Thread: Ants!

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Well guys, I have this new 1980 El Camino only to find a tiny thing causing a HUGE problem. I pulled the carpet, seats, headliner and dash. When I did I found nests of ants ALL OVER. There were not hundreds or thousands, it was literally millions!
I have pulled every piece of insulation and interior out of this car/truck possible besides the heat and A/C box. The ants were even in the fuse block, inside the A/C and heater box, blower motor, every vacuum valve, etc. I have been spraying and bombing these ants for about a week now and still have the problem. I pulled the cowl and they are in there as well.
Has anyone ever had this problem before?
I have tried bug bombs, bait, spray, etc and no luck. I pulled the rubber weatherstripping and they are even behind that as well and every piece of trim. I bought new interior but do not want to put it in and have them re-nest but also I need to hurry and get this car put back together since it's my daily driver and needs to be inspected and new tires put on.

Thanks for any suggestions and help!

BTW, they do not seem to be sugar ants and there was no food or sugar in the car. They seem to be fire ants and I bought the car from a guy who lived out on a farm and said they have millions of fire ant hills everwhere.

If I bought a car with that problem, it would bug the hell out of me! :-)~

Seriously, I would make sure you kill them, so they don't take up residence some place else on your property!

Maybe you could buy or rent an ant eater???? (Sorry...I can't help it.)

I had that problem last year not in a car but a tree house for the grandkids. I had tools along with a big mess of wood pieces. There were ants in a staple gun every place you could imagine. Once I got them out they stayed out it was because I left things laying around long enough for them to nest, if you can get them out I think you will be ok, it's just a pain to have them in every nook and cranny. Good luck

Richard

Richard... thanks for the info. I am going to finish the floors tonight and POR-15 the entire interior tonight. I will give it about 3 days to dry and with NO interior that they can nest in. I will leave the bait traps in it and then possibly drive it around with no carpet or anything for a few weeks up to a month. I am afraid to put the carpet kit, headliner, etc in the car and have them come back. There were so many under the carpet I could not believe it. The floor WAS white and when I pulled the carpet, there were so many ants it literally looked black.
They seem to be in every tiny place and inside the engine compartment, packed in wire looms, between the inner fenders and outer fender, in the wiper motor, inside every electrical part, etc.
I am hoping I can either starve them or this bait works but I do not want dead ants anywhere in the car even if I cannot see them so that is why I am worried and want to pull everything. I also do not want them to hide and come back or get into the house. The car is in my garage right now so that is kind of stupid of me but I did throw 2 bug bombs in the car and garage. I am going to go get 3 more, do one more inside before putting the seats back in, one in the engine compartment and one under the car. They are even inside the chassis!

I know this is a long shot but if possible try tenting the car in plastic and rebombing it and let it set for a few days. If you can keep the chemicals inside the car and enclosed this may work.

My dad used to buy some kind of chemical to kill fireants he bought at the local fertilizer/feed store. I wish I could remember what he used. Go online and see if you find anything there.

And be careful, those lil'devils will sting/bite the pee out of you and the bite/sting feels like fire hence the name fireant.

Good luck dude, I sure dont envy you but I do feel for you.

Larry

Thanks Crazyrat, I will try that out. How far are you from Charlotte btw?

I really feel for you because I had never seen so many ants, I have the power shot staple gun and there were without a doubt thousands in there. Any tool that they could find a crevice they filled it up. You know what this year since I haven't seen them I just forgot about it until you posted.

Richard

Do you think I should leave the interior out of the car and put just the seats in it and drive it like that for a few weeks so they have nowhere to nest? I am thinking that if I do that then they have nothing to feed off of and nest and also with those bait things they should slowly die within 2-4 weeks. I am cleaning out the heater box that is PACKED with them and doing some other stuff to it as far as cleaning in the box framing of the body and spraying poison in the holes inside the frame.
These things are EVERYWHERE I cannot believe it. Behind trim, chrome, in the bumpers, in hoses, vacuum lines, valves, electricals, heater box, dash, etc etc. The list goes on and on. I don't doubt they are inside the muffler that is broke and hanging there (not hooked up to the catalytic converter or the pipe.
I am so afraid they will come back and I also do not want to have dead ones all over.

Had a 68 Shelby GT350 fastback a few years ago that was infested with them. Only way to get rid of them was to call in a professional extermination company. They "tented" the car and then fogged the entire car with chemicals to kill off the infestation. Trust me on this, in order to kill them all off, this is the only way you will be able to do it. Well worth the $200 I got charged. they were all dead in a week and all I had to do wash blow out all the dead ants afterwards with a pressure washer...


Bill S.

Bill I will probably call a company about it then. Like I mentioned already, I am afraid they will come back. Every time I think I got all of them I see more and more and when I gutted the whole interior, I pulled trim and such in the engine compartment and exterior and found a ton more. I did the bug bombs and everything and the bug bombs didn't seem to touch ANY of the ants that were in any crevice (even if the crack of the crevice was at the top for the bug bomb to fall into).
I was thinking about smoking them out but not sure how that would work. I know that to get carpenter ants they sell a kit with some kind of smoke that you blow in their nest or trail and it will kill them. I am not sure of the name but either way I think my best bet is to hire someone to come kill them or tear the ENTIRE car apart. I bet they are even in parts of my engine such as air intake, etc.
One thing I also do not get is I have not seen a single egg or the queen ant. I am wondering if since the car was parked on a farm where there were fire ants all over the place, I wonder if they were nesting in the car and leaving it to go to the queen and get food and the car is just a place for them to sleep and stay warm in the winter? My guess is they are fireants, they seem dark dark red or blackish but I got a few on me and they did not bite so I do not know.

well it was -35 here last week and -23 today, the up side no ants no bugs no flys all winter long ,downside nothing much else lives out there either find a big freezer and put the car in there for a week

If they are fire ants put some Amdro in there. They take it back to the Queen and once she croaks the nest dies. Here in Florida we are VERY familiar with those vermin.''

Don

Don, I am going to go tomorrow and buy some of that Amdro you speak of... Is it a pellet, liquid or granule?
I will throw the car outside tomorrow or the day after when I get the dash put back in which is going to take me forever.

Originally Posted by FMXhellraiser

Don, I am going to go tomorrow and buy some of that Amdro you speak of... Is it a pellet, liquid or granule?
I will throw the car outside tomorrow or the day after when I get the dash put back in which is going to take me forever.

It's granular. We spread it over the top of their mounds and in a few days or so it has wiped out the whole nest. Fire ants are nuts. They will even swim through a deep puddle to get to you and they don't bite until they give the signal then they all bite you at one time. If you do get bit a little ammonia on the bite takes the sting out.

That Camaro I am looking to buy is loaded with them, been sitting for about 4 years. Once I know it is mine I plan on using the Amdro routine before I start stripping it down.

Don