Parked next to my shiny 1.8 tsi Octavia is my dirty diesel loadlugger (V70 year 08). It seems a rodent has taken a liking to the protective covering around the vacuum hose that sits between engine and bulkhead and I had to have it replaced twice so far this year.

No rodent problems with the Octavia, so far.

Any advice on how to keey rodents away.

Although we don't have cats there are about half a dozen neiboughhood moggies that regulararly patrol the front garden and drive day and night.

That is bad luck, we had a similar problem with a washing machine drain hose in our basement, when a rat managed to get in via a stupidly small hole in the door, and set about sharpening its teeth on anything it could find. It seems that rats have to sharpen their teeth several times a day, and will choose plastic or timber to do it.

Other than rat poison I don't know what to suggest - sorry.

I don't know about keeping them away initially - hopefully someone will come along & suggest some sort of repellent - but I do know that, once you've got the problem, it will keep coming back unless you thoroughly clean the area (be careful what you use [apparently???] some disinfectants are not the deterrent you would hope for :think: )

From the workshop manual:

Why are cables gnawed through by animals?

1.

behaviour motivated by curiosity;

2.

playfulness;

3.

aggressive biting.

Aggressive biting/gnawing is considered the main reason for serious damage in engine compartment. Rodents leave odour traces in the engine compartment and other rodents react to these traces aggressively.

Which areas get usually gnawed though?

Easily accessible areas are the most frequent targets of rodents. Parts partially accessible (leading through the engine compartment space) in the engine compartment are more frequently attacked than parts leaned against walls. The size of parts plays an important role. Thin wires can be gnawed through more easily then bigger parts.

................................../~/...................

As a measure preventing further damage, thoroughly clean the engine compartment using a high pressure cleaner.

Never aim the water stream at electrical engine components like connectors, sensors or ignition coils etc.

After washing the engine make sure that moisture did not penetrate into the spark plug shaft. If so, remove water from the shaft, for example by blowing it away using pressure air.

Edited 13 April, 201313 yr by Skoda Al Coda

Can't help with a cure, I'm afraid but I have experienced the problem. Work's scout went into limp home mode one day and when mechanic checked it out he discovered one of the turbo hoses had been gnawed through. Fortunately, never had a repeat of it.

Sarge.

Thanks for replies. Because of all the moggies I can't be too liberal with the use poison nor set mouse traps. I'll have to restrict the poison to the area of the hose pipe that rodent seems to like, and hope the cats don't get too curious!

You can get proper rat/mouse bait stations that are made of plastic that are 'cat safe' I.e. the bait is inside and the cats can't get at it as the holes are too small for them to be able to get at the poison. There's loads on ebay for under a tenner. You could put one of these down without having to worry about killing the cats and get rid of the little *****