Cleaning up after squirrel damage

[Kstinmb]

Squirrels that live in a tree in front of our house have been partying in the i3's engine compartment. They chewed up some wires and plastic, pissed on everything and made an awful mess. No broken wires that I can see and the i3 has been running fine.

Questions are:
(1) Can I safely hose down the nasty wiring, scrub it with soapy water and rinse it off with a hose? I would disconnect the high voltage system with the switch in the frunk. The area around the engine is open to water and spray from the road underneath, so I know it can get wet. Is it safe to use a hose on the cables?

All of the squirrel-away devices I can find online use an ultrasonic device with LED strobe lights. The i3 is parked in the driveway and if it has flashing lights underneath at night, the neighbors will complain and invite the police. (2) Are there any devices that don't have LED strobes?

As an immediate measure, I have some peppermint oil which I will dilute into water and spray around the engine bay after it's cleaned up. (3) Has anyone had success with peppermint? Or a recommendation for anything else?

Thx,
Stephen
Myrtle Beach SC
2014 BEV

Chewed and ruined insulation/isolation around the electric machine.

Mess and chewing.

More mess and chewing.

YUCK!!!!!YUCK!!!!!

Chewing the electrician's tape, cloth tape and the plastic wire cover.

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Location of chewed cable with exposed wire strands - inside right rear bumper. The photo was taken before the damage (Aug 2020).

Chewed cable insulation.

Chewed cable with exposed wire strands - each exposed area is only about 1/8" by 1/8".

 

[SSi3]

Yikes!

I would think you could clean it all up with soap and water, just being careful where you're spraying and with the strength of the spray. No different than cleaning an IC engine bay. Low flow water and a soapy rag/mitt, perhaps some degreaser spray.

I can't offer any help or opinion on deterring the squirrels other than to say i'm thankful I have a garage as the little monsters around here have left these same teeth marks on my plastic outdoor boxes for patio cushions and recycling bins.

Peppermint spray is worth a try, if anything the car will smell great when it gets warm!

 

[alohart]

I would think you could clean it all up with soap and water, just being careful where you're spraying and with the strength of the spray. No different than cleaning an IC engine bay. Low flow water and a soapy rag/mitt, perhaps some degreaser spray.

An IC engine bay doesn't contain 400 V cables and electronic modules. The chewed up coating in the first photo is on the ECE, the most expensive electronic module in an i3. I'm pretty sure that a new one would cost >$5k plus installation, so I wouldn't want to risk getting water inside of it. It should be water-tight, but it isn't expecting water on its top.

I would like to clean this very dusty area in our 2019 BEV, but no one has assured me that spraying it with water would not cause damage.

 

[MagicCarpet]

The Yellow cable with Green stripe is likely a ground bonding wire, so exposed strands shouldnt pose any risk.

The rest of the mess I would brush soapy water around, only the amount necessary to run off the residue there.
European wiring harnesses use a cloth with containing some oil which rodents like, the i3 is one of them.

High pitched sounders did work to keep rats out of our work building (they were set to operate when nobody was inside), if you can find an ultrasonic sounder or preferably two to bathe the area near the car, it might help. We actually put about a dozen cheap sonalerts in the building, set them all to steady tone. Got advice from a university, the prof. who took my call offered a first suggestion "get a cat" and was helpful in discussing the effect of audio and higher frequencies on the undesirables.
Good luck..Ralph