Mice in 2006 Interstate walls

[InterBlog]

Originally Posted by Boxster1971

Does driving your van regularly help? I drive mine as a second household vehicle year round.

We've (a) never had rodent problems in almost 5 years and (b) never go more than a week or two without driving our van.

That's mostly moot, though, because our conditions have changed. The issue of soy-covered wiring was not something that I was either following or concerned with, given that it didn't seem to relate to our circumstances. But with a new engine, my focus has changed.

I don't know how widespread soy wiring is, and I don't know if any of it is in my new engine. I do know that a class action lawsuit against Toyota was dismissed just under a year ago. The plaintiffs' attorneys may not have handled it correctly. It appears to have been dismissed on the grounds that the rodent damage was not LIMITED to the soy wiring. But it's common knowledge that, once attracted, rodents will chew everything within reach. Even if their damage wasn't exclusive to the wiring, I'd say it was likely that the wiring that brought them in the first place.

[vagem55]

We have a 2012 Interstate.
I am not sure what rodents got into it, but I suspect they were the rats with long tails some affectionately (stupidly?) call squirrels.
They entered the engine compartment and chewed up the metal faced insulation on the hood and the firewall.
They went through the cabin air filter and left stuff in the glove compartment.
Unknown how much else they got into.
Thankfully, insurance covered the damage which, as you can assume with Mercedes, wasn't cheap.
Now, I attach a dryer sheet to the cabin filter itself in the engine compartment, one in the glove box, one under the sink, and one under the removable cup holders on each side of the rear lounge (protecting the PEX).
Change them every couple months.
Haven't had a problem since (knock on wood).

[Donna Foxxx]

found problem - in the engine compartment there is a light access point on the right side of the compartment by the battery. Covered it with hardware cloth and no more mouse problem!

[Autodoc]

Very common with cars/RV’s/boats in storage also. We plug all obvious holes, use dryer sheets and in extreme cases have installed an item called mouse blocker with good results. Google it for more info.

[Mansderm161]

I drive mine every 1-2 weeks, bring it home from outdoor storage, plug in, check everything. Almost 2 years now....no varmints, thank goodness. I also stop in at Mercedes and have them check fluids and tires before long trips, so hopefully they would tell me if it looked like something was gnawing under the hood. I store outdoors, but I'm coastal and the ground is kind of sand, fine gravel....don't know if they like running across that surface. I'll start looking for places to stuff dryer sheets to be on safe side. Plus I'm moving to a different storage facility next month...so could be a problem there. It's always something!