Do I smell a rat??

[grsd03]

Hey guys,

I\'ve had my m3 tucked away in my garage for last couple of months during the winter (have another vehicle for winter). Last week, I went into the garage and noticed rat droppings. Since then Ive been trying to catch the bastard but haven\'t had no luck. Today I thought I would move everything out of the garage and try finding it. Upon starting the m3 (hasn\'t been started for two months and has been on a trickle charger) I noticed smoke coming from under the hood and it smelt horrible. It want that much smoke but was noticeable as I had the hood open. My question is was this the rat that I smelt? I know it was still active in and around the garage the night before so I know it was already dead in there.

Or my other concern is was this an indication of something wrong with the m3?

Also I know my accident I left the battery trickle charger on in my hast to move the m3 out of the garage. Could this of cause it?

[grsd03]

Sorry for the spelling mistakes guys trying to type quickly on my phone.

To just clarify I know it was not dead before starting the m3.

[Foodle]

It's possible that there was a collection of rat dropping and maybe a rat's nest in your engine, which is what caused the smoking and smell. It's also possible that you have a pulverized, cooked rat splattered around your engine bay. Have you looked around the engine to see if you could see anything?

... and we need pics!

P.S. Forgot one other possibility, which is that the rat may have chewed up something in the engine. They do like to chew and collect material for their nests.

[tibra1]

You should really use stabil fuel stabilizer if you are going to leave it that long..my guess is thats it was bad fuel not the rat you were smelling..

What you ABSOLUTELY need to be concerned with is finding the rat..because rats/mice will eat away at ANYTHING...your wires in the engine bay for example

[SchnellM3]

Originally Posted by tibra1

You should really use stabil fuel stabilizer if you are going to leave it that long..my guess is thats it was bad fuel not the rat you were smelling..

What you ABSOLUTELY need to be concerned with is finding the rat..because rats/mice will eat away at ANYTHING...your wires in the engine bay for example

+1

Stabil is cheap I just put the whole bottle in all the cars when I fill them up before storage. Then on the trip home from the station it has a chance to work its way through everything...

[grsd03]

Thanks for the fast reply guys.

I did use stabilizer before putting it away.

I haven't looked under the hood yet as I don't want an angry rat jumping out at me haha.

I will definately upload pics if there is some splatter.

That bastard better not of ate any wires on my baby!!!!

[M3PO]

I'm guessing it's a nest. You should find it because it could start a fire if it's near the headers.

[SchnellM3]

Did you find anything?

[robb7979]

Fuel stabilizer is usually only necessary for 2-cycle engines. Overkill for anything else besides long term storage or extended sub zero temps.

That's my story, I'm sticking to it. Flame me if you want.

[Cdnrockies]

Originally Posted by Foodle

It's possible that there was a collection of rat dropping and maybe a rat's nest in your engine, which is what caused the smoking and smell. It's also possible that you have a pulverized, cooked rat splattered around your engine bay. Have you looked around the engine to see if you could see anything?

... and we need pics!

P.S. Forgot one other possibility, which is that the rat may have chewed up something in the engine. They do like to chew and collect material for their nests.

We experienced a similar situation last year with the ML. We had pack rats under the neighbours canoe and they had crawled up into the engine bay and had been gnawing out the fire retardant engine insulation to make nests.

[Erie Von Otto]

What I would be concerned with is the possibility of a fire. Do a thorough 100% inspection in the engine bay and throughout before taking her out for a spin. Just my thoughts.

[SenorFunkyPants]

My bet would be on the trickle charger still being connected when you drove out of the garage. Maybe the wires shorted as they were pulled off the battery connectors in the engine bay.

[SchnellM3]

Originally Posted by robb7979

Fuel stabilizer is usually only necessary for 2-cycle engines. Overkill for anything else besides long term storage or extended sub zero temps.

That's my story, I'm sticking to it. Flame me if you want.

OP has his car stored away for winter in Canada, I believe he qualifies for some....

[stefan]

Buy a snake and set it loose in the garage!

[Gkap]

Originally Posted by stefan

Buy a snake and set it loose in the garage!

best answer so far

[Foodle]

Originally Posted by stefan

Buy a snake and set it loose in the garage!

You never know, could be a badass rat:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/ear...-to-death.html

Need update. This thread could be epic ...

[robb7979]

Originally Posted by SchnellM3

OP has his car stored away for winter in Canada, I believe he qualifies for some....

Subzero meaning Fahrenheit. I lived in buffalo for years. Never used it on anything but 2-cycles. Never had a problem. It can't hurt.

[stefan]

Originally Posted by Foodle

You never know, could be a badass rat:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/ear...-to-death.html

Need update. This thread could be epic ...

Good god. Might need a bigger snake.

[ksflatlander]

Get some poison called "Nibblers". They are about 1 inch square and you can put a couple under your car and scatter some others around the edges of your garage. They WORK. As their name implies, one little nibble and they are done.

Other posters are RIGHT - do NOT ignore this situation - a single rat (or even a small mouse) can do thousands of dollars of damage to your wiring in a very short period of time.

NIBBLERS DUDE ---- TAH DAY!!

[Foodle]

Originally Posted by ksflatlander

Get some poison called "Nibblers".

My problem with poison is that they don't die immediately. They go crawl off someplace and die. Decomposing rat smell coming from between the walls is not pleasant. I prefer the electric shock traps, since you can tell that you got them and you know where they are.

[DDS2015]

A couple years a go my brother-in-law left his Range Rover parked outside overnight and a rabbit crawled up into the engine bay. Next morning comes out and pulls away and there's just a rabbit carcass with no head.... I would look under your hood.

[TVMA Doc]

Originally Posted by tibra1

You should really use stabil fuel stabilizer if you are going to leave it that long..my guess is thats it was bad fuel not the rat you were smelling..

What you ABSOLUTELY need to be concerned with is finding the rat..because rats/mice will eat away at ANYTHING...your wires in the engine bay for example

So you're saying that the M3 doesn't run well on lacquer? I'd agree. Most engines don't like fuel that has been left sitting for months on end.