[n.devdath]

Originally Posted by blackwasp

ASAP called up BHPian nishantbhatia84 and went and got 1kg of Photrate insecticide.

I bought it from a slightly better store so was charged Rs. 100. Usually you can get it from Rs. 70 onwards per kilo:

Nandi (Endeavour 3.2) was covered and parked for 8 days in well lit, stilt parking and and last night when I came back and opened the cover and reversed him out, there was a huge field rat which ran out and the engine bay is littered with droppings along with the parking space beneath it.

I broomed and mopped the parking area with Harpic and have parked him facing the other way round and will now get the underbody shield removed and the engine bay thoroughly cleaned at the ASC.

I will try to procure this chemical you have mentioned today and put it, if not available here, I will request you to courier me a pack, I will pay for it.

Originally Posted by UB_007

Luckily, strong rat poison worked. killed 2 rats and saw their bodies in the garden after which there was full stop to all the menace.

Which poison did you use?

[blackwasp]

Originally Posted by n.devdath

...there was a huge field rat which ran out and the engine bay is littered with droppings along with the parking space beneath it.

Thats a scary situation to be in, when you go to the ASC to open up the bottom cover please get the engine bay inspected thoroughly, not just scanning, but also ask them to visually inspect all hoses ~ especially the fuel lines. Most like if you have no errors on the mid, it should be ok and the rat probably was just taking shelter.

I will try to procure this chemical you have mentioned today and put it, if not available here, I will request you to courier me a pack, I will pay for it.

I don't mind sending it to you, however, please check if courier companies won't have any issue. Its just 100 bucks, so I'm sure it will be available locally as well. Ask around for a good agro store which stocks seeds and fertilisers. You might get it from a different brand, but the products are all the same.

Please keep us updated on this.

[jonesanto]

I am the latest victim of "rat bite". Due to some work that has been happening at home, we had to park my Elantra at our family house. The car is being used everyday, so one fine day when I put on the right indicator the "tick, tick" sound is too rapid than normal, I stopped the vehicle and checked the indicators, front one and the side indicators were working but the back indicator was not. So I took the car to a local electrician, thinking the bulb has gone kaput. When opened the case we realized that rat has eaten the wire and tried to get into the boot. It was difficult to join the wires. Electrician did some soldering work and fixed it really well, charged 50 bucks.


So it was time to do rat poison shopping... I went to the shop near my house and told the guy I need rat poison. He gave me a small pack of rat poison powder, even though I was looking for rat biscuit, he said he tried it at his shop and it's really effective. He was like "rat will die, guaranteed." So in the evening I took some rice, kept it on a thick paper and put some rat poison, and put it on top of the battery. I could see some signs that rats were sitting on battery. I noticed the instructions on rat poison cover and final sentence was funny, it goes like this "Rats are killed instantly at the same place on their taking this. This is the true specialty of our No.1 deluxe X Press Rats Poison." Made me laugh though. I kept the rat poison and closed the hood.


Next day I forgot all about this and came to the house to take the car, while reaching the car I saw two rats were laying down dead near the front bumper. I was really surprised, it sure is some hard poison. And the price was only 10 bucks. That evening I kept the rat poison again and the rice was untouched. Kept it for two more days and same situation. Have not faced any rat issues after that.

I guess I am lucky the rat bite did not cause any major harm to the car. Once the car is moved back to the house we won't have any rat issues, because mom feeds three or four cats and they are always there to guard our cars

[caffeineAM]

This dude claims ultrasonic sounds work too-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93nj6CeJ0s4

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by caffeineAM

This dude claims ultrasonic sounds work too-

High-frequency noise works for teenagers, it does not work (but you can still buy the devices of course) for mosquitoes.

I'd like to actually see the rats running away with their paws over their ears!

Oh wait, just sampled the video. My theory: it's the guy's accent they'll be running away from! I ran away with my paws over my ears

(Not anti (ant-tie) American: I watch a lot of people with varied accents, and enjoy many of them for the sound and variety)

[sam_hyd]

Need some advice urgently. Yesterday a rat went inside my car cabin and hid inside the dashboard. I tried my best to scare him out to no avail. So, I kept a mouse trap and 2 sticky traps inside the car overnight. I also closed the AC vents beneath the dashboard with tape. Today Morning I observed that the rat had cut the tape and probably went inside the ac duct. Please suggest what should I do. Take the car to service center or leave the car door open allowing the rat to come out.

[Arjun Reddy]

Originally Posted by sam_hyd

Need some advice urgently. Yesterday a rat went inside my car cabin and hid inside the dashboard. I tried my best to scare him out to no avail. So, I kept a mouse trap and 2 sticky traps inside the car overnight. I also closed the AC vents beneath the dashboard with tape. Today Morning I observed that the rat had cut the tape and probably went inside the ac duct. Please suggest what should I do. Take the car to service center or leave the car door open allowing the rat to come out.

