manxman

Six months ago I needed some de-bugging of my laptop, so I drove about 20 miles to the best computer repair shop in my area. Parked in their lot, and was wondering why there was such a strong stink in my car. Looked in the lower glove box of my GE8, and found a note pad shredded (chewed) to pieces, liquid sloshing around from a spray bottle of lens cleaner that had been chewed open, and found that I had been invaded.

Got the computer store stuff done and drove home in a rainstorm. Next day with the rain gone, I got down to real investigation. Found stuff chewed up under the seats, the plastic bag that held my road flares in the spare tire well shredded, carpets chewed under the usually folded-down back seats, and rodent-dropppings on top of the cabin air filter and on top of the dash board.

I got this all cleaned up and placed a new clothes dryer fabric softener sheet (rodents don't like those) on top of a new cabin air filter, and thought that I was all done.

Two months later at a stop light, another driver waves at me from the lane next to me to roll down my window. Says "Your right brake light is out". So I bought two new brake light bulbs, put one in the dead socket, and nothing- no light- no tail light, no brake light. Got out the circuit tester, and found no conductivity to the bulb socket at all.

I was short on time but not on money, so I took the Fit to a reliable repair shop specializing in electrical problems and told the owner about the rodent invasion incident. He traced the wiring harness back two feet into the side panels and found rodent damage and rebuilt the wiring harness. $300.

He said that rodents bring him a ton of earnings every year. I did not mind the bill because I am busy with too many other things and don't want to risk a ticket or accident from a safety hazard. I could have spent the time and effort to find this myself but was happy to pay someone else to do it.

So if you have wildlife running around near where you park your car, as insurance put a new clothes dryer softener sheet on the top of your cabin air filter and NEVER leave your doors ajar.

claymore

Nope...............

Dryer Sheets Don't Deter Mice | Cleaning | Upkeep | This Old House

manxman

No rodents since the dryer sheet on the cabin air filter. Smells OK in the car too. Yep. Also, no doors left ajar again, EVER.

Aarron_M

Rodents don't need a door left open to get in your car. And just because you haven't had them since the dryer sheet, doesn't mean that was the solution.

manxman

Oh. Then by all means, host a wine and cheese party in your Fit for your own rats, mice and squirrels.

wdb

I had rodents living in my '08 Fit's airbox. They climbed through the cold air access, up through the inner fendwell, into the air intake hose, and on into the airbox. I fixed the issue with a piece of heavy wire mesh cut to fit into the air intake hose. I haven't posted much here, and can't post pics yet, but here is a link to picasa with pics that show the result.

https://picasaweb.google.com/1111726...eat=directlink

manxman

Hey wdb- I know you from my fitfreak days. You and I were among the group buyers of the JDM GD3 center console/armrests from the dealer in So. California years ago.

In my case with the rodent(s), getting into the cabin through the intake system was impossible because of my aftermarket cold air intake having an internal conical filter (there are no holes chewed through the filter). It must have found some other way into the interior of the car, but it did make a nest on top of the cabin air filter and chewed up everything that wasn't metal inside the lower glove box. It also ate the carpet under the back seats, ate the plastic bag in the spare tire well that held some road flares, and caused $300. worth of repairs to the right tail light wiring inside the wall panels.

wdb

Hey there manxman, I recognized your username too. That guy took forever to deliver didn't he? But he finally made good. I sold the console, my short-short shifter rig, and almost all of my other mods after my Fit was destroyed by hail last year. Still trying to sell the Mugens though. It kind of blows my mind; I looked high and low to find a set, finally did, and now that I want to sell them I can't find a buyer. Ah well, timing is everything I guess. Good to hear from you again! Watch out for those critters.