Mice got in my new F450! Help!

[greenmojo]

Any insight into places to look, or what to do, would be great. I'd like to stop from them getting in, not deal with them after the fact.

Trapped 3 mice last night inside my 2017 F450. We found mouse crap on the floor boards in the afternoon, set traps, and woke up to 3 dead ones in 3 traps, so there may be more.

I had a 2013 F450 and not ever a mouse, so I am a bit frustrated that the new truck has them getting in.

I found that there are little rain / drain flaps on either side of the cowling in front of the windshield, and they could possibly go in there, and that would lead into the fresh air system, but I believe I ordered this truck with the cabin filter, and they can't come through that can they!? Maybe chewed through the filter? I can't seem to get it out, its in a tight spot behind the glove box.

Went to Ford dealership yesterday to ask questions, they weren't helpful. Acted like they didn't really care, and shrugged their shoulders. I asked for help on diagrams or schematics of the vent system, or holes in the firewall to check and they didn't really help.

These mice will destroy this thing. Really concerned.

~Moses

 

[oosik]

The thing I watch out for - the dry grass mouse nests in the engine compartment. Very easy to catch on fire. I check under the hood at least once a week. I'm aware of no completely successful way of keeping mice/chipmunks out of your vehicles. Things to consider - leave not even a speck of food or water in the vehicle. If things get bad I will lay a row of moth balls right down the center of the carport stall - directly under the center of the vehicle.

Likewise - I know of no way to even begin to seal off a vehicle - there are just too many openings that rodents can use.

 

[greenmojo]

Yes, they mouse crap was concentrated where the kids drop their french fries. :-(

I spent the last hour going through fordparts.com. Fresh air only comes through one place, and it looks like I am on the right track as far as air goes. However, there are a MILLION holes in the firewall that I wouldn't be able to even see or access, and one would hope that those grommets are all in-place.

So frustrating.

~Moses

 

[Deere Dude]

That totally sucks. Better get them before the get into the wiring harness $$$$$$$$$$$$.

If it was me I would get 50 mouse traps and anything else that might kill them. Even the electrical kind that zaps them instantly. I would put them around each tire, in the engine compartment and even in the cabin. The sooner the better.

If a guy can stand cats, a couple good ones will thin them out.

Is the car parked outside by a woods or a woodpile? I would get a few bucket traps which is basically 3 gallons of water with a layer of sunflower seeds and have a baited ramp so they can get to the top of the bucket easily. They will jump in and can't get out.

They will thin out quickly doing this.

In my crawlspace I placed a windup trap that will catch up to half a dozen, a plastic box with poison chunks and a 6' board with 8 bated traps on it.

 

[oosik]

Strange, strange - in 1992 mice ate out the wiring in my brand new '92 Chrysler - $875 to repair/replace and the dam insurance did not cover it. I always have mice/chipmunks in the engine compartment building nests - sometimes packing dog or cat food into the air filter enclosure. But not even once since the '92 incident have they come into the passenger compartment or chewed on any wiring.

Two years ago I lost my final two barn cats to owls, hawks or some other hungry beastie. Got to get more barn cats - they will definitely put a serious hurting on mice and chipmunks. Had a very patient cat that would lay by a pocket gopher hole and often catch one of them. Never ate a pocket gopher but they are a lot bigger, stronger than mice and last a lot longer for a cat to play with.

 

[pmsmechanic]

Mice don't have bladders so leave urine trails wherever they travel. If you can get a hold of a black light you can see the trails and figure out where they are getting in. The first chance you get to travel in a rainy situation do it as it washes the urine trails off of underneath the vehicle. Then the mice have to figure out all over again where to get in as the urine trails left by the previous mice are like a marked freeway.

Pest Control Supplies & Treatments in Atlanta GA | Animal Control also has good ideas.

 

[greenmojo]

That totally sucks. Better get them before the get into the wiring harness $$$$$$$$$$$$.

If it was me I would get 50 mouse traps and anything else that might kill them. Even the electrical kind that zaps them instantly. I would put them around each tire, in the engine compartment and even in the cabin. The sooner the better.

