Unreal. My wife calls me at work this morning stating that she's stranded and that her '08 MCS has overheated. Of course, I drive 60 miles to reach her, and stop at home to grab some tools in the event that a simple fix could get her back on the road. While at home, I notice a fresh trail of coolant in the driveway from her parking spot to about 50 feet down the drive - from there it tapers off a lot. Being a car guy, I'm hoping that I would've noticed a massive leak coming from my M3, but who is to say for certain.

I closely examine the puddle where her car is normally parked and notice some black shards and fuzz amid the coolant. I didn't think much of it at the time, but I get on the road (here in Italy) and fortunately my wife made it to a safe spot along the autostrada. Her car, now cooled off, is re-filled with water, and I have her re-start it. Water immediately started running out of a hole in a hose located just behind the turbo. We shut the car down, examined the hose with a flashlight and realize that the hose has been chewed through.

130 Euro later, the car is at a BMW/Mini dealer and who knows if any serious damage was done while my wife drove 15 miles w/ a major coolant leak. FWIW, the car started right away at the dealer - I still agonize over the potentially shortened life span of the engine, especially when I know how easy my wife drives it..... Damn it!

Had to vent,

Ciao,

Jeff

Ugh, I go home examine the engine bay of the '98 Mini, and my '02 M3 and find mice/rat turds there too.

 

So sorry to hear! Rats are terrible when it comes to making nests in cars and eating wires and hoses. Hope there isn't too much damage.

 

That's one of those things about rats/mice that doesn't make any sense: WHY chew hoses and cables?!?!?!? If they were in the way, they shouldn't have moved into a car! Mice and rats belong in fields.

 

Rats and mice (and other rodents) must chew to wear down their teeth. Their teeth grow continuously, so if they don't get enough wear from their food, they chew other things.

Needless to say, this isn't an Italy problem or a MINI problem. You need to take it up with whomever designed rodents. (I've found that ultrasonic rodents repellers work well, but of course this isn't an option if you park outside or anywhere that you can't run an electric cord.)

 

After drinking the coolant, they are probably now exmice, or exrats.

 

I'm sure that God is frowning on me for that last remark..... Because of the coolant leak and the fact that we leave our dog Heidi outside (and possibly ingested antifreeze) I was grateful that she didn't get sick, or worse.

No news from the "stealer" today. Fortunately, we have a spare Mini....

Ciao,

Jeff

 

they eat mice and rats, and don't eat cars!

Matt

 

happened to my friend's M3 ..it's a sweet ride he has, Mice chewed through a bunch of electrical wiring in his car. It cost a nice little fortune to fix and identify all the wires that were cut ...pain in the butt really!!

 

Those sound like a good idea. I don't believe I've seen them but will look. Another option is to take a bucket, fill it with water (almost full), sprinkle grain (or what ever) on the surface and set bucket near car. Mice/Rats will skip the car, go for the grain, fall in and never bother you again.

Don't ask me how I know this.

Jim

 

I've found that most critter problems are not that the critters exist, but that they're in the wrong location (scorpions, black widows, rattlesnakes, tarantulas, mice, rats, houseflies, etc., etc.). (I lived in rural Colorado, so I had lots of challenges). Rather than kill them (which may make you feel good, but usually doesn't solve the problem and is bad karma anyway), I prefer to find innovative ways of encouraging them to relocate. Ultrasonic rodent repellers are one example...I've come up with many others over the years.

I also find great satisfaction in being able to outwit a creature with a brain the size of chickpea (same size as Paul Giamatti's soul, if you saw the movie).

 

Believe me when I say that it brings me NO pleasure to dispatch the little varmits, but I live on a farm and they won't leave. We are not talking about the occasional city mouse here, so the populatin has to be controled or I will have to re-locate. There are no rodents in our house, but the wife insists that my Mini has to live outside.

Jim

 

It's like a swimming pool for rats complete with a free lunch. Watch it, they'll show up with floaties soon.

 

My neighbor's dog once chewed up a bunch of wiring on the bottom of his truck. It (the truck) was only a couple months old and needed $800 in repairs. He let the dog live.