Take the car to the service station and get him out of there. Waiting for the little chap to come out will only cause more damage. You never know what it will chew up.Leaving the car door open might invite a few more of his friends.:

[varunsangal]

Originally Posted by sam_hyd

Please suggest what should I do. Take the car to service center or leave the car door open allowing the rat to come out.

Let a cat into the car for a bit. It will surely sniff the rat out.

Suggestion: Put a regular wire mesh on the AC duct opening in the engine. It will prevent the rats from entering as the sharp edges prevent rats from squeezing through.

Also, look at putting some basic metal brushes on any of the flat surfaces, the rats won't have any place to rest, so they will avoid your car.

Had done both on my car earlier and was quite effective. Though permanently having a cat around the car is still the best option IMO.

[Ragasruoban]

Today turned to be a bad day for me when the wrench symbol lighted up on my diesel Ford Aspire(6890kms).

Hoping that it would just be the regular service warning, took my vehicle to Ford service centre for inspection. After waiting for half an hour, the service assistant came, opened the bonnet and spotted the chewn off fuel temperature sensor wires . Then he dropped a big bomb that child part isn't available for the same hence the entire wiring harness has to be replaced

Also he mentioned that generally insurance companies don't accept claims for rat bites but still told my to apply for it. Is it true that child part for fuel temperature sensor isn't available? Also why doesn't rat bites doesn't come under vehicle insurance? I have attached the pictures of the fuel temperature sensor below. Apologies for the bad picture quality.

[pixantz]

That's standard FASS typical solution. Please get it sorted from outside FNG electrician. No rocket science.

[Thad E Ginathom]

That is my feeling too.

So long as the plug is not moulded/sealed repair should be invisible

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Ragasruoban

Also he mentioned that generally insurance companies don't accept claims for rat bites but still told my to apply for it.

Some insurance companies now offer rat coverage. Be sure to take that coverage at the next renewal (I have).

[Jammy28]

Need the experts guidance. I had parked my car in my apartment basement parking for couple of weeks as I was out of station. Somehow a cat got into my ecosport engine bay and was stuck there. Not sure how the poor cat got there. Was really upset at the loss of the life of the cat.

I just got back and foul smell was unbearable. I took the car to a 3M store and got the cat out, wash the engine bay, got the AC vents cleaned and Rodent treatment done. I have not switch on the AC yet. While the smell has reduced a lot, it is still there. What other steps should I take to completely remove the odour and more importantly to ensure no infection seeps through the AC vents. The 3M store just sprayed some liquid through the AC vent. Does that really disinfect the full AC duct? Are there any other better disinfectant method? Should I get the aircon filter changed (not sure if there is one in the engine bay)? Should I get any other parts changed? Is there a way to install a protective mesh under the engine bay to prevent such incidents again?

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by Jammy28

The 3M store just sprayed some liquid through the AC vent. Does that really disinfect the full AC duct?

Not at all, because they spray it into the outlet. I think most of us are agreed that the only purpose this stuff serves is to increase the cost of service. And change the smell inside your car for an hour or two.

This is somewhat offtopic (and sad, but we cannot check the whole car every time we start) but let me tell you about when a rat decided to die in my car. It had crept into some impossible to reach but not sealed body cavity, in which it was decomposing and dripping out. The smell inside the car was not affected, but outside it was horrendous and getting worse daily. My attempts to flush/wash it out were useless. The Maruti service guys who disassembled body parts until they could reach and clean out the cavity definitely went beyond the call of duty. Or else they wore full hazmat gear!

Your poor mammal, if it died in the engine compartment itself, is unlikely to have contaminated anything else. If your engine compartment has been thoroughly cleaned you should be ok. Only time will tell.

[Ragasruoban]

Originally Posted by Ragasruoban

Today turned to be a bad day for me when the wrench symbol lighted up on my diesel Ford Aspire(6890kms).

Update on my previous post:
The insurance company informed me that they will accept a claim of 75% of the total charges incurred for replacing the components(labour excluded) and the remaining 25% has to be borne by the owner.
Got an estimated amount of 19.6k from Ford workshop which includes the cost of replacing the wiring harness, labour and other charges. I had to shell out an approx. amount of 4.4k from my pocket.

Originally Posted by pixantz

That's standard FASS typical solution. Please get it sorted from outside FNG electrician. No rocket science.

I didn't want to mess up with the electrical warranty in a 10 month old vehicle hence dropped the idea of visiting a FNG electrician(Please educate me if I'm wrong on that part). Also when I visited the service centre, the SA advised me not to drive the vehicle anymore since it could cause other problems. I somewhat felt he was right because while driving to the service centre, I could feel the throttle response had dulled a bit(I was able to take the engine to more than 2000 RPM, but it revved much slower) hence had to agree to his point.

Originally Posted by GTO

Some insurance companies now offer rat coverage. Be sure to take that coverage at the next renewal (I have).

Sure , I will remember that during the next renewal.