[1self]

Napthalene balls always work. Have been using them for 6 years now. AND I leave my cars unattended for upto 8 months at a time!

[ssh1979]

What the.

Sorry for the poor quality of the picture from the on board cam, but within that encircled portion is a rat that crept out from the engine bay.

While I was driving!!!!! It was about 45 minutes after I left home, and just when I was stopping for traffic. I think the heat from the engine drove it out of the bay. I am thankful that it didn't get caught in the engine fan and shred to pieces. It then proceeded to sit on the L-ORVM for some time and then went further back. I don't know what happened after that as I started moving the car and couldn't look back.

I called up the house-helpers and placed and order for loads of rat poison, napthalene balls, traps etc.

Corrective action:

Now guys I think damage could have been done, i.e., wires could be chewed out. What do you normally do? Do you take it to the ASSC to make sure everything is OK in the bay? Do you observe for anything specific? I can check the wires but kind of not confident that my check would be thorough.

[dinitrol]

6 DIY Tips To Rodent-Proof Your House For Summer

may be useful

cheers

[AvinashV]

Originally Posted by vijay_rodie

Somewhere in the forum I had read that, naphthalene balls helps to keep rats away. I tried this and it really worked. I had not seen any rat dropping/foot prints inside the cabin & engine bay, since last 2 weeks.

Originally Posted by 1self

Napthalene balls always work. Have been using them for 6 years now. AND I leave my cars unattended for upto 8 months at a time!

Where do you place the naphthalene balls in the engine bay?
In the cabin there are enough places to keep it around but keeping the circular stuff secure in the engine bay, do you tie it up in small sachets & hang it?

[Thad E Ginathom]

Our new cat seems to be earning his keep!

Over the past year or so, some of the rat holes under our compound wall have shown signs of developing into six-lane highways. Recently, they are falling into disuse.

[1self]

Originally Posted by AvinashV

Where do you place the naphthalene balls in the engine bay?
In the cabin there are enough places to keep it around but keeping the circular stuff secure in the engine bay, do you tie it up in small sachets & hang it?

Take a whole packet of the napthalene balls, make a couple of large-ish holes (not big enough for the balls to fall through) & hang a couple of packets in the engine compartment. In the cabin, place some in the glove box & spread the rest on the carpet.

Also place some in the boot.

[ashwin489]

Dear BHPians!

My sonata was covered for about 10 days, due to a bit of renovation work at home. However, I did start the car once in 2 days to keep the battery alive.

The day before, I found rat droppings in the car's engine bay and dashboard. Also, when the AC's fan speed is above 2, the noise is louder than usual. Could this noise be a result of the rat biting the fan belt?

I tried to kill these dirty buggers by luring them with yummy rat poison, which worked to an extent. But, I am not sure if this is a permanent solution.

So, is there a way to keep these pesky rodents away for good? As in, how do I block access to the car and ensure it does not become Ratsville?

[Arunshek]

Originally Posted by GTO

So I went ahead and installed this product listed on our classifieds by Ryan @ Tufkote.

Pricing was:

Set of 4 Rs. 350/-
set of 6 Rs. 500/-
set of 10 Rs. 800/-
courier charges extra Rs. 100

Had my man pick up a set of 6 for 500 bucks. One of the MAJOR reasons I got the Rat Repellent is that I don't believe in killing (am a staunch veggie & Jain), thus rat poison was out of the picture. Rather than trying some jugaad tobacco pouches, this appeared to be a simpler solution. However, if it doesn't work, my next option is at the local panwalla.

Took all of 2 minutes to install. Lets see if it works; I'll update the thread after 2 - 3 months with the good / bad results.

Small, light plastic bottles:
Attachment 914484

Removing the paper wrapping exposes the ventilation / hook holes:
Attachment 914483

Use the included cable tie and snap it any place safe (away from heat / moisture) under the hood. It's recommended to place them diagonally opposite each other. Neither the Jeep nor the Civic gave me an option I was comfortable with, hence placed a bottle each at the top left & right. 2 bottles / car is recommended:
Attachment 914485

Attachment 914486

Attachment 914487

Attachment 914488

Attachment 914489

Hi GTO, any updates on the Tufkote product? Waiting for your response
The Tobacco pouches have slightly reduced the rat intrusion in my car, though not 100%.

