'98 Crown Vic, rat chewed wires - the saga...

[MacFromOK]

130k miles, exceptionally clean, cold air, hot heater. Rats chewed some of the wires.

So far I've been offered $550 cash from one of those "cash for cars" places, $200 cash or a $500 write-off from another (i.e. give it to 'em), and have since been getting spam calls every few minutes (none of which are the numbers I dialed).

I've kept it on a trickle charger, and went out earlier today only to find that rats had also chewed both clamp ends off the charger. It's now on my shop charger/booster, and I'll try to see if it will start in a bit.

Anyone interested in (or have advice for) this nightmare?

 

[Oklahomabassin]

Keep hood up and use rat poison.

 

[tyromeo55]

You really need to do something about the rats ASAP. Repairing the wires is fairly straight forward. Just a ton of time. Might disconnect the battery in the mean time just so that you don’t cause any further problems

 

[MacFromOK]

Keep hood up and use rat poison.

You really need to do something about the rats ASAP. Repairing the wires is fairly straight forward. Just a ton of time. Might disconnect the battery in the mean time just so that you don’t cause any further problems

I agree.

I've used ethylene glycol anti-freeze for years (rats loved it), BUT NOW THEY PUT SOMETHING IN IT THAT TASTES BAD. Mainly because of wives poisoning their husbands with it. And I didn't find this out until after the wires were chewed. :/

Any brand name recommendations? I bought some "fish flavored" rat bait off Amazon, but apparently they love the stuff. Just pulled a handful of rat nest material out of the engine compartment today.

Does D-Con work as advertised? Or is there something better?

Thanks, guys.

Oh btw, the car started - well it did, but wouldn't idle. I turned up the charger a bit (had it on slow charge) and will try it again later. Also sprayed liquid wrench in a vacuum valve that usually gives trouble once a year when it turns cold.

 

[L.C.]

I keep a couple barn cats around(3 actually). No mice or rat problems.

 

[Oklahomabassin]

Careful keeping battery hooked up and starting with chewed up wires. A short can cause a fire. Especially with tinder from a rat nest. Keeping hood up allows daylight in the once dark engine bay which helps prevent nesting. Not eliminates but helps prevent. The green cubes rat poison at Tractor Supply and Atwoods seems to work pretty good. Run a wire through the hole to tie the bait where you put it. Otherwise a rat will drag it off.

 

[MacFromOK]

I keep a couple barn cats around(3 actually). No mice or rat problems.

Our neighbor's cat is (was?) a regular visitor (kept setting off our motion sensor alarm), but I haven't seen him lately. Lol, the rats may have eaten him...

 

[MacFromOK]

Careful keeping battery hooked up and starting with chewed up wires. A short can cause a fire. Especially with tinder from a rat nest. Keeping hood up allows daylight in the once dark engine bay which helps prevent nesting. Not eliminates but helps prevent. The green cubes rat poison at Tractor Supply and Atwoods seems to work pretty good. Run a wire through the hole to tie the bait where you put it. Otherwise a rat will drag it off.

Yeah, I inspected and trimmed the wires (that I could get to) today before putting my shop charger on it. It's too close to the house to risk a fire.

The stuff I got from Amazon was green, round balls, and they carry it back to their nest. Kind of a short trip when they nest where ya put it though.

 

[MacFromOK]

I'm sick of this "humane," "eco-friendly," and "pet-safe" nonsense regarding rat poison.

I want some good old fashioned poison that actually kills rats.

<-- Me & the rat... I'm the one with the hammer.

 

[MacFromOK]

Well... the old Crown Vic fired up, and after nursing the gas pedal a minute or two, it would idle - roughly at first, but then it smoothed out like it should. AC & blower don't work, but that's mostly where the chewed wires are.

Bear in mind it hasn't been started since January 2020, the last time I went to town.

Anywho... I moved it out of the carport and near a shade tree by the house, and left the hood propped up (the gas cylinders are shot). I can see at least one wire going to the throttle body that's chewed through, but if that and the AC/heater wires are the only damage, I may keep the thing. It's literally pristine on the inside (we bought it at 26k miles), and has no body damage.

I'll scatter some of the Amazon rat bait ([Ramiken? Ramik) around it and we'll see what happens.

Still open to suggestions btw...