Imagine my surprise...!!

[Choman]

I apologize for my low count of posts but I was driving home from Lowe's earlier today and smelled something burning through my interior car vents and got back to my apartment to check under my hood. Guess what I saw!!

[bandit]

HOLY SMOKES!!! (no pun intended)

What could of caused that to happen?

[Redline_Me]

Pretty weird that it would burn though.

[workerant]

Did u change anything in there? Look like it was ripped too. Pest maybe? maybe they claw to make their bed.

[Choman]

I have a theory about what happened due to some things that have happened these past two days. My theory is that one of these ****ing stray cats got into my engine compartment from under and decided to sleep on top of my engine while using the insulation as it's scratching post. Then when I used my car two days ago, I looked in my rear-view mirror at the right moment and saw a cat pop out from under my car and scurry across the road. It wasn't until today that I smelled something burning and opened my hood to find this...

I wish they would allow pellet guns in my apartment community...

[Redline_Me]

i really don't know if a cat could do that.

[DJV]

better get that pussy under control! buahaha sorry i had to lol

[El Loco VG]

I dont think that a cat can get in there like that. On the Rav4 forums people have had mice or rats get into there engine bay and rip apart the engine liner just like yours. I would check for signs of rodents if I were you.

[bandit]

Originally Posted by El Loco VG

I dont think that a cat can get in there like that. On the Rav4 forums people have had mice or rats get into there engine bay and rip apart the engine liner just like yours. I would check for signs of rodents if I were you.

Yea, its usually rats, raccoons or squirrels.

[johnfrisco]

Originally Posted by El Loco VG

I dont think that a cat can get in there like that. On the Rav4 forums people have had mice or rats get into there engine bay and rip apart the engine liner just like yours. I would check for signs of rodents if I were you.

Yeah I think it's rodents. The solution is to get a cat to sleep under your hood at night.

See what you originally thought to be the problem (Cats) are actually the solution to your problem.

[ohhey]

Originally Posted by Choman

I apologize for my low count of posts but I was driving home from Lowe's earlier today and smelled something burning through my interior car vents and got back to my apartment to check under my hood. Guess what I saw!!

You need to find out what kind of vermin is getting in your car before they start on the expensive stuff like wires and fluid lines. Get some rat traps like.. now.

[El Loco VG]

From the Rav4 Forum.

Within two months of taking receipt of our new 2006 Rav Limited we too were making nesting ground for mice. After discovering mice droppings, I started to set traps. After bagging 7 mice in four days, I put poisoned feed inside of the car. The mice ferried off three bads of poisoned feed to their nest in the cabin air filter (not recommended as we were then fumigated in the cab whenever it was driven).

We took the car back to the dealership and told them that they had to fix the problem or buy back the car. They were apparently aware of three locations where the mice can get in the car - two in the rear of the car and one up front in the cabin air intake. They put in some windscreen material in all three locations and we haven't had a mouse problem since. (they also cleaned out the cabin filter from the poisoned feed).

Unfortunately, I do not know exactly where they put the screens and I haven't taken anything apart to inspect. Because the dealership knew exactly where to put them, your dealer might also have access to this information.

Good luck with your dealership. There is no excuse for a mouse problem in a new car.

TLG

[gdanaher]

I've had squirrels and rats under my hood. I keep some blocks of poison attached next to the battery with tie wraps. Poison I got at Tractor Supply and is the type used in the large bait stations used around structures.

[Choman]

I was able to clean out most of the big pieces of liner that fell into the engine compartment but there are particles of liner that I am unable to clean with my hand. I was thinking of using either a vacuum to suction out the liner particles or a compressed air canister like those used for computers. Should I just rip out the remaining liner since I had to cut out the big hole in the middle and left the borders on?

I am pretty sure it is a cat since there are no rats around where I live and I haven't seen squirrels around my car.

[DrewsCam]

wow thats crazy, never seen that. I dont have one on my rk sport hood. But I used to have it on the cf hood and nothing happened and it wasnt even on that tight