|
|
|
My 245 has been sitting for the last few weeks due to travel and just generally being too busy to drive it.
I went to use it yesterday and heard that "dry leaf" crunch sound when opening the driver's door that I've heard so many times before at the junkyards. Sure enough there was a little paper wasp nest starting in the door jamb. Fortunately they weren't around! But then I noticed wasps around the outside passenger side door jamb. Another nest was on that side. I checked the tailgate and rear doors and didn't see anything else. I dislodged the front passenger side nest and crushed it, but before I could get back around to the driver's side I saw a couple wasps go in, and then I saw a couple go into the cowl vent. At that point I just left the area as it seemed they were responding to an alarm!
So I'm pretty sure I have a wasp nest in the cowl vent too. I can handle the driver's door jamb easy enough, but what to do about the cowl? I can't even get close enough to see if it's visible, and won't spraying poison risk getting it into the ventilation system? There could be nests in the rockers even, no?
I'm thinking I should just get a hose and flush the cowl out with water. I cleaned the rockers out really well about 1.5 years ago and have snow caps so they shouldn't be too clogged with leaves/debris.
Any other ideas?
|
|
-
|
|
|
Like you, I don't like to use an insecticide to spray where I might wind up breathing residual toxins.
However, I've found that ordinary BrakeKleen spray kills the wasps instantly, as quick as a powerful wasp-killer spray, and the beauty of using BrakeKleen is that the fumes volatilize immediately without any residual order or residue -- no lingering insecticide in the vents or in the door jam. It kills by literally rapidly dissolving its way through the chitin exoskeleton and destroying the tissues within.
Also, the solvent is harmless to most of the car -- only the car's paint's wax protection will be affected, but that's true of a wasp spray as well. Just rewax the finish afterwards.
As Klaus suggested, wait until after dark when the whole nest's population is together, and then you can spray them all and kill every last one of them.
Good luck.
|
|
-
|
|
|
Thanks a lot Ken. Great tips! I'm going to go with the brake cleaner spray and hopefully that will take care of the problem. Then I'll go straight to the car wash and the next morning I'm installing some screens. Did you just tape it under the hood? How exactly did you attach the screen? I love the matching color of the snow caps. I tried that with mine but they didn't come out as nice.
Also, I believe that it was last spring I had my car parked for a few weeks in the same lot and ended up getting a wasp nest attached under the rear bumper. I'll have to really go over the whole car thoroughly I'm afraid.
Did I mention there was a dead mouse in the rear passenger foot well to boot! I had found a nest of field mice in the small trunk compartment last fall and have been leaving glue traps ever since. So far it's Man 2 - Mice 0.
Needless to say I'm pretty excited about having a driveway where I can park and use my car on a regular basis again.
|
|
-
|
|
|
Hi. I attached the screens (a flexible "fabric", probably a plastic like nylon, rather than a stiff metal screen -- available in any hardward store) by using a hot glue gun. First, with the snow caps off and upside down, I attached the screen at just a few points, pushing the melted glue through the screen, just to hold it in place. Then I ran a continuous bead of hot glue along the inner edges so it wouldn't show. Then I trimmed the remaining screen with a scissor, but with a long "tail" of screen down, where I attached the bottom by tucking it under the heavy rubber strip that extends the width of the engine compartment (you'll see it when you lift the hood) -- just partly pull off the strip, tuck the screen under, and reposition that rubber strip.
For painting the '93's snow caps to match, it was just a lot of light coats of spray (Volvo's own cans, not an aftermarket brand) that followed a light sand papering, over many hours, and then a few final coats of clear coat (also a Volvo's own can).
Have fun. And good luck with the rest of the vermin.
|
|
-
|
|
|
Thanks again for the help with this.
