The “stuff” in question is stuffed up in a crevice under the hood (the end nearest the hinge), and seems to be shredded tissue, and some grayish-purple stringy lint-like material.
About a week and a half ago I noticed what seemed to be tiny pieces of tissue blow in through the vents when I had the heat on. It was just a couple of pieces, so I figured that I’d lost a tissue while adding wiper fluid. A couple of days ago I noticed a lot more, so I decided it might be pieces of air filter and got a new one. The filter did need replacing since it turned out to be black, but as I replaced it I discovered the source of the stuff coming through the vents.
Is there any reason it ought to be there?? I’ve seen insulation under a hood before, but that was kind of like felt, not shredded up paper and stringy stuff. My dad suggested that a little animal might have been trying to build a nest, but the car doesn’t sit around undriven for more than 3 or 4 days at a time…
It does seem to be near the wiper fluid, so I’m wondering if maybe it was an attempt to insulate that, which has since broken down. The car’s ten years old (though I’ve only had it a year) so maybe they didn’t have wiper fluids with antifreeze back then.
Anyway, can anyone think of a reason not to pull it all out like I intend to?
I have heard of small rodents (squirrels, field mice, etc.) attempting to build nests in the engine compartment of cars. This does not work well as cars tend to move.
It sounds like some critter decided to build a home in your car and found some grayish-purple stringy lint-like material to use. If this is the case, you should carefully remove the material.
Only thing I can think of is it may be the filter for air going into the passenger compartment. The filter you replaaced was for air going into the engine itself and it keeps grit from causing premature wear on the engine.
When you pull it out, see if it wae covering a hole or something that looks like an air intake of some sort. If so, you can replace it with a hunk of furnace filter cut to fit. (You can get it by the roll at Home Depot type places)
There must be some kind of filter to keep road dust out of the passenger compartment, the problem is, where??? I’ve never replaced such a filter not even seen one, but the passenger compartment of my cars has never been inundated with road dust when driving down very dusty roads following another vehicle.
You may want to look for a manual on your car at the library or a used book store. It wouldn’t hurt to have a repair manual just in case you need to do something like find the @#&! fuse for something.
Alternatively, you can find a car parts place where there are lots of guys going in and out with dirty fingernails and dragging their knuckles on the ground. Take a hunk of the stuff in and ask the counterman what it is. This will trigger the male answer syndrome and much commentary will ensue. (See subsequent replys to your post).
Usually the air intake for the heater-A/C is on the cowl just in front of the windshield. Since you did not mention the model only the year, I have no clue where the washer reservour is located but they are ususaly up near the grill, not close to the firewall.
My vote is you got a rat. It doesn’t take but a day or less for one to move in. The problem is they eat everything plastic, insulation, wiring you name it. We had a customer buy a brand new car and 3 days later it would not start because a rat had chewed the main battery cable in half. :eek:
Look under the hood, so you see littel chew marks on any of the underhood insulation? Plastic parts? Are there any little piles of rat shit on top of the engine? Leaves, twigs, and stuff where it doesn’t belong?
If you have rats (or mice) they can do thousands of dollars of damage to your car in almost nothing flat. I strongly suggest you find the source of the problem and get it fixed pronto.
It’s against the windshield too, unlike every other car I’ve driven. (and ftr, it’s a Dodge Shadow) If it is an animal, squirrels, chipmunks or mice are far more likely than rats, since rats aren’t very common in this area. Too rural for them to make a good living eating garbage I guess. I didn’t notice anything chewed earlier, but I’ll take a look after work, assuming it’s still light out when I get home.
My company made welt cord which is used in upholstered furniture, to hide the seams. Actually it is more of a decorative product. Ours was made from tissue paper and the diameter varied from 3/32" up to 1". The company we bought the business from was a supplier of the auto manufacturers. One minor item they made was the same as our welt cord, but was 4" to 6" in diameter. When new models of cars came out they didn’t use this product. After a few months, complaints would come in about unwanted rattles and other noises. The auto companies would then start ordering this product cut in certain lengths (usually put in a plastic bag) and they would shove one in a fender, door, under the dash, etc., etc. What you have is another product they manufactured which is a padding made from “shoddy” (ground up scraps of fabric). It is usually used in doors, visors, seating, etc.
Now for my guess as to what you have. The customers complained about a rattle in a place that the first product I mentioned wouldn’t work. So they took a piece of padding, which is made up of different color threads and stuck it in place. After 10 years of getting wet it has come apart. Take it out, but you probably will need to put something back in place of it.
If that isn’t it, it might be a rat or it could be a squirrel or many years ago we had shrews nesting in our car. :smack:
It’s mice. By chance do you keep any kind of road snax in your vehicle? My mistake was a partial bag of Werther’s toffees, and the little buggers left yellow foil wrappers under the hood, in the air cleaner, in the driveway, in addition to making nests from underhood/trunk insulation. More kitties/no snax/no mice.
