Airbox Critter Screen

[Mopper]

Between the cat & K&N chain it’s a start. I just need to get the cat in the garage. Still think the chain mail armor in the K&N helps, but probably the petroleum spirits imbedded in the K&N filter media may be the best deterrent! Just kidding guys - sorry you’re having that rodent problem.

Have you looked at these articles on soy-based wiring harnesses?

Full List of Cars with Soy-Based Wiring (2026 Update)

Discover the full list of cars with soy-based wiring, why it matters, and how to protect your vehicle from rodent damage and costly repairs.

www.box-kat.com

I do agree the pad in the filter housing is looking more & more like it was intended as a sound deadener.

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Do you keep a rotating set?


...a Mecham excels at sports...

 

[TrailWhale]

After finding a deceased litter of 5 baby mice in my airbox I have joined the critter screen party.

• 1/4 hardware cloth
• UL rated 3M aluminum tape

I didn’t remove the box from the cruiser. Just made a crude tracing of the area on a sheet of paper, cut the chicken wire appropriately, and started taping it in.

I now have a several lifetime supply of this wire screen and fancy tape.

 

[Red67FB]

Nice job on the mod! I'm sorry you joined the club. Looks like they were doing a little tooth sharpening on your airbox. I'm assuming they destroyed the "pad" for nesting material as they did mine?

 

[TrailWhale]

Nice job on the mod! I'm sorry you joined the club. Looks like they were doing a little tooth sharpening on your airbox. I'm assuming they destroyed the "pad" for nesting material as they did mine?

Yeah, absolutely wrecked the little pad. I have no idea how long they were in there. I was just checking the engine air filter out of curiosity after I replaced the cabin air filter.

(Image edited to make the dead baby mice a bit cuter instead of weird little toy pigs)

 

[Mopper]

Yeah, absolutely wrecked the little pad. I have no idea how long they were in there. I was just checking the engine air filter out of curiosity after I replaced the cabin air filter.

(Image edited to make the dead baby mice a bit cuter instead of weird little toy pigs)

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better the pad than the filter!

 

[Mark H]

My wife feeds the local feral cats. Problem solved.

 

[Mopper]

Provided that all mice agree to only attempt to gain entry to warm, sheltered places while Land Cruisers are parked at home, that should work fine

 

[MandatoryOutsideTime]

My old truck was a Ford Ranger and for whatever reason mice LOVED that thing. Glove box, cabin filter, air filter...they got all of it and they wouldn't leave it alone. I literally caught them in the act multiple times.

I think some vehicles have a scent that rodents like that maybe we can't perceive. There's no other explanation for mice repeatedly infesting one vehicle while ignoring every other car in my driveway.

 

[GR8Santini]

Try peppermint oil/cinnamon oil & vinegar in water solution. Spray away. Or get a Tomcat and let him scent away. You’ll appreciate the 1st one over the 2nd. Google mice & cinnamon.

 

[ultane]

My old truck was a Ford Ranger and for whatever reason mice LOVED that thing. Glove box, cabin filter, air filter...they got all of it and they wouldn't leave it alone. I literally caught them in the act multiple times.

I think some vehicles have a scent that rodents like that maybe we can't perceive. There's no other explanation for mice repeatedly infesting one vehicle while ignoring every other car in my driveway.

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I think they like the soy based wiring..

 

[Dano]

Try peppermint oil/cinnamon oil & vinegar in water solution. Spray away. Or get a Tomcat and let him scent away. You’ll appreciate the 1st one over the 2nd. Google mice & cinnamon.

Should keep the tigers away too !

 

[Mopper]

Got determined to make this happen so pulled the filter box out of the engine compartment and progressively cut my 1/4" mesh to fit. I was just starting to work on how how to bond the mesh to the housing when I had the thought of getting a leaf or leaves or flotsam up against the mesh and starving the engine for air. So I put it all back together in stock fashion and am ordering the K&N (with integral mesh) as recommended by @GR8Santini. At least this way the air velocity will drop significantly right before encountering the mesh rather than being at peak pre-filter velocity while transiting the mouth of the intake filter box. I am not adding the mesh to the filter box inlet.

 

[ultane]

So I put it all back together in stock fashion and am ordering the K&N (with integral mesh) as recommended by @GR8Santini.

Well, the K&N can cause a lot of problems. Too little oil, and you have decreased engine protection. Adequate oil to too much oil, and it can cause problems with sensitive electronic sensor parts of your air intake system.

I did oil analysis on my 2006 Avalanche when I lived in Idaho, and the post K&N ‘oil analysis’ showed excessive silicates in the oil (from DOT sanding the roads I presume), compared to what the pre K&N oil analysis showed. If you are going to do a K&N, I would do before and after oil analysis on your LC.

I think there are YouTube videos that address this as well.

 

[EOD Guy]

Got determined to make this happen so pulled the filter box out of the engine compartment and progressively cut my 1/4" mesh to fit. I was just starting to work on how how to bond the mesh to the housing when I had the thought of getting a leaf or leaves or flotsam up against the mesh and starving the engine for air. So I put it all back together in stock fashion and am ordering the K&N (with integral mesh) as recommended by @GR8Santini. At least this way the air velocity will drop significantly right before encountering the mesh rather than being at peak pre-filter velocity while transiting the mouth of the intake filter box. I am not adding the mesh to the filter box inlet.

While your point is valid, I have adopted checking my screen every month or so and it only takes a few minutes, IMO, those few minutes is time well spent vs the time and frustration of trying to replace chewed air pad thingy.

 

[Mopper]

It doesn't appear my mouse was around long and oddly, the sound deadening pad was fine but the filter took the hit. I wonder if "the homesteading" occurred in my garage or while sitting overnight outside in the rural MI woods?

Regardless, I hate to introduce an alternate failure mechanism in place of the one I believe I already experienced. However, the incorrectable, hardware failed Mass Airflow Sensor is far harder to correct in the field than clearing an obstructed rodent rejector.

With respect to the KN Filter, my experience with them is from a Gen3 with a Magnuson supercharger. If memory serves, Magnuson required KN air filtration for their warranty. Fantastic off road at altitude, btw. Sold it some years ago with approximately 200k on it and had no filtration issues I was aware of. I also didn't measure boost before selling so I suppose it is possible there was wear/degradation in the supercharger but I saw no signs. I will take a look around for contraindications of K&N filtration but I'm inclined to take this route at this writing. The only current question for me is do I also add the Critter Screen (as any secondary difficulty around the screen should be immediately correctable- I'm also liking the sound of this right now!)

Thanks everyone who shared their thoughts- it very much helps my thought process reading your input.

(Much later in time edit: the Critter Screen has been added)

 

[Ed1]

Since mice can apparently just walk through the unscreened opening and into the box, can we presume that there is no screening at all at the intake end of the air hose leading to the box?

 

[Mopper]

It's kind of tough to get to nondestructively (haven't gone there, looks extremely similar to 4Runner, Taco, etc). I THINK it's just an open ended duct that goes through the wheel well itself and opens behind the wheel well liner?

 

[Slippers]

There are a couple fairly large holes in the engine bay that allow access to the engine air intake. A mouse can easily fit in these:

 

[Ed1]

What are those holes for? Can/should they be plugged? Or screened?

 

[EOD Guy]

What are those holes for? Can/should they be plugged? Or screened?

Trying to Plug or screen those holes and similar type openings, would be a waste of money.......... Unless you could completely seal the engine bay, which would be almost impossible, critters would just climb in through the front grill, wheel wells etc...

The best one can do is prevent them from getting into the airbox and cabin air filter........... and hope they don't chew through anything critical.