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Last week my clutch started slipping on my '15 Boxster (26k miles). Turns out the slippage wasn't from wear, but by a ton of mouse nest, nuts and other junk in there. The shop that did the work said they've seen a few of these lately on Boxster/Caymens, so just wanted to put this out as a heads-up for those that might be susceptible. I'm going to put out a bunch of traps/poison to prevent this happening again, but if anyone has found something more effective, let me know.
If you haven't already done so, check for nesting in the area where the battery is located. I removed a cardboard box-full of nesting from that area one winter.
As for eliminating the mice, be careful with poisons if you or your neighbors have outside pets. Snap traps work okay with some mice but some are too small to set them off.
Instead, I used this...Yeah, I thought it was ridiculous too until I built one and caught nine mice in one night. I kept it baited until I went three nights without catching one and haven't had a problem since. YRMV...
Just to follow up, a few pics of the mouse damage, courtesy of Musante Mortorsports in CT (who were a pleasure to deal with).
I honestly don't know how a mouse could survive in there long enough to build whatever it was building ( I use the car pretty much daily).
Anyway, the good news is my insurance is going to reimburse most of it under my comprehensive coverage.
as far as how they got in, there appear to be three holes. not sure how plugged up these are when the trans is in the car, but there's a good chance they are wide open.
I do park in a garage but drive nearly every day, except when on vacation. I'm not surprised mice are around, especially in the winter, because I've seen them. What does surprise me is they kept coming back enough times to move all that material in - that didn't happen in a day or two. Wouldn't a single drive stir things up enough to either kill the mouse or at least dissuade them from coming back?
I had a knee surgery a year ago and didn't drive for 4 weeks. Could have happened then, but the slipping didn't show up until May of this year.
Thanks for pointing out those holes. At least one mystery solved. Any idea what the purpose is other than a door for mice?
What does surprise me is they kept coming back enough times to move all that material in - that didn't happen in a day or two.
It definitely could have happened overnight...I live in a rural area and am constantly battling mice in/around my garages and cars. In my experience, the amount of nesting material shown in your images could easily be brought in by mice in one overnight period if the source of the fabric was nearby. One morning, I had a dead battery in my pick-up. Opened the hood and found a mouse nest about the size of a softball on the back of the engine block. Sucked it out with a shop vac, removed the dead battery, went to work, bought a new battery on the way home and when I opened the hood to put the new battery in, the nest was back...Took them only 9 hours. Turns out I had left a couple of old towels on the floor next to the truck and they were shredding that and using it for the nest. I've found that removing food sources (Birdseed, pet food, etc.) and keeping the garage area clear of toweling, cloths, etc. discourages them, but I've also seen them bring birdseed into my garage from under the bird feeders. If you see droppings, they're there.
It absolutely can happen that fast. I bet it'd take less than an hour or two once the material is found.
Originally Posted by jay@EZimmoblock.com
Thanks for pointing out those holes. At least one mystery solved. Any idea what the purpose is other than a door for mice?
I can only speak generally here, I'm not familiar with the 981 platform. The clutch slave cylinder rod hole is there because of a moving part -- these usually have dust boots, but not always. The other two holes strike me as inspection ports or tool access for torquing/breaking something loose when fully assembled. Holes like this tend to have rubber plugs/grommets in them to prevent unwanted ingress, but again, not always.
as far as how they got in, there appear to be three holes. not sure how plugged up these are when the trans is in the car, but there's a good chance they are wide open.
The big hole in the back is for the slave cylinder, so they definitely didn't come in thru that. That leaves the other two little holes. I have no idea how they got in thru those. Must have been very little mice. I wouldn't have believed this possible if it wasn't for the pictures!
... Opened the hood and found a mouse nest about the size of a softball on the back of the engine block. Sucked it out with a shop vac, removed the dead battery, went to work, bought a new battery on the way home and when I opened the hood to put the new battery in, the nest was back...Took them only 9 hours..
Wow. Had no idea mice could worked that fast. Certainly solves that mystery!. I definitely had A LOT of junk in the garage for over a year they could have quickly gotten to to make that nest. All gone now, and I've added a bunch of traps, including that YouTube one,.
Thanks for the feedback.
Last edited by jay@EZimmoblock.com; 07-18-2024 at 08:07 PM.
as far as how they got in, there appear to be three holes. not sure how plugged up these are when the trans is in the car, but there's a good chance they are wide open.
Thanks. If I had seen these before the repair work was done I would have definitely looked into plugging them up if not necessary for proper clutch operation.
I feel your pain with all this. I live in South Florida and my home is near the water (intracoastal). I have a workshop/garage separate from the house and the car sits under a cover as well as a plastic "shower cap" over that. I have had mice nest in the area near the battery. Luckily they haven't chewed any wiring, just some foam that I have just ordered to replace. I cleaned out all the nesting material which was pieces of palm tree. I really need to get a handle on them before something worse happens. I need to try that bucket method I guess. I have tried poison bates, repellent (mint) etc. which has short term affects, but I think its one pesky mouse that's hanging around. The hunt for Stuart Little is still on!
06-10-2024, 12:50 PM
Mice in my clutch
