Mice in heateer

[tonseth]

How to keep mice from entering the heater.

 

[racsan]

Driving it every day will help, if it sits critters seem to move in. If it cant be driven then putting it in a garage may help, dump some moth balls in the passenger side floor pan & the glove box.

 

[Snoranger]

Someone (and I’m not naming any names) once sent a requisition to our parts department trying to order 1 malnourished, feral cat in an attempt to stop a rodent problem.

 

[RonD]

Not sure of the heater box and vent layout on a 2019 Ranger

You think they are getting in from inside cab or engine bay side?

 

[Curious Hound]

All kinds of home remedies. We have other threads where it has been discussed. Moth balls, Irish Spring soap, peppermint?, find and close the holes using various materials from caulk to steel wool, etc.

I heard that the guy who tried to requisition a cat got promoted. He probably has to set a better example now and be slightly less of a jokester.

 

[Snoranger]

All kinds of home remedies. We have other threads where it has been discussed. Moth balls, Irish Spring soap, peppermint?, find and close the holes using various materials from caulk to steel wool, etc.

I heard that the guy who tried to requisition a cat got promoted. He probably has to set a better example now and be slightly less of a jokester.

The supervisors are the ones who place the orders…

 

[Snoranger]

Not sure of the heater box and vent layout on a 2019 Ranger

You think they are getting in from inside cab or engine bay side?

My ‘23 sits a lot… I’ve only used it about a dozen times since I got it 5 months ago. I’ve already found some acorns built up on top of the cabin filter.
Now I make sure that I switch it to recirculate before I shut the truck off. It should block off access from the outside.

 

[DILLARD000]

Put your best "Mouser" Cat in the Heater with the Mice.

 

[Snoranger]

I hung this sign in my truck and haven’t seen any signs of the mouse coming back. It may help you.

Seriously, I’ve heard moth balls, dryer sheets, peppermint oil, basically anything with a strong scent will keep mice away. Really,the best way is to use the truck regularly, don’t leave anything food related to attract them, clear away any brush near where you park, and keep the heater on recirculate.

 

[Blmpkn]

For the most part it seems like the mice get into these through the fresh air vents up by the cowl/firewall.. from there they can wiggle through into the glove box somehow and the rest of the truck as Ford didn't put any sort of screen over the opening lol.

Get some chicken wire or something and block off that vent.

 

[Jazzer]

Mice happily nest on top of mothballs here, peppermint oil is supposed to work. YouTube has some videos on peppermint oil use.

 

[RonD]

You could install a 12v timer that ran the blower/fan every 12 hours?, for 10-30 seconds when parked
Blower/fan is about 7-10amps, 30sec would draw 3.5-5amps

Vehicle batteries are about 100 amp hours
But you only want to use about 50% so there enough left for startup
So twice a day at 5amps(10amps) would give you 5 days at 30sec run time
You can change it to 10sec and/or 24hour instead of 12hour
Giving it 10 to 15 days

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

If you are cold they are cold!

You could install a 12v timer that ran the blower/fan every 12 hours?, for 10-30 seconds when parked
Blower/fan is about 7-10amps, 30sec would draw 3.5-5amps

Vehicle batteries are about 100 amp hours
But you only want to use about 50% so there enough left for startup
So twice a day at 5amps(10amps) would give you 5 days at 30sec run time
You can change it to 10sec and/or 24hour instead of 12hour
Giving it 10 to 15 days

Sounds neat... until mr mouse is in the fan when it kicks on.

 

[RonD]

Hamsters like it

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

I have not found a good answer to this. Even blocking everything you can think of they still seem to find a way. For whatever strange reason, the mice here will literally eat soap. They ate a couple bars of Irish Spring soap, the entire bars, in just a few days. Then they started eating my bars of Lava Soap. We now have three cats and still a mouse problem. One fall I set up one of the 5-gallon bucket traps and put at least one mousetrap in every vehicle. I wiped out over 35 mice and it didn’t change anything around here. Bout enough to drive a fella to drink.