[Lilly2024]

Time to set up some traps I guess?

We did. We have a small dog so we have to be careful. The thing that works the best are the sticky traps. We try to put him in a secure place in the engine and put them inside the vehicle on the mats. We tried the just one bite bait stations but one got in the car and died and that was terrible. It's also a secondary killer, so if the dog were to eat the sick mouse floundering on the ground it would kill her too. If I didn't love the birdd so much I'd have a pack of cats! It's a real PIA!

 

[Lilly2024]

Manufacturer's went to Save the Planet soy wire insulation which rodents love. My understanding is that the old petroleum ones from the past weren't their favorite.

That's a fact. I've been researching it for a while. They ate the wiring harness to my CRV in 2005...$2800. They ate the wiring harness to my Husband's 350Z in 2010, $4000, and they ate the emission sensor and knock sensor wires on my tacoma in September $6400!!! dollars...labor only to repair them, not replace! Insurance paid it all thank God! We found acorns in the blower fan and the inside. Debris all around the batteries and nest making material. We found signs of them off and on but they didn't do major damage except for those three times. They are drawn to that soy based plastic around the wires. Honda makes some rodent proof tape that you can put on your wires. How you going to find and tape them all? I have no garage, they are were under the carport on a gravel pad. 2 cars parked there all the time. The crawl up the tires and up the shocks and struts and get into the engine, they go through the air intakes to get into the cabin. I hate them! I've tried peppermint oil. We open the hoods and put lights on the engine at night, they hate lights and prefer the dark. I'm putting a strobe light above my engine bay and one at the back of the car hanging from the trailer hitch at night. I read the can't function with the strobe light. I can't afford for them to eat this car that's all electronics that's for sure! I live I the middle 67 acres, all woods. Mice mostly. It was a pack rat in the 350z. My husband found him hiding under the engine cover in the vee between the heads. He was so mad, he got his pellet gun and shot him while in the engine.

 

[Lilly2024]

... No, I don't off-road that often and the car is garaged. All the debris was loose vs being matted down if a rodent took up residence. The intake hole in the base of the enclosure is at least 1/2" x 1/2" and forward facing. Between the exhaust fan and forward facing intake hole, it probably sucks in quite a bit of debris over the course of 120K+ miles. It included lots of tumble weeds out west.

That's crazy they would make it that way. I'll have to be vigilant since I live on a dirt road. It gets covered with tree limbs and leaves, pine needles and sticks every time we have a big storm! That was wild to see a cigarette in there 😂. That was dumb that they put that darn battery in there the way they did... where you can't even get to the negative post or even see the battery box.

 

[Lilly2024]

There is an opening on the front lower bumper on the drive side that intakes air into the battery box to keep the battery cool. Maybe it got sucked in there.

With all the people that had to change their battery, you would think that someone else would have noticed that and posted it. I tried to Google it but there's nothing about the battery box collecting debris. 🤷 Maybe he off-roads a lot.

 

[Lilly2024]

Today was battery replacement day....

Background:

• 5+ years old (2019) and 126,000 miles on the odometer.
• When I had the battery checked by the local auto parts store a few months earlier, the battery health was at 80% (still okay).
• Recently and periodically, the engine has not been cranking and starting immediately. Colder temperatures results in higher current draw... highlighting a weak battery.
• The battery voltage (vehicle OFF) was at 12.1V... a healthy battery should be higher.

Replacement Battery:

• AGM (Absorbent Glass Mat) type battery
• Size H6-AGM / Group Size 48
• try to find one with "760 CCA (Cold Cranking Amp) / 950 CA (Cranking Amp)" ... Everstart at Walmart or Interstate at Costco are probably the least expensive options

DIY Video:

Here is an existing DIY video for the Honda Pilot (same for the Passport 2019-2025?).​

​

Notes from my replacement:

• Only tools required are a Phillips screwdriver, 10mm long socket, ratchet and vacuum.
• An easy DIY, but you may need a little help with removing and inserting the 46lb battery.
• The battery sits inside a plastic case.
• There is a exhaust fan on the battery enclosure to keep the battery cool (1st photo).
• There is a lot of debris that accumulates inside the enclosure! I believe that debris enters via the upper left corner (2nd photo).
• It would be prudent to clean out the enclosure, especially in hot climates (heat kills batteries).

View attachment 22659 View attachment 22660

Wow there's a cigarette butt in there. There's no way that just blew in there. It looks like mouse nest material. We've had a problem with those little dirty boogers. They ate the wiring harness on three of our cars and made nests all over. One above the gas tank. Around the battery. They had to take the gas tank off to get to fix the wires for the emissions control. They ate the wires to the knock sensor. Had to take the engine apart to get to that darn thing! Thank God I had insurance! My interior fan behind the glove box was full of acorns. Every now and then we'll find an acorn here and there. I open the hood to my car at night and I have a strobe light in the engine and one behind it now. So far so good. The joys of living in the woods! Be a good idea to check your car all over. We had to put wire on the air intakes where that goes into the air conditioning system. They also came up the engine intake hose and try to eat its way through the filter. It got my husband's 350Z in the hatch back where the spare tire was and built a nest on it. Three different cars several years apart.