Date:         Sat, 10 Aug 2002 20:16:51 -0400
Reply-To:     "John P. Flaherty" <jflahert@MAINE.RR.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         "John P. Flaherty" <jflahert@MAINE.RR.COM>
Subject:      Re: mice and chewed wiring?
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Your lucky. In 1998 I was living in a suburb of Portland. My bus went unused
for a few weeks. When I did try to use it it wouldn't run. Seens a mouse ate
through the air filter and used it and other nesting materials to completely
plug the air intake system.

Dragged them all the way into the manifold. Hell of a job to clean out.

John Flaherty
'Portland, Maine
'84 GL


----- Original Message -----
From: "Andrew" <Andrew@VWMAIL.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Saturday, August 10, 2002 7:30 PM
Subject: Re: mice and chewed wiring?


> My only experience with mice in my Westy is when they built nests while it
was stored for the winter. They built three nests, one in the rear heater,
the A/C blower, and one the cabinet below the sink. They didn't chew on
anything that's part of the van, just stuff stored in it (no food was in
their). They way I found the nests was when I first had it running, the nest
in the A/C cought fire when the resistors for the fan speed heated up, I had
just pulled it out of the barn that it was in. To get the fire out, I had to
dismantle the A/C, with it burning, because the fire extinguisher couldn't
get inside to where the fire was.
> My brother-inlaw was also storing his boat in the same barn, and the mice
got into the motor and ate the insulation off nearly every wire, and chew
several wires off. I'll never store anything that mice can damage in their
again, but my brother-inlaw still stores his boat. He takes off the motor
cover and puts mothballs everywhere, and hasn't had a problem since.
> The best way to prevent this from happening (not always possable) is to
get rid of the mice.
>
> Andrew
> 1984 Westy "Speed Bump"
> 1996 VW Jetta Trek  "Little Beep" (the wife's car)
> The Basket Bus  http://www.creativegifts2go.com/vw.html
>
>
> --- Fred Brittain <vanpire@CITLINK.NET> wrote:
> >Volks,
> >
> >Two times within the last three weeks my van has run bad and I've
> >found broken wires just before the harness that plugs into the AFM (89
> >Westy). First time, I thought I may have pinched them when changing
> >the air filter. They appeared to have been pinched. So, I spliced them
> >and went about my business. Yesterday, I started my van for a trip
> >into town and it was running with AFM type symptoms, hesitation, etc.
> >
> >I decided to pop the top off when I got back and spray some cleaner,
> >check for tracking, do all the typical fixes (the capacitor mod is in
> >place) and check WOT switch. When I got to town, I looked inside and
> >the same group of wires were broken or chewed in almost the same
> >place.
> >
> >Do mice chew all the way through a wire? I have a friend who's a good
> >mechanic and he says they're really bad around here (Moab area, Utah)
> >and do a lot of damage to wiring. Any ideas for fixes. He suggested
> >some heavy duty sticky insulating tape. He did have some  plastic
> >accordion looking protective tubing and put some on for me. We then
> >looked at the other places a mouse might like to chew, i.e., injector
> >wires. It would take a lot that stuff to cover it all.
> >
> >So, any ideas for dealing with mice, or has anyone found anything that
> >might break the wiring just before it enters the air box?  Yes, my air
> >intake is secured and I don't see anything in the engine compartment
> >that might break wires at that point.
> >
> >Appreciate any help or advice
> >
> >And finally, I asked for pmail last post because I'm on digest. A
> >listee took time out of his day to scold me because pmail replies do
> >not become part of the archives. So, please CC me if you post a reply
> >to the list.
> >
> >Fred
>
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