replaced wiring to magneto twice and replaced one magneto on Kohler tractor because mice ate it. The cars are garage kept so no problem yet.

 

So you think you have mice problems.
In parts of NSW, Australia they are out of control at the moment and we have never seen anything like it.
It is supposed to be related to unusual weather conditions and they will disappear as winter approaches here late May we are told.

Luckily I do not live in that area..

 

In WW II the German Wehrmacht had two panzer divisions in southern Russia immobilized by "General Mouse".

 

Those were also called Gremlins, but maybe mostly in aircraft.
Good story

 

That's nasty , I would move from that crap.

 

My small storage shed where I keep my lawn tractor has become a home for a large family of mice. So far I have caught 4. My lawn tractor is <10 years old and it may have soy-based insulation on the wires. So far the wires are intact. When I worked for Bayer as a research chemist one of the projects I worked on was to find a more environment friendly oil to replace petroleum oils in polyols. We found that soy oil worked well. Back then I had no idea that soy-based wire insulation maybe a treat for rodents.
Here's an article I found on it: Does Your Car Have Wiring That Rodents Think Is Tasty?

I changed my ENTIRE wiring harness on my 2017 CMAX ($700CDN) all thanks to squirrels who absolutely go nuts for the soy based wiring. Honda and TOYOTA have similar issues. I found that spraying the harness with cayenne pepper once a month keeps the pests away.

 

Honda makes a wiring tape that contains capsacin (pepper) to keep rodents from munching on it. Not cheap at around $45 for 65 feet of tape, available online from multiple sources....search if you are interested.

 

Could be worse, a few years ago one of the major home improvement chains had to pay a class action settlement over their deck/roof stain. Seams molasses was used as an ingredient and the squirrels/woodpeckers really enjoyed it.

 

YES! Rodents ate the temp gauge wiring on my 13 Escape SE 1.6, so it malfunctioned and the AC wouldn't kick on. To fix, they had to remove the whole front end... 800 simoleans.

 

Yes, dern mice ate through the injector-control wiring on my car, and when I tried to start it one of them was still snacking. Spectacular but expensive mouse-fricassee

 

Moth balls work great to protect a lawnmower, motorcycle, or car that is put in seasonal storage from mice. Get them from Walmart in the largest size box and they come in two perforated bags. For my car that I take off the road for the winter, I place one bag on top of the intake manifold. Lasts all winter. For motorcycle and riding lawnmower, place the bag on the cylinder heads. If you buy mothballs that are loose, then put them in a food take-out box and poke about a dozen small holes in the lid. Mothballs solved the problem for me. I've been doing this for over fifteen years and haven't had a single problem with mice eating wires since. Years ago, I found mice packed their nest into the electrical sub-panel at our seasonal cottage. What a mess! I've placed a few mothballs in the bottom of the sub-panel every Fall since then and haven't had the mice return.

 

I just paid $700 as squirrels were building nests inside the engine compartment. They chewed up the headlight harness wiring, airbag sensor, and a temp sensor relay(?) ... removal of the front fender needed.

A friend who lives in NM high desert had problems with packrats and turned me on to ultrasonic deterrents that are placed under the hood. So far so good.

Product Detail

loraffe.com

 

So far have had to replace a headlight connector, Ambient air connector, parking light connector due to squirrels. They left a nice nest of sticks and sound deadening in the engine. I'll tear into it some more this weekend to evaluate any more damage. Bought some Honda rodent tape to wrap everything.