This morning I wanted to check my oil and this is what I found when I opened the hood. The raccoon seemed stuck with his head down. Honking my horn did not cause him to leave, which supported my idea he was stuck. I called animal control who sent a woman out. When she geared up to pull the critter out the raccoon would have nothing to do with it and went down and out. He has tore up the insulation which is strewn all over the engine, chewed through one hose and one set of wires seems to have some copper showing. I will take it in on Monday. Strange morning!
15 Comments
Tom Dills
Oh, man what a mess! One of the downsides I suppose of not driving as much. Although I don’t guess it took him long to do that much damage. It’s probably a good thing that you looked under the hood before you drove off!
Monte Stevens
Yes, checking the oil was the key. However, yesterday afternoon when I headed to Old Town to get more coffee beans the car would not idle properly. So, I turned around and went back home. It was raining and I did not want to get stuck somewhere. They may have been in there since yesterday.
Earl
Okay, you win, Monte. I’ve had mice and a squirrel get into the wiring under the hood before but never anything the size of a raccoon. Good luck with the repairs!
Monte Stevens
Dropped the car off this morning and will wait to see what they find. I drove it to the repair shop as it’s only a mile away. The check engine light came on, traction indicator light came on and the cruise control light was blinking. Sounds like wiring issues. 🙁
Tom Dills
With all the insulation damage, and you said bare wires, there are likely a number of things they were chewing on. You’ve likely already thought of this, but see if you can get any relief from your insurance company, either car insurance or homeowner’s. Yikes.
joe
Wow. Just, wow.
Monte Stevens
Total shock when I opened my car hood. 🙂
Cedric
Ok, so there’s something we don’t see in Australia 🙂
I have seen a 12ft long carpet snake coiled up around an engine block but nothing like a raccoon (not that we have any here). The snake didn’t chew on anything either I might add. I hope it can all get sorted easily and cheaply for you Monte.
Monte Stevens
Now a snake would freak me out, probably because we don’t have that many. But, like you said it would not chew anything up.
The total cost was $380, the highest price was for the insulation piece. My insurance deductible was $500 so it’s my bill. And, the raccoon got away unscathed.
Faye
Oh I am so sorry you’ve had to deal with this. I’ve heard of squirrels, etc getting into engine compartments and causing damage but never a raccoon. Ugh! What a mess!
Monte Stevens
Yes, a total mess. Repairs were pretty simple but not cheap, or at least not as cheap as I would have liked. I pick the car up this afternoon. Through this process I discovered I have only put 7,000 miles on my car in the past 12 months. I sure don’t drive as much as I have in the past. Hope you’re doing good!
Tom Dills
I suggest a road trip to Charlotte once the hysteria clears. That will put some miles on the car!
While high, that bill isn’t nearly as bad as I’d feared when you described all of the warning lights that were coming on.
Monte Stevens
The raccoon chewed off a rubber hose on the vacuum thingy which caused the computer to be confused on whether it had enough air, it’d rev up then almost die when idling. Runs fine now. The hood insulation was the expensive stuff.
Tom Dills
I once had a squirrel who liked to chew on the rubber hose of my gas grill. Except I didn’t know it until one day when I smelled gas! Solved it with a wire coil that wrapped around the line like a little Slinky. Did the job!
Mark
Yikes!! That’s pretty impressive he (she) was able to squeeze in there. Sorry about the damages though. You would think there would be a lot of easier places to shelter in that wouldn’t require so much effort.