Need help getting ants out of car

TIDE-HSV · Aug 14, 2017

cbi1972 said:
Electrical appliances and boxes are usually safe and dry. One theory is that they die or are otherwise stressed by the electrical current, causing them to release alarm pheromones, drawing other ants to the location.

It always seems to have been on an outside wall...

RammerJammer14 · Aug 15, 2017

Step 1: Spray some EZ Cheese on the floorboard

Step 2: Wait for ants to flock to it

Step 3: Light them all on fire

This may be less effective than other methods, but it is for sure the most fun...

day-day · Aug 15, 2017

cbi1972 said:
Electrical appliances and boxes are usually safe and dry. One theory is that they die or are otherwise stressed by the electrical current, causing them to release alarm pheromones, drawing other ants to the location.

I don't know about crazy ants but I have a crazy aunt that is pretty invasive.

G-VilleTider · Aug 15, 2017

TIDE-HSV said:
IDK why, but some ants are attracted to current. I couple of times, I've had a wall switch go out and pulled the plate to discover a ball of ants shorting it out...

This happened to the AC unit of a house we were renting. Three times in 6 months, ants got into the HVAC unit and shorted something out. This despite heavy pesticide use. I commented to the heating and air guys that this must be a crazy call to have ants screw something up 3 times in just 6 months. They told me it was actually quite common and usually happened around switches(?) where the current is only flowing when the unit is on. For some reason, the ants kept making a trail in between the "dead" connection, then the unit would come on and fry them. When the unit turned off, the ants would resume. Eventually the buildup of dead ants would either block the connection or screw something else up.

TIDE-HSV · Aug 15, 2017

G-VilleTider said:
This happened to the AC unit of a house we were renting. Three times in 6 months, ants got into the HVAC unit and shorted something out. This despite heavy pesticide use. I commented to the heating and air guys that this must be a crazy call to have ants screw something up 3 times in just 6 months. They told me it was actually quite common and usually happened around switches(?) where the current is only flowing when the unit is on. For some reason, the ants kept making a trail in between the "dead" connection, then the unit would come on and fry them. When the unit turned off, the ants would resume. Eventually the buildup of dead ants would either block the connection or screw something else up.

The last time it happened to me, the buildup inside the switch just finally got so great the ants' bodies just insulated the common and the hot and wouldn't let a circuit be completed. The first thing I noticed, even before the switch stopped working, was that the switch started feeling sort of funky when turning it off and on...

AlistarWills · Sep 14, 2017

I meant to post earlier but I want to confirm Earle's solution to the ants worked.

TIDE-HSV · Sep 14, 2017

AlistarWills said:
I meant to post earlier but I want to confirm Earle's solution to the ants worked.

We've never known it to fail. We use it mostly in the house, but there's no reason it wouldn't work in a car. After all, they always have a nest somewhere to take the poison back to...

BamaFlum · Sep 15, 2017

TIDE-HSV said:
Get some boric acid and mix it about 1 part to 6 parts sugar, dissolved in water. Use something like an old pickle jar. Get some cotton balls and dip in the solution. Take a margarine tub - 2 from what you describe - and punch holes around the bottom for ant access. Place in their trail(s) inside the car. You can accelerate things a bit by taking damp sugar with your finger and smear on the holes, so they'll investigate sooner. They'll enter, snip off pieces of the poisoned cotton and take it back to their nest, wherever it may be, and poison the other ants and the queen. It'll take a few days, but they'll be gone. (BTW, this works in houses also.)

I'm going to save this for future reference. Glad it worked and thanks for the sage advice Earl!

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