Undercarriage skid plate to shield rodents
 

Rats have been squatting in my engine bay. Fortunately, the worst thing they've done so far is chewed up the fiberglass insulation. My wires and everything else haven't been touched. I've tried everything from pepper spray, peppermint oil, moth balls, irish spring, cayenne pepper, Fresh Cab rodent repellent, light/sound box in engine bay, snap traps underneath my car, trying to lure in stray cats, etc.

My HOA is giving me **** for wanting to put up a plexiglass barrier around my car. I park it in a locked driveway/backyard that's shared with other tenants in the building and they bring their dogs out for walks, etc. I've been parking my car right outside on the street but just saw long scuffs on my hood and found out the garbage men was throwing garbage bags sliding across my hood.

... Anyways, my next idea is possibly creating undercarriage "skid plate" made out of aluminum or (not this specifically but the general idea). I'm likely leaning more towards the wire mesh since water and dirt need to be drainage and ventilation. The first image below is for reference and 2nd image with the outline is the area I'm planning to cover.
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Some questions and concerns that I have are:
1) if I use the mesh, would I have to worry that I drive over something one day and it gets caught and yanks everything off?
2) would I be able to just use stainless steel? Anything I should keep in mind about material and heat? I know the exhaust mid pipe will be hot.
3) My primary focus is for rats to not get into my engine bay. If my idea seals up all possible openings, this should work...right?

Open to any feedback or suggestions

Would a cat be a potential solution?

​​​​​​​A cat would likely be an effective solution but it's an outdoor space nothing to stop it from running away. I mentioned that I did try luring in stray cats with food but stopped coming back after a while and rats would also eat the cat food too.

I'm also in NYC so imagine concrete build side walls, tight driveway, cracks everywhere, etc.

Move the heck outa’ there!

I went to a shop and lifted up the car to see if my idea was going to be possible. It's possible to "close" up bottom directly under where the engine is but there's too many space and gaps where the control arm is that can't be covered.


Unfortunately found a whole nest of newborns squirming around in the inner passenger corner with most of the insulation and firewall torn up. I parked on Sunday and discovered it on Wednesday. They chewed through the plastic sleeve of the wire harness going into where the glove compartment(?) would be. Fortunately all of the wires exposed wires look untouched so caught it right before the problem could get worse. I wrapped the wires with a and sprayed the entire section with this high heat rubberized to seal up all possible to prevent water leaking in.


Will continue sharing updates for any future readers that are have rodent problems.

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Rodents are very smart and agile creatures. Without a physical barrier or garage storage there's not much you can do to prevent a future damage to the car wiring.

They are probably climbing through the tires; so maybe try to monthly spray soak the tires/wheels/suspension areas with a combination of rodent repellents like peppermint oil mixed with cayenne pepper. Good luck!

I suggest you move away from NYC.

I was thinking about the common mice. But if it's a NYC RAT you're S.O.L. Those creatures in two legs can easily access the moonroof. ;)

Rats and mice can squeeze through extremely small openings, and there is no way to seal up an engine compartment to keep them out.
Perhaps you can put a lot of peanut butter into the wheel wells of your neighbors' cars.

if i had to guess, the residual heat from the exhaust system down below is highly attractive to rodents to build cuddle nests next to, especially in icy cold climate like NY.
that and maybe the insulation from the oxygen sensor wires, which they say has soy based material rodents like to eat.

What about old fashioned rat traps? I had a couple of mice get in my garage last winter and left droppings on the floor. I went to Lowes and bought a couple of Victor traps @ $.99 each and a jar of marshmallow creme.
The intruders were gone the next day. Really gone... As a Philly police officer I've seen some rats that you could put on a leash and not all with 4 legs. Of course you'd need the larger traps... GOOD LUCK!

The smallest hole you don't even notice will be used to enter so what you are contemplating would not work. There are even most likely too many for traps to work. Look into natural deterrents or rent garage space.

It's a private driveway to a building that leads around to a backyard. I would put out more traps, poison and everything but tenants in the building bring their dogs to play in the area. Not trying to get sued :wiggle: I tried putting snap traps into a small plastic bin with an entrance hole and slide it under my car but don't see any signs of it being touched.

I've also made several DIY "rodent spikes". Folded 3 layers of duck tape (to make it rigid), wrapped aluminum foil tape (for heat), with needles (maybe getting stabbed with a needle would deter) pierced through and stuck it on several areas in the hood. Not sure how much it had helped though.

My next idea is buying plexiglass to create a literal barrier and then removing it every top I'd drive out. Lol just imagined it would look like a model car display case without the top half. Probably would work but super tedious.

Open to any feedback!

If I was in your rodent shoes I'd consider one of these
10% of reviews being 1 star is my cutoff and this made it.