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winnietrey's avatar
winnietrey
Explorer
Nov 10, 2018

Rodents, Cayenne pepper. Fun Story, Class C

Well at least in my mind a fun story, Just a warning before we proceed, DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME.

So Rodents of all makes, and models, seem to love the engine valley of my V-10. They have on occasion, done some damage to the wiring. We do have two, hunter killer cats, but we kind of live in a bit of a maple forest. Where rodents are plentiful

So, my theory was to put a good quantity of cayenne pepper in the engine valley, and sprinkle it on the top of the engine. Which I did.

However I got to thinking, does this stuff burn? could it catch on fire? when the engine got hot? So I took a bit of it, and took a torch to it in the garage. Does not burn but boy it does release a gas that will choke you. Took half an hour before the garage cleared out. Not something I would care to repeat going down the highway

So for sure before we fire that puppy up again, will vacuum the engine valley and hose down the engine.

However if no rodents this winter , well worth the trouble

14 Replies

  • Ive heard that some wiring insulation cover is made from vegetable such a soy,thats why rodents chew it..
    I spray Rust check oil everywhere just before winter to protect against rust,seems to keep rodents away too
  • They ate wiring and vacuum hoses on my previous truck to the tune of about $300 each time. Finally bought some Cridder Ritter spray at Home Depot. No more problem. It is a mix of 2 or 3 different pepper extracts and worked well for me. And no odor problem.
  • Please report back and let us know if it's effective. I used to swear by mothballs under the hood, but we had rodents chew up some plastics this year in a car we stored with mothballs in the engine compartment.
  • IMO, to my thinking and for sure, Cheyenne pepper is so hot it catches on fire.

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