If a guy can stand cats, a couple good ones will thin them out.

Is the car parked outside by a woods or a woodpile? I would get a few bucket traps which is basically 3 gallons of water with a layer of sunflower seeds and have a baited ramp so they can get to the top of the bucket easily. They will jump in and can't get out.

Great advice, going to do that immediately. It's parked outside, gravel parking lot on a ranch. So of course mice are just everywhere. Sunflower seeds on the water in the bucket is genius! I'm headed out to find a bucket right now, I have about 20 3 gallon buckets not being used.

We did get a cat about a month ago, because the mice this year have been insane outside. I'd see dozens at nice with a flashlight on the front porch around the firewood. Now, with the cat, all the mice around the house are gone, but obviously not enough cat for the number of mice. :-(

Strange, strange - in 1992 mice ate out the wiring in my brand new '92 Chrysler - $875 to repair/replace and the dam insurance did not cover it. I always have mice/chipmunks in the engine compartment building nests - sometimes packing dog or cat food into the air filter enclosure. But not even once since the '92 incident have they come into the passenger compartment or chewed on any wiring.

My other 450, the mice were under/around/on the frame and in the engine compartment, but never in the cab, so I am very frustrated here. I custom ordered this truck, and told the Ford service guy how much I paid, and he still shrugged his shoulders, like it wasn't his problem. Grrrr.

Mice don't have bladders so leave urine trails wherever they travel. If you can get a hold of a black light you can see the trails and figure out where they are getting in. The first chance you get to travel in a rainy situation do it as it washes the urine trails off of underneath the vehicle. Then the mice have to figure out all over again where to get in as the urine trails left by the previous mice are like a marked freeway.

Pest Control Supplies & Treatments in Atlanta GA | Animal Control also has good ideas.

Very smart, maybe power wash the underside and engine compartment out.

I think I am going to add some mesh to those little drain vents on the side of the cowling. See if that immediately stops them from getting in.

Also, as far as the cabin filter goes... I don't think all outside air passes through the cabin filter, I am guessing the cabin filter is for just cleaning in-cabin air, not all air. The diagrams on fords website, don't show it going through the air filter at all. Basically, air comes in from the cowling, down through the blower motor and then into the vent skeleton system.

~Moses

 

[turnkey4099]

Any insight into places to look, or what to do, would be great. I'd like to stop from them getting in, not deal with them after the fact.

Trapped 3 mice last night inside my 2017 F450. We found mouse crap on the floor boards in the afternoon, set traps, and woke up to 3 dead ones in 3 traps, so there may be more.

I had a 2013 F450 and not ever a mouse, so I am a bit frustrated that the new truck has them getting in.

I found that there are little rain / drain flaps on either side of the cowling in front of the windshield, and they could possibly go in there, and that would lead into the fresh air system, but I believe I ordered this truck with the cabin filter, and they can't come through that can they!? Maybe chewed through the filter? I can't seem to get it out, its in a tight spot behind the glove box.

Went to Ford dealership yesterday to ask questions, they weren't helpful. Acted like they didn't really care, and shrugged their shoulders. I asked for help on diagrams or schematics of the vent system, or holes in the firewall to check and they didn't really help.

These mice will destroy this thing. Really concerned.

~Moses

I keep D-con packs in both the truck and car. Car: trunk, under cabin seat, in Engine compartment. No more problems. Occasionally a bit of a smell for a day or two if I can't find the body sooner.

 

[greenmojo]

Oh man! I couldn't handle that. The smell of dead mice kills me. We had them in the fifth wheel a year ago (I had a thread about that too). We ultimately had to have an RV place clean it, insurance paid for it, and then we sold it.

The RV guy told me that basically, they aren't solving the problem, just cleaning up the mess and the mice would be back within weeks, and he recommended selling it.

As for the truck, I'd really like to keep them out! Maybe keep a trap on the floor in the backseat, as a last line of defense?!

~Moses

 

[mobilus]

Check with your local feed store. I saw some spray for vehicles, etc when at ours Friday. Sorry, I don't know the brand name.