I haven't found it yet, but our Fusion evidently has a "Welcome all rodents" sign somewhere on it. For whatever reason, rodents have made their way into the engine bay multiple times. When we bought the vehicle new (wife's car), she still lived with her parents in the middle of nowhere; literally in the middle of the woods. About 6 months after vehicle purchase, I noticed that a small amount of the underhood insulation had been formed into a nest on top of the valve cover.
Where we've lived the past 5 years, it's much less rural, but still heavily wooded. This issue with the insulation being torn away and formed into nests has happened a few times since. But today was the worst. I opened the hood to find two GIANT nests on top of the valve cover, and next to the air intake box. I'm talking 4 or 5 handfulls of grass, straw, some insulation, pieces of an old Dunlop tennis ball... it was insane. I cleaned it all out and removed the remaining shreds of the underhood insulation (which seems to be ideal for nests). I placed dryer sheets all around the engine bay, since some say that the smell drives rodents away. What else can I do here? Thankfully the wiring has never been touched, yet... and I don't really care about the insulation. But this needs to stop!
I'll also add that the vehicle is parked outdoors in a carport near trees; no option to park indoors.
Where we've lived the past 5 years, it's much less rural, but still heavily wooded. This issue with the insulation being torn away and formed into nests has happened a few times since. But today was the worst. I opened the hood to find two GIANT nests on top of the valve cover, and next to the air intake box. I'm talking 4 or 5 handfulls of grass, straw, some insulation, pieces of an old Dunlop tennis ball... it was insane. I cleaned it all out and removed the remaining shreds of the underhood insulation (which seems to be ideal for nests). I placed dryer sheets all around the engine bay, since some say that the smell drives rodents away. What else can I do here? Thankfully the wiring has never been touched, yet... and I don't really care about the insulation. But this needs to stop!
I'll also add that the vehicle is parked outdoors in a carport near trees; no option to park indoors.