2016 FPIU - stopping Rodent infiltration

[Reverend Biker]

I've had my explorer for a month, and I have already found signs that I've had field mice in my vehicle. I found a few acorn shells under the hood and inside the cabin. I do not see any obvious way they are getting in (my escape I had to put mesh over the airbox and air intake to keep them from nesting in my air filter and ventilation system.

Does anyone have any experience in rodent-proofing their FPIU? Any leads on obvious entry points would be helpful. I am a driveway mechanic and with sub-30 deg temps it's too cold for me to be crawling around under the vehicle looking for possible entry points.

I've found signs under the driver's side of the dash and this morning I heard movement in the headliner as I was loading stuff in the back seat to go to work.

Any insight you all can share would be really appreciated.

 

[t9087]

Removing the cowl under the wipers and mount a stainless steel screen for the recirculation door.

That’s one way those rats and field mice get in.

 

[Reverend Biker]

Removing the cowl under the wipers and mount a stainless steel screen for the recirculation door.

That’s one way those rats and field mice get in.

Thanks! I haven't had time to mess with the air intake on the Ex yet, I have plans to check that over the weekend.

On my escape I find the start of a nest every few days in front of the air filter. I've started to leave some poison pellets under the hood on both to see if I can nip this in the bud. I found a hole through the floor in the escape that lets them in behind the cargo panels. I am not sure if they had rubber fillers in them at some point, but I could see right to the ground. I half expect to find the same thing in the Explorer when I pull the interior for spring cleaning.

Thanks for the tip!

 

[1sicbronconut]

I'd at least pull out your cabin filter ASAP and check for mouse pee and poop, not what you want to be breathing.

 

[Turdle]

If you can, they hate lights, especially if they turn on and off . Get creative with motion LEDs in glove box and floor vent, powered by 12 v socket

 

[Jeep driver]

See this thread about the frame and floor hole plugs Need help identifying part; sealing tips?

 

[Reverend Biker]

See this thread about the frame and floor hole plugs Need help identifying part; sealing tips?




View attachment 460674

This is awesome! I've been looking for a diagram like this, thank you! Now I have some reading to go with my coffee in the morning!

 

[410Fortune]

Honda makes an electrical tape that has hot peppers in it so the rodents don’t chew on wiring

No food in the car none at all.. keep all food trash elsewhere

Can use dryer sheets or moth balls, rumor is the mice don’t like that it sure if the dryer sheets work or not but we use them back here

Can put mouse traps or poison under seat if needed, don’t use the poison if you have cats around

Best solution is to find where they come in and block it for sure

Leaving the hood open can stop them from trying to next in your engine bay, if that is an issue and she’s gonna be parked for a bit, sounds silly but it works

 

[Reverend Biker]

Honda makes an electrical tape that has hot peppers in it so the rodents don’t chew on wiring

No food in the car none at all.. keep all food trash elsewhere

Can use dryer sheets or moth balls, rumor is the mice don’t like that it sure if the dryer sheets work or not but we use them back here
ried
Can put mouse traps or poison under seat if needed, don’t use the poison if you have cats around

Best solution is to find where they come in and block it for sure

Leaving the hood open can stop them from trying to next in your engine bay, if that is an issue and she’s gonna be parked for a bit, sounds silly but it works

Thanks 410,

I can tell you for sure that mothballs and dryer sheets do not work. I tried both. The mothballs made my car smell like my grandmother's house. The dryer sheets shredded nicely to provide a great bedding material for the little b@st@rds. They went up the A pillar and nested in the space behind and on the sides of the sunroof.

I live in rural New England, in the middle of 3600 acres of protected forest. I am surrounded by wildlife. Fighting the battle with rodents has been the worst. The owls work overtime, and we still fight hard. They started on the Ex over the last week or so. I've found a few acorns under the hood and heard them roll in the headliner the day I posted this thread.

I do believe I discovered the entry point for my squatters. I was under the hood and the sun gave me a look in the dark corner behind the glovebox. look in the corner behind the A/C lines in the first pic, where the firewall color changes from black to that goldish color

I would guess it's at least 2 inches around, and it looks like there is a bit of something caught on the edge of the hole. Bedding material? I slapped some duct tape over it and will find a long-term solution this weekend.

I had not intended to pull the headliner, but knowing they have been up there, it must be cleaned. I sold a Scion Tc that was my summer commuter. It got infested over the winter two years ago and took roughly 40 hours to pull the entire interior, power wash the inside, steam clean the upholstery and headliner and reassemble it. Made it easy to sell if there is any bright side.

I'm hoping that hole is the primary way in. I have traps set under the seats, but right now their spending their time in the headliner. If I sealed up their only exit, then they will find the traps sooner or later. Mmmmm.... peanut butter.