[GTO]

Originally Posted by GTO

Lets see if it works; I'll update the thread after 2 - 3 months with the good / bad results.

Originally Posted by Arunshek

Hi GTO, any updates on the Tufkote product?

I wanted to test it over a 3 month period before updating, but since you asked, here goes.

Preliminary report : I don't see any rat droppings in the engine bay of the Civic or the Jeep. No wires damaged in the last month either. Best part is, the new Sunny Diesel has remained blemish-free, even though it's parked on the isolated side of the building. I ran a detailed check on the Civic last afternoon (after seeing your post), and the Sunny on Sunday (teaching my kid brother all the under-the-bonnet stuff ). Don't see any new chewed off wires.

I would like to offer a final verdict only after the rains though, as that's when the rat problem is more severe. I still think it's too early to pass judgement. Would love it if others also chip in with their tufkote experiences.

*Update* Nope, Tufkote hasn't helped either. The poor Civic had its windscreen washer pipe and indicator light wiring chewed off by rats last month. Damn, I was really confident of this product, but it has failed miserably. Surprisingly, rats don't seem to like the Sunny or Jeep's goods which are left untouched. Period.

[saurabhkum]

Originally Posted by Arunshek

Hi GTO, any updates on the Tufkote product? Waiting for your response
The Tobacco pouches have slightly reduced the rat intrusion in my car, though not 100%.

I also used tufkote product. It has been almost 3-4 months since i used that product. The results are just perfect. In my parking lot earlier there were rats roaming around in night. In the morning rats used to run out of the car when i used to open the bonnet or unlocked it. I used 2 on single car and it really helped. Will be surely recommended by me.

[aks2010]

Found this recently above the blower in my Swift. Bits of newspapers are there in the hole. How do I fix this? Can this be replaced or shall I cover the hole with brown tape? Please advise.

All this after I had kept an open pouch of tobacco under the hood as well as inside the car!

[silverado]

I have been at the receiving end from Rats in times when i used to own Padmini and stay at dadar.

Car was parked on road near a garden and moonsoon time meant padmini big engine bay was the place to be for rats, esp behind battery.

I tried several things like tobbacco, grease, thorns etc, but nothing worked.

Finally my mech told me to change the vehicle parking position and spread tobacco in the engine bay, it worked to an extent.

Finally i put all the important wires ( ignition, wiper motor ) in a wire mesh pipe and that solved the problem.

The rats however continued to enjoy their stay in the bonnet, and mech told me not to fight against it as long as they are not eating in to anything, so the person who washed my car had a weekly task to remove the dirt every weekend from bonnet.

After moonsoons, there were no issues at all.

IMO there is no fool proof protection against rats.

[Modifiedsachin]

Hi All,

Similar to many posts even I tried many things and it failed. Mainly in rainy season the rat trouble is big. As their homes are flooded with water & your engine bay is good warm place to stay & there are lots of wires etc to chew.

After 3 years I came to conclusion that there is no permanent solution to RATS.

Last year I avoided the attack, by keeping the AC knob on heater for 2 minutes before I lock the car with blower on. Keep the doors open for a while & then pour some water on engine (Take care of ignition coil & spark plugs) or radiator for creating steam. and lock the bonnet immediately.

Idea was to have engine bay with steam, water on the floor so that the rat feels like watery ground & AC ducts hot so that cold is not felt at all so no ants as well.

This might be just a luck factor, but it worked for a year :-) Yes this was possible only when its not raining & i have reached my parking bay.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by saurabhkum

I also used tufkote product. It has been almost 3-4 months since i used that product. The results are just perfect. In my parking lot earlier there were rats roaming around in night. In the morning rats used to run out of the car when i used to open the bonnet or unlocked it. I used 2 on single car and it really helped. Will be surely recommended by me.

Put four under the bonnet. Did find droppings in there, but no damage.

Placed one at each the passage-way gates around our house, and one in the middle of a big rat hole that they dug under our rear wall. They dug a new hole, so it must do something!

We bought a pack of ten. It's been about a week so far, if we continue look like its working, we'll buy another ten for strategic places around the border. It's time they stopped liking our garden!

[manjot1912]

I recently found small chunks of foam lying under the front seats of my Swift. These appear to have come from the foam material under the seats, but how? I found no traces of rats anywhere. There happen to be none moving around our house too. Any idea guys?