Borescope Fun

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Joined
Jan 31, 2009
Threads
35
Messages
5,794
Location
Michigan
Last time I parked for several days at my remote cabin in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, a chipmunk hauled acorns and nesting material into the usual spot under the intake manifold. I know it was a chipmunk because my dog repeated terrorized it as it ventured out of my wood shed and frequently escaping under the cruiser. I cleaned out what I could with a retractable grabber thingie, but when I got home I wanted to make sure I got it all out with disassembly of the engine topside. So I Amazoned a lighted borescope with a 4.3" color screen and scoped out both sides of the under-intake area. Turns out there was a lot more chipmunk stuff that I went after with the grabber and a vacuum. The scope showed me I eventually cleaned it up and the wiring was all ok. Now that I have a borescope, I'm sure I'll use it to peer in other places in my LC I can't otherwise get at.
 
I had the same thing happen about 6 weeks ago, I used a cheaper borescope that uses WiFi to connect to your phone as the screen, works really well. In my case, it showed more than I could reach with all my vacuum accessories, so the intake had to come off. No pictures this time, I was too pissed off (second time this year). At least this time they didn't chew any wires.
 
What borescope? I was actually looking at them recently for a house project
 
I bought this one. Lots of potential uses around the house too, so I got the 33' version (way overkill for the LC uses!).

Amazon product ASIN B082WCXPV5
Thanks, I may go this route. I initially was looking at one because I was redoing some HVAC duct work and had discovered that some PO had buried one of the returns in a room under sheetrock. I was going to use it to try and measure the distance so I could guess where to cut the hole for it. (Ultimately I did a bunch of measurements and some guess work and got really lucky). But I can see one being useful for scoping out sewer/plumbing/electrical conduit runs, especially the longer ones
 
Last time I parked for several days at my remote cabin in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, a chipmunk hauled acorns and nesting material into the usual spot under the intake manifold. I know it was a chipmunk because my dog repeated terrorized it as it ventured out of my wood shed and frequently escaping under the cruiser. I cleaned out what I could with a retractable grabber thingie, but when I got home I wanted to make sure I got it all out with disassembly of the engine topside. So I Amazoned a lighted borescope with a 4.3" color screen and scoped out both sides of the under-intake area. Turns out there was a lot more chipmunk stuff that I went after with the grabber and a vacuum. The scope showed me I eventually cleaned it up and the wiring was all ok. Now that I have a borescope, I'm sure I'll use it to peer in other places in my LC I can't otherwise get at.
Funny you said that, I just cleaned out what looked like years old mouse nest- exactly same area left side of the manifold where pcv valve is located. Some chewed paper and most of it was fiberglass insulation. I used shop vac with clear hose extension taped to the end of the hose, worked very well, some pieces did not go inside the hose but suction was enough to pull them out. Did not look like resident evil was there for a long but I was sure concerned with what could be knock sensor wire being right there in the middle. Little rodents like to chew on the wires and that could quickly turn into a large project requiring manifold removal.
 
Funny you said that, I just cleaned out what looked like years old mouse nest- exactly same area left side of the manifold where pcv valve is located. Some chewed paper and most of it was fiberglass insulation. I used shop vac with clear hose extension taped to the end of the hose, worked very well, some pieces did not go inside the hose but suction was enough to pull them out. Did not look like resident evil was there for a long but I was sure concerned with what could be knock sensor wire being right there in the middle. Little rodents like to chew on the wires and that could quickly turn into a large project requiring manifold removal.
Yup, in the event I had to remove the manifold for wiring repair, I had on hand the manifold gaskets and knock sensor harness, as well as a roll of Honda’s anti-rodent tape for wires. I lucked out this time with no damage, but once the little dudes find that cozy spot, its hard to keep them out.
 
I put this doohickey under the manifold the first time it happened to me and I had to replace the harness. Made it out of a piece of scrap out of my bin.

IMG_20200818_181636.webp

IMG_20200818_184806.webp


That spot where I put it is a nice open cozy spot for them, but not anymore. That is also the only section of the harness that is not encased in split loom, but mine is now, with special tape.

I didn't bother replacing the gaskets the second time I had to pull it off. They are nice gaskets.

Meanwhile I have been unsuccessful at getting all the mice out of my garage, despite all the usual traps. I've got quite a few, but not all. I know they are still coming in, because if I toss a handful of sunflower seeds on the floor, they are gone the next day. This one seems to not like peanut butter, won't touch it. Ignores snap traps and walks across glue traps (I think they aren't sticky enough in the cold). I ordered one of these kits last week, and the USPS seems to have lost it.

 
I put this doohickey under the manifold the first time it happened to me and I had to replace the harness. Made it out of a piece of scrap out of my bin.

View attachment 2534374
View attachment 2534375

That spot where I put it is a nice open cozy spot for them, but not anymore. That is also the only section of the harness that is not encased in split loom, but mine is now, with special tape.

I didn't bother replacing the gaskets the second time I had to pull it off. They are nice gaskets.

Meanwhile I have been unsuccessful at getting all the mice out of my garage, despite all the usual traps. I've got quite a few, but not all. I know they are still coming in, because if I toss a handful of sunflower seeds on the floor, they are gone the next day. This one seems to not like peanut butter, won't touch it. Ignores snap traps and walks across glue traps (I think they aren't sticky enough in the cold). I ordered one of these kits last week, and the USPS seems to have lost it.


Appreciate the photo, a lot more going on under the manifold than I thought.

To keep mice away in a very humane way, take your old retired clock radio (dream machine), tune to heavy metal or rock station and leave on medium volume. Rodents are not big fans of such music and would quickly move on to your neighbors 😜
 
To keep mice away in a very humane way, take your old retired clock radio (dream machine), tune to heavy metal or rock station and leave on medium volume. Rodents are not big fans of such music and would quickly move on to your neighbors 😜

Hmmm... I might try that, but I don't have any old clock radios here anymore. Maybe next time I'm going past Goodwill or Savers, I'll grab a cheap one. Thanks, it's worth a try.
 
Hmmm... I might try that, but I don't have any old clock radios here anymore. Maybe next time I'm going past Goodwill or Savers, I'll grab a cheap one. Thanks, it's worth a try.

Or Wally’s World, they are likely under $20.

We boat a lot and leave house unattended for days. My wife often leaves me “on the water” and absolutely hates to deal with cleaning up a dead mouse from the trap. Well, little rodents know when you are away and would get in inside your home. So I started using the radio solution and as long as you leave it on fairly loud - no issues - they stay away, seems like they like peace and quiet.
 
Also tried Black and Decker chirper - noise making machine - which should keep pests away, garbage, do not waste your money, old radio works a lot better.
 
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