I finally got to it this weekend and was successful eradicating the 3 nests (that I could find). There were plenty of larvae present but only 1 "guard" wasp that I came across, so these were indeed active nests. I used brake cleaner to kill the guard and then removed the nests and crushed them. The cowl vent nest I took care of by basically squishing with needle-nose pliers and pulling up through the vent. Some bits fell into the cowl but washed out easily with some water I poured down. Hopefully this is the extent of the problem. Now it's on to more pressing issues like a tune-up and replacing the fuel pump relay!
|
|
-
|
|
|
You got yourself a Brick Magnet.But you are attracting the wrong things!
|
|
-
|
|
|
One thought I offer is a method I have used to eradicate honeybees with an established hive in a home's bathroom duct. Keep in mind that a honeybee hive has THOUSANDS of bees compared to the number of wasps in a wasp nest. I have used a shop vac. Perhaps reapplying this technique you could seal up the cowl vents and the drain holes at the bottom of the "A" pillars. I don't think a '92 has a vent at the driver's knee because of the knee bolster installation. Blower motor vents can be closed. Working one side at a time, remove a plug from a rocker panel and stick a hose from the shop van as far forward as you can. You might be able to draw enough vacuum to pull the wasps into the shop vac. Before starting the shop vac, sprinkle Sevin Dust garden pesticide into the bucket. This may kill them before you open the shop vac.
For the fun of Volvos,
Mike
--
'92 245DL, '90 760 GLT
|
|
-
|
|
|
Wasps are very protective towards their nest. A couple are normally on 'guard' for intruders and will follow a threat to chase the threat away.
When the sun goes down, the wasps are all at the nest site. That makes killing them easy because they cannot fly when the sun is down - they would get lost if they did.
For ground nests, I usually use a 1/4 cup of gasoline and pour it down the hole. The fumes will kill them all in short order. Please, do not light the fumes!
For your car, you could use wasp spray or any oil based spray product. You could even take it to a car wash to remove the flying critters. Then remove the nest before you get back home.
--
My name is Klaus and I am a V ♂ lv ♂ holic
|
|
-
|
|
|
Thanks guys.
The car wash sounds like a good idea, thanks Klaus. Is there a risk of them coming into the car from the cowl vent though? Or am I ok so long as the air recycle switch is not engaged? I know leaves can get inside the dash so why not wasps? I had actually thought about a car wash but then envisioned angry wasp invaders coming up from under the dash and through the air vents with me locked inside! I'm being crazy right?
|
|
-
|
|
The path for the leaves will be the same for any wasps. Don't bank on your recirc door actually shutting. It is the intermediate position they take up when the actuator motor dies that allows the leaves to overflow onto your transmission hump, otherwise the path from the cowl would be sealed, and the evaporator core would be the barrier they could not penetrate. Clip their wings. Ha!
If you do shoot wasp killer into your cowl, just follow up with a water hose to keep the insecticide out of your airflow.
@ friend john: Brake cleaner melt paint? Never heard of any that does. What brand? Tell us please! Now if you were thinking of brake fluid...
--
Art Benstein near Baltimore
All the trouble I've ever been in started out as fun.....
|
|
-
|
|
|
Thanks again guys. I'm actually in the middle of a move and the car is parked in a lot that I can't really get to until the end of next week. I wish that weren't the case, but at least we're moving to a place that can accommodate all the cars which means they'll get regular use/maintenance. I'll let you know how it works out ...
|
|
-
|
|
|
I thought you had already moved.I was going to suggest returning to the city! But the city is having a bee problem in places,go figure.
|
|
-
|
|
|
If you turn the blower to high speed, any incoming wasps should have their wings clipped or they will be so dizzy that they won't fly for a while :>)
You could roll the windows down, spray a little carb cleaner down the cowl, wipe off the excess on the surface, and let it sit for 30 minutes. Then take it to the car wash.
--
My name is Klaus and I am a V ♂ lv ♂ holic
|
|
-
|
|
|
I've found brake cleaner spray to be effective at killing wasp nests in my parts cars and shed. It evaporates pretty quickly so maybe it wouldn't foul your heating system. -- Dave
|
|
-
|
|
|
depending on the formulation, brake cleaner can also remove paint. I would be wary of compromising the finish in the depths of the cowl where rust could start.
john
--
1989 245 236K / 1993 945 127K
|
|
-
|
|
|
Only advice I could give is go out early in the morning when they are somewhat dormant.
--
Post Back. That's whats makes this forum work.
|
|
|
|
|
