So yesterday, a marten visited me, it probably wanted to make a den in the space between the soundproofing wall of the engine and the cabin, it tried to eat the foam in the space between and scattered it all over the engine bay, because surprise - it is actually foam and not cotton candy. And because it probably didn't like it there, it bit through the hoses in the cooling circuit, I'm guessing somewhere near the heat converter to the cabin (the heater didn't start even after a few km, I attributed it to the cold morning). I found out that something was wrong only after 10 minutes while driving uphill, when the temperature needle shot from a beautiful optimum to red faster than a rocket with Gagarin into space. I already suspected that something was wrong, so I opened the hood and the coolant was everywhere except in the cooling system and I see the foam from soundproof wall everywhere. It probably didn't bite it all the way through, but only a little, so when the car was stationary, nothing leaked, so there was no puddle under the car either, but when the coolant pump started, it logically started to gush out like a shot deer. Then I opened the coolant tank after it had cooled, and there was about as much of it as is left in a bottle of voda after hardcore Finish rave.
Now I'm dreading what the service bill will be like. I will probably say fuck it when it comes tothe soundproofing wall,the car is a beater anyway, but I assume that the new radiator hoses will be needed. Do you have similar experiences, how much did such a bloody uninvited visit cost you?
Welp, a marten is new to me, but I do have a war with rats. Almost all insulation is gone and the buggers haven't shown any signs of surrender. Hoses are replaceable, especially radiator in my experience. Usually kinda cheap. But the real PITA are the wiring looms. Gotta protect those wires. I've resoldered injectors, sensors, and just did the starter solinoid. (Had to take the whole intake off to get to that bugger!)
If a car sits for long, drive over a tarp and wrap the car like a giant diaper. Keeps pests from getting under.
We've totaled cars because of rats. Its a sad way to lose a car.
Yeah, friend of mime had to do whole wiring harness due to rats recently, with labor it costs him over 2000$. And after that, his cat is on cheap dry food diet, because it is useless, as he said.