found insulation material all over garage floor - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

DuckMuck · #1 09-28-2003, 01:20 PM

I was pulling the car out of the garage this morning, and found small fine pieces of insulation material all over the garage floor below the engine area...I got out of the car and had a better inspection, then opened the hood of the car...and found that some of the insualtion material in the engine bay had either

1) fallen off by itself due to heat in the engine bay
2) got nibbled off by some animal...maybe a mouse?

I had a feel of the area with my hand, and the foam material still seems to be soft, not brittle, so I am a little suprised as to how it fell off by itself...could it be an animal? can the material be replaced? the air intake arm I know that segment can be replaced, but how about the insulation material at the back of the engine? pardon the fact the car is so dirty...we're having a water shortage here in Vancouver, BC...so washing the car is kinda frowned upon nowadays...so I haven't washed it in a while...

DuckMuck · #2 09-28-2003, 01:42 PM

okay...I was lookin' at the pix I posted...and I am pretty sure it is a mouse...have a look on top of the engine bay cover...u see the little mouse footprints? it is definitely a mouse...oh god

dtf · #3 09-28-2003, 02:04 PM

Mice ate the wiring under my gate shifter plate over the course of last winter. They get into air filters as well. It was unusual for mice to be in my cars as the cars stay outside (gasp!). No garage - yet. Mice like garages and wood piles.

psfred · #4 09-28-2003, 02:38 PM

Get a cat, preferably a feral female (spay, please). No mice anymore, she will eat them all. Avoid toms unless you LIKE the smell of car urine.....

You may want to test the AntiMarten protection, too, it may have failed. Shocks the you-know-what out of the mice and keeps them off the car.

Peter

DuckMuck · #5 09-28-2003, 02:46 PM

How much does the pliable section of the air intake arm cost to replace? Also, that insulation on the back of the engine that is pictured? I can't seem to find them on the PartsShop or FastLane...I have no idea what more it did under the hood...that is the only visible damage I can see...for heaven's sake, what the hell did I do wrong lately? so many car repairs...sigh...

psfred · #6 09-28-2003, 02:50 PM

You will need to contact the guys at partshop or fastlane directly for part numbers and availablity.

Check your air filter, too, they may have eaten it as well.

Peter

csnow · #7 09-29-2003, 10:58 AM

Look for bare wiring. What a pain.
Once had a family take up residence in an outboard motor.
I guess the air intakes made for a cozy mouse house.
Anyways, the chewed the insulation off the wiring and made a huge mess.

Another time they nested in a leather seat, and tore it to shreds.

Bits of peanut butter cups are the best mouse bait.
Better than plain peanut butter.
I have had good luck with traditional wooden spring traps, and also with the new plastic ones, which are much easier to operate.

Should wear a HEPA respirator when cleaning up mouse debris, or use 'wet' methods. Wet methods not always practical in and around cars. For dry removal, a HEPA vacuum is probably the way to go. Read more at the CDC:

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/diseases/hanta/hps/noframes/prevent3.htm

DuckMuck · #8 09-29-2003, 01:58 PM

Well, I just came back from ICBC (BC's insurance company) and one of the adjusters had a look at the car...he said he's handled five "mice" claims before, so it wasn't that out of the ordinary...the black foam insulation pieces will be replaced under the claim, and the car's wiring will be inspected at the same time...if anything new arises, they will adjust the amount...I had a look at the wiring that were visible, and I do not see any damage...a more thorough inspection will be required though on a lift...anyhow, in the end, I will have to pay a $300CAD deductible...so Mr. Mouse just cost me $300CAD and probably a few days without use of the car...

I didn't find any mice droppings, either on the garage floor, or inside the car...just a lot of insulation foam on the garage floor...I still don't understand how a mouse got in there though...I gave the garage a thorough lookover, and I don't think there are any holes of any kind...I don't have any food in there...and other than 3 cars and a broom for sweeping the garage floor, the entire garage is empty...the other cars are fine though...it seems he only wanted a piece of the E420...I went to Canadian Tire and bought these wooden Victor mouse traps for a few cents, and set them up in the corners of the garage...I loaded them with peanut butter...

Kestas · #9 09-29-2003, 03:47 PM

Mice had a winter party in my Cutlass a couple of years ago when I was rebuilding the engine. I have to share some of the blame... I left squirrel food in the garage. I still keep finding piles of corn here and there in my garage. I've stored cars for 25 years, never had mice problems before.

