OT Storing a car in a dirt floor open front machine shed

[JDennis]

Use loads of dryer sheets in the engine compartment and any other places underneath you can stuff it. Mice hate dryer sheets. Loads of peppermint oil too. Little buggers will chew up wires and loads of other stuff too.

This advice is common in RV'ing groups for winterizing campers. It doesn't work. We tried it for a few years when we got our first camper, and more often than not, the mice would chew up the dryer sheets and use them for nesting material. Irish Spring shavings is another wives' tale that doesn't bear out.

Best we've found so far is Fresh Cab. You can get it on Amazon. I don't know for sure that it's doing the work though. We moved a few years ago and our new neighborhood has a lot of stray cats, so we keep a dish of food under the camper so they'll hang around. I think the cats are the real deterrent. Not one mouse in 3 years despite being backed up to woods and swampland.

 

[Rickyb]

Can’t speak to mice but moth balls do work to keep squirrels from nesting under the hood. Half dozen in a cloth pouch hanging anywhere under the hood definitely works. Around here parking in your driveway more than a couple weeks is an invitation for squirrels. Works for skunks around the deck also. Past that I have no experience.

 

[Chip Chester]

Made it through last winter (in the same geographic area as moonlight) by using mothballs under the hood of the RV -- and other exterior places. Didn't put them inside, but you can smell them inside until you air things out a little. I'll do again this winter, as the barn isn't big enough for the RV.

Our Mini Cooper did have a visit from mice, however. Caught it early, and the only piss damage was a floor mat. It'll get the treatment this year, too.

 

[henrya]

Get out of here with that. You’re on PRACTICAL Machinist. Cheap as the day is long, the lot of us.

Hard man you are!

But dang it, if the cars worth keeping its worth keeping well. Just think of all the bitching after the rats eat the interior out of it. Which would create another thread to waste everyone’s time so maybe let it go.

 

[Ron Hofer]

Funny story about cars and mice......young Dave had to store his fathers new Benz while the old man was in Europe......anyhoo ,he brought it into the tractor sales yard to store it in one corner of the big shed,and maybe run it once a week......he took it out for a weekend with the family,and on the way he saw a store selling big bags of dogfood cheap...........unfortunately ,he forgot about the dogfood ,and a week later ,I opened the door ......the car stunk of mice piss,and the trunk was literally alive with mice...........he was in a bit of a panic .....but I got onto the insurance,and they wrote off the car ,and gave them a new one.

john.k,

Change 'dog food' to 'bird seed' and 'Benz' to 'Subaru,' and you've got my story. I tried many of the remedies mentioned, all without success. (In fact, I came to think that 'Rodent Sheriff' was mouse salad dressing on the bird seed.)

Finally had the SUV custom cleaned. Best 300 bucks I've ever spent. They got it so clean I didn't believe it was mine.

 

[Cyclotronguy]

Rent an 8 x 20 locker at the local rental place and put the car in it for $150 / mo

 

[gustafson]

when I had raccoons at my trash barrels I sprayed the bags with Rodent Sheriff and they never came back. So far, it seems to have worked on squirrels, rabbits, raccoons and dogs.

I shall have to check this stuff out. Critters are bold in my neighborhood

 

[Superbowl]

In my sheds I toss a couple of chunks of mouse bait in every couple of months so that any critters that wander in get a last supper. If you won't be driving the vette for 6+ months wrap it in plastic with some desiccant packs inside. Just put down a sheet of plastic and drive the car on top. Throw more plastic sheeting on top and seal every thing together with duct tape. Presto -you have the car sealed up against all moisture.

 

[Big B]

Shove steel wool in the exhaust pipes, it’s tough to chew!

And put a note on the dash to remind you to take the steel wool out before you run it again.

 

[Big B]

I've been using moth balls in an MGB and a pontoon boat and haven't had any mouse problems in spite of them both being in a barn that has plenty of places for mice to enter.

 

[boslab]

Being machinists if you dare poke shit up holes when you have a lathe I would be sad, turn plugs for the exhaust and air intakes, put high voltage traps in engine bay

 

[akajun]

Use loads of dryer sheets in the engine compartment and any other places underneath you can stuff it. Mice hate dryer sheets. Loads of peppermint oil too. Little buggers will chew up wires and loads of other stuff too.

We tried that in an old hunting camp
They used the dryer sheets for nesting

 

[10 fingers]

This has been beat to death on every car forum since the moment the internet went live. A Google search on respected, classic, car forums will give great advise. Before I could afford my 8500 SF, man cave, my solution was a Car Jacket with a large, RV desiccant. Worked perfectly for several years. https://www.carbag.com/carjacket/

 

[majohnson]

Them little rodent can do a lot of damage. You might also put out a bunch of traps, take as many of them out before they have a chance to damage anything. Your best bet is indoor storage and put a small heater in to stave off the cold.

 

[GregSY]

We had a '66 Ford F-250 Camper Special pickup. It had the split rims with heavy duty tires - nylon belted. The truck didn't get used a bunch, so it would sit for weeks at a time. When you'd drive it, the tires would all be flat spotted and it would thump-thump-thump down the road. But, the more you drove, the less the thumping would get and within 10 miles it'd be smooth as can be until the next time you let it sit.

 

[SteveF]

Looks like Rodent Sheriff is similar to Tomcat Rodent Repellent that I get from Home Depot. When I got the first bottle I ran a test. We feed birds (and chipmunks, squirrels, etc) on the back deck. Got a long cardboard box, put in seeds, peanut butter, crackers and sprayed the end of the box. Several days later all the food was still in there, so it works. I live on a farm and have had rodent damage on multiple vehicles so this stuff gets well used.

 

[DrHook]

Put it on jackstands, put a galvanized sheet metal tube at least foot tall around each jackstand, and put a couple dryer sheets or a few mothballs inside each tube. The jackstands prevent the tires from flat spotting, mice can't climb the metal, and wont try to go in underneath with the dryer sheets in there, and your car won't stink like Bounce or mothballs inside. Just make sure your cover doesn't reach the floor, and there isn't anything hanging from the roof of your shed that they can climb down. Works on airplanes....