Thanks for the tips

 

[Philbilly]

I've had my explorer for a month, and I have already found signs that I've had field mice in my vehicle. I found a few acorn shells under the hood and inside the cabin. I do not see any obvious way they are getting in (my escape I had to put mesh over the airbox and air intake to keep them from nesting in my air filter and ventilation system.

Does anyone have any experience in rodent-proofing their FPIU? Any leads on obvious entry points would be helpful. I am a driveway mechanic and with sub-30 deg temps it's too cold for me to be crawling around under the vehicle looking for possible entry points.

I've found signs under the driver's side of the dash and this morning I heard movement in the headliner as I was loading stuff in the back seat to go to work.

Any insight you all can share would be really appreciated.

Look into the electronic device called Mouseblocker. It supposedly drives the critters crazy with ultrasonic sound and strobe lights

 

[Reverend Biker]

Look into the electronic device called Mouseblocker. It supposedly drives the critters crazy with ultrasonic sound and strobe lights

I've tried those in the house, and they don't work. I've caught mice in traps six inches of one of those plug-in models.

 

[Reverend Biker]

I've tried those in the house, and they don't work. I've caught mice in traps six inches of one of those plug-in models.

I do believe I discovered the entry point for my squatters. I was under the hood and the sun gave me a look in the dark corner behind the glovebox. look in the corner behind the A/C lines in the first pic, where the firewall color changes from black to that goldish color

View attachment 461032View attachment 461033
I'm hoping that hole is the primary way in. I have traps set under the seats, but right now their spending their time in the headliner. If I sealed up their only exit, then they will find the traps sooner or later. Mmmmm.... peanut butter.

UPDATE: I have confirmed that hole is the point of entry. During my frozen fuel issue, I went over every bit of wiring and saw the foil tape covering the hole was peeled to one side and dragged in thru the hole. I added two more traps right under that hole on the passenger's mat under the glove box. I've gotten four so far. I need a warm-ish day and no mud puddles so I can lay down under there and close that hole up for good.

 

[1sicbronconut]

UPDATE: I have confirmed that hole is the point of entry. During my frozen fuel issue, I went over every bit of wiring and saw the foil tape covering the hole was peeled to one side and dragged in thru the hole. I added two more traps right under that hole on the passenger's mat under the glove box. I've gotten four so far. I need a warm-ish day and no mud puddles so I can lay down under there and close that hole up for good.

Good to hear! I currently have a 2023 hybrid escape in my stall which is getting about $2k worth of rodent repair!!

 

[Reverend Biker]

Good to hear! I currently have a 2023 hybrid escape in my stall which is getting about $2k worth of rodent repair!!

Thanks! I sympathize. I had a toyota scion, my summer commuter car, totally infested. They didn't eat the wiring, but there were nests all over behind every interior panel. I stripped the car out to the sheetmetal.

I learned a lot from that experience, that prepared me for the work I am doing on my FPIU. It is what prompted the threads I started, to learn the things I found out the hard way after buying my Escape. I live in the backwoods of New England, so it's a constant battle keeping unwanted wildlife out of the great indoors. I have bears that live closer to my house than my closest human neighbors.

 

[Reverend Biker]

I pulled my glovebox door to get at the cabin air filter and see if I can see where that hole is from the engine compartment. Air filter was the original from 2016, it was caked with dust and debris, but no mouse droppings thankfully.

I was able to get under the dash yesterday and found the hole easily from the light coming through. I found a large blob of putty someone had used to block the hole, that was pushed out by the rodents. I pushed the putty plug back into the hole (it also pushed the foil tape back in place from the inside) and used some gorilla tape to keep it in place. No mice in three days; I am going to give it another four before I declare this a win.

 

[Steve8316]

...putty someone had used to block the hole...

Have you figured out what the hole was put there for? I've looked in my '16 a couple of times, and couldn't find a hole like that. Even after pulling the cowl drain, dumping its leaves, and putting it back. I changed my cabin filter (also factory), but never felt like I could see the firewall, so I didn't look from inside.

 

[Reverend Biker]

I think it was for some of the equipment mounted on the dash. There are holes the same diameter through the plastic tray that is a speaker cover in the civilian models. I can see where the vinyl mat was cut away in the passenger footwell right corner up under the dash.

I had to pull the vinyl flooring back to uncover the hole, but I could see right into the engine compartment. I can see where a piece of the mat was cut out for access. Someone was a bit ham-fisted when they worked on this. I also found some wires that were once cable-tied up to the front valve cover when I did my oil change. Those cable ties slipped and the wires sat on the front cat and melted the ribbed heat cover. It looks like the bundle that goes down to the whelen siren then branches off to the headlights for the wig-wags. Most of those wires were crudely clipped and left hanging. I've cleaned that up when I was searching for the source of it running rough. That was not what I expected. On the bright side, I saw evidence the timing cover has been off, so it was likely to deal with the water pump.

 

[Steve8316]

Good to know that it's not a factory hole.