i decided to replace my cabin filter because it was time to do so... to my surprise i found rat poop and urine all over the cabin air filter. i replace the filter and cleaned the car inside and out including the engine bay. a week later as i decided to check the filters to see if there was any poop in them..... i found a crap load of rat poop on the filters again (LESS THAN A WEEK OLD FILTERS). i got the filters out and decided to check the front of my car to see if i find where the rat is getting in my car. i found a lot of pink insulation (looked like home insulation) on the right side of the engine near the windshield wiper blades (where the fender meets the car and the windshield).
i didn't know if that insulation came out of my car or if its from my house and the rat was using it as a nest.














went to lowes and bought some traps. i thought that would fix my problem

sticky traps where the cabin air filter is supposed to be... it is closed and waiting for that ____er to get stuck




another sticky trap where i found most of the insulation.






since i didn't know if the rat was in my car or the garage i decided to park outside.



then since we had all that snow i took my car to my parents house and parked it in the garage for a couple of weeks without moving it.

well, since we had to used a car and mine was stuck at home we had to used my girl's TC. her driveway is not paved and since we hadn't seen any sign of the rat she started to park inside her garage so the car would stay warm and also to give her a running start every time we had to take her car out.

2 weeks ago, when she was taking her car out of the garage she smelled ____ in her car.. it appears to be that the rat have changed houses (cars)...
we got a ____ load of traps and set them in the car and the garage to see if we catch the f**king rat..

So, my girlfriend's car stayed in the garage the whole weekend to see if we catch the rat. we put a lot of traps around the car but when i went to check, the traps were the same way i left them on friday. Since i wasn't sure if the rat was still in the car i open the car and the hood to see if i could find something.
i checked the cabin air filter behind the glove box and didn't fin anything (just dirt). then i looked under the hood and found rat poop right next to the valve cover (the smell was horrible). since i'm afraid of rats i told my friend to check the air filter to see if there was something in there (she doesn't have an intake)... that is the reason i was trying to buy a stock airbox for the TC
here are the pics....
THE FILTER


THE FILTER HOUSING


we put a sticky trap with peanut butter where the filter goes to see if the rat goes in there and get's trapped in there. i will keep posting as things occur...

I have been posting this on a rsx forum and now in here since the problem includes my girl's TC.

AS OF TODAY (1/14/09) i haven't catch the rat, both cars are outside
there are a lot of rat traps in the garage. also i bought Dcon and spread that around the garage.
hopefully the next time i post in this thread i will have pics of the dead rat.

 

that sucks. hope you get the little *edit*

 

damn that sux alot..

 

i been working on it since before thanksgiving

 

lol reminds me of caddyshack...
damn thats enough to drive a guy nuts..
also reminds me of when the wife was helping me set some traps and she tryed to put the cheese on after loading it...lmao
good luck on getting the lil varmit........defintly likes scions!!! tho

 

Man that is not good. Hope you catch it. Hopefully you can get the smell out.

Make friends with a couple of cats ;)

 

^^ i detailed my car inside and out including the engine bay and the smell is gone.. i tried detailing the engine bay of my girls car but i didn't have enough time yesterday. i will do it this weekend for sure.

 

this is the pic my girlfriend sent me when the rat was in my car... she was laughing at me since i babied my car so much and i'm afraid of mice.
payback is a b.....

 

WTF i have never seen or heard of anything like this...if and when you catch him make sure you make him pay dead or alive lol

 

Well at leas the rat has a good choice in automobiles.

 

k, seriously, when I saw this pic:



I thought those were baby rats. =X

 

^ hahaha, when i was pulling that out of my car i thought i was gonna pull a rat or something. there was probably a grocery bag full of that stuff in my car. one of my friends told me that only pack rats do that.

 

this thing is gonna come out and get ya lol. thats nuts i cant believe hes taken stuff back and forth from ur house to ur car to make himself warmer

 

when i found the insulation in my car i went to the garage and found a trail of pink insulation leading from the wall to my car.

 

Its a pretty smart rat. I was going to say leave the car outside on cold night but if he is stealing insulation then that most likely wont do anything. Hmmm ... time for an exterminator.

 

i called one of my students yesterday that does that kind of work. hopefully he can take care of my problem

 

wow, that is amazing - hope you get the little guys

 

Guess it's better to find that then to have it run up your leg while driving down the freeway...LOL

 

T had something like this happen to his car. His car was running like crap....he needed a new starter....so the car sat for awhile before we got the starter. We take it to the shop and the mechanic tells him to come back to the car....thinking that he did this as a practical joke......to his surprise his air filter area was filled with dog food in every area it could possibly be. When T was surprised it was there the mechanic then thought it was HILARIOUS.......but at first was kindza preturbed about it. Now every time his car is at that shop.....they check just in case.

 

ewww f rats!