I don't have the heart to use spring traps, so I bought a couple of reuseable live traps baited with nuts. Got them all! I let them go at work ten miles away. I also heard they don't like the smell of mothballs, so I put them here and there in my car wrapped in tissue. Direct contact with mothballs can harm some material and fabric.

So I caught the mice, put food away from the garage, mothballs in my car, and have had no problems since.

csnow · #10 09-29-2003, 04:06 PM

I used to 'relocate' them to 'a lovely home at the State Park'...

Then they ganged up on me!

Now I have nothing but vengeance where my heart used to be!!

Kestas · #11 09-29-2003, 10:31 PM

When you catch one, they're kind of cute -- when you catch seven it can get unsettling

.

DuckMuck · #12 09-30-2003, 11:57 AM

...so anyhow, I went to ICBC, the insurance company, around 10AM yesterday morning for them to inspect the car to do an initial estimate on the damage, and the M-B dealership will revise it as they find more...but from what I can see, all it did was nibble on my passenger side air intake arm, and the fire wall section directly behind the engine...the ICBC guy had trouble finding the section behind the engine, so he could not put down a definite price for labour and parts...but he said the dealership would definitely know what to do...

...so around noon...I drove the E420 down to W. Broadway to have the dealership look at the car...the service advisor looks at the car, and tells me he has never replaced that piece behind the engine, and doesn't even know if the part exists...he says it looks like a lot of work...and a lot of stuff needs to come out to do it...he tells me to pull the car around to the back of the dealership and ask the parts department if the part exists, and then come back up to them afterwards...I was sorta like, "why don't u call the parts guy UP instead of making me run around"...but whatever...so I head down...and the parts guy has trouble finding the part...but finally says that the part exists, but it would have to be ordered from Germany...the big problem was that there was no active part # for it...so a new part # would have to be created in order for them to order it...he says in order to do that, I would have to head up to service again to start a work order...

...so back up to service, and the service advisor makes some calls to the parts department...blah blah blah...then after like 20 minutes of calling, he suddenly puts the phone down and looks me in the eye and says, "Sir, I don't think we are capable of replacing this part...I have no idea what to do...I think you would have better luck taking the car to Burrard Autostrauss, M-B's certified bodyshop to see if they can replace it...I mean...they must replace this sorta stuff for cars in accidents"...I thought to myself, "hmmm...okay"...and thanked the advisor for his help, and then I left the dealership..and headed to Autostrauss...

...So I'm at Burrard Autostrauss...and show them the car...he says the bodyshop only does painting, and that for stuff like this, they send to an ouside mechanic to do...now this is the weird part...I woulda thought that Autostrauss would have sent the mechanical stuff back to the M-B dealership to take care of...but he says no...they send it to an independent...and if anybody in Vancouver would know how to fix that, it would be him...he had a look at it though and says it may require a lot of work...but he really has no clue...so he gives me the address to MB Euromotors, and I head over there...

...so I arrive at MB Euromotors, and ask for the guy they recommend...nice clean shop I must say...he comes out, has a look, and says to me, "this is easy to replace...the part is hard to find, I admit...but it is around $50...and will take around 20 minutes to replace it...I don't understand why Mercedes-Benz would not know how to replace this"...he shows me kinda how to disassemble it...and seems to know his stuff...my front brakes and rotors were gone and I also neede an oil change...he said sure...I had a chat with him...and he said they use OE Mercedes rotors with Mintex or Ferodo pads...motor oil he recommends Halvoline 20W50...the dealership has been giving me Quakerstate 15W40 lately...he says part will probably take 10 days or so to come in since it is coming from Germany...so I plan to get the mouse damage, brake job, and oil change done by him at the same time...

...anyhow, from what he was saying, provided there are no additional electrical damage, the damage by the mouse is around $150CAD, so I don't think I will use the insurance claim, since the deductible itself is already $300CAD...

#13 10-01-2003, 12:36 PM

Good call!

Cheers.

DuckMuck · #14 10-01-2003, 03:54 PM

weird question...am I being to "anal" to want to replace the fire wall section and the air intake arm? the shops I went to say that it doesn't interfere with the car, and is only cosmetic damage...so I should just leave it be...I kinda find it annoying...for some odd reason...what do you guys think? Would you guys replace it?

#15 10-01-2003, 06:05 PM

I think your being anal. I mran, its in te engine bay, you can't see it. Just gorget about it.

Just catch the mouse and punish hum for it