inside the engine bay during the process.

Good suggestion, but its a bit impractical for me. There arent any quick car wash options near my area. Again the cost aspect and the time required is a deterrent. If there is something that can be done myself, that would be the most ideal! Furthur, the diesel spray needs to be done atleast once or twice a week, right?

One year since I bought it, I am now in the club. First the horn wasn't functioning. Then the next day dawn I hear noises in the bonnet. Some wires to the engine were cut. I was afraid to start even, fearing a fire accident. Skoda service were informed first thing in the morning, and Break Down Assistance guys show up soon. Power steering wasn't functioning, and god knows what all, but with some patch up they were able to start the engine and take it for service. The bill next day was a minimum charge of 500 (I was praying for it to be not more than 5000! - mind you it's a Skoda. My b-in-law spent 9000 last month on his Palio due to rat problem again)

After browsing nearly all pages of this thread, picked two probable solutions - Mortein Ratokill and tobacco leaves (rats can sense cancer, they may hate tobacco - makes sense). Ratokill, however, was a failure. After finishing one full pack of 6 pieces, it seems to want more. The only way to kill it now I guess is by getting it addicted to Ratokill and depriving of it.

Also, not wanting to take chances, I am also using a chicken net skirt around my car daily. Has helped so far. My usage is only over the weekends, so I don't mind those couple of minutes putting it in place. Could be an irritation if you have to do it daily, but then, you may not have to worry about rats if you use it daily, do you?

^^Mortein rat kill, if used once, should not be used for a while - they seem to have some communication system and will not touch it if used often.

Best is to do water service once a month. The diesel or whatever polish they spray inside the bonnet will be a deterrent.

rl: You are a very cruel man!

Where can one buy that chicken net thing? And how is it being held in place like that?

You get it in any hardware store, it's actually a garden fence with rubber cladding - so no worry about scratches. It comes in a width of 90-100 cm. If you ask they will also cut it lengthwise, as i did. 4 meters cost me 600/-, and cut across into three. You can tie the ends using a wire or string. Not a neat thing that, but so far it has worked well. From the missing ratokill cakes, I know my rat (actually a bandicoot) has been visiting regularly, but hasn't managed/bothered to climb in.

A perforated polythene bag with a few napthalene balls is a good rat repellent. I had a problem with rats with my previous car: Accent and this solved the problem. I fastened these bags of napthalene at crucial places in the engine bay.

(Thanks to Gansan and Rohan for directing me here)
Guys, I have an unusual Rat problem. I just installed HIDs on my Cedia a couple of months ago and the cables are so thin and obviously so tasty. Today is the third time, rats have had part of the cables for their dinner. Possibly small baby rats, that could get through into the narrow gap that is around the cables and they feast on them(I couldn't even insert a finger into those gaps!). Never had this problem before on the OEM (!) cables. Any suggestions please? Sleeving? Smear rat poison on the cable? Change to anti-rodent cable? Any real experience would help.
I tried Mortein's Ratokill. Placed all 6 pieces around the car inside. Gaayab! Gone! Poye Pochu! 3 days later another cable bitten. Last night again I kept 6 pieces. Again Gone.!
A driver friend tells me that if the rats could reach to water soon after eating these cakes, they don't harm. And it looks they now would come for another portion of these 'cake' again tonight.
My point is, I have been parking my car under my building for the past 3 years and have seen these rats all along. But they never damaged any of the OEM cables. Everytime they bite into the new cables laid for the HID only!
Help Please.!