How can I get rid of ants in my truck?

Question

I haven't drove my truck in over a week till today because I usuaLLy carpool. After work I noticed what seems to be hundreds if not thousands of lil black ants in my truck. I don't eat or rarely drink in my truck.. I clean my truck religiously. I vaccumed my truck out and cleaned it out completely. And all I found that was any source of food or liquid was a tiny piece of an old hard fry. And they werent on it, so it wasn't the source. I vaccumed my truck out five times tonight trying to get these b******s out. I need a carpet and vinyl/plastic friendly fix. Preferably something to repel them, not kill them. Because I'd rather not have to vaccum and clean up a thousand or so dead ants. Especially knowing they're probably dead in places I can't reach or clean. However if it comes down to it, I'll do whatever it takes to get them out or gone. Thanks!

Answer 1

salt it works :)

Answer 2

sorry dude, my guess is someone intentionally  put ants inside or around your truck, did you stepped on a nerve lately? try smoke that should scare them away, just make sure you don't set the car on fire. or you can use the old fashioned method of using bug spray or hire the terminators to work on your truck.

Answer 3

try baby talc powder,  it wont kill the ants but will chase them away.  this is also good for flea`s especially on pets.

Answer 4

bug spray.

lysol.

clean your car.

Answer 5

Nothing will make them leave without killing them.  If you don't want to use Ortho Max spray, 409 or any other cleaner will work, as long as you drown them.  The problem is that they may have set  up house in the engine compartment, and could be eating the electrical wires or the battery may be damaged.  They are attracted to electrical current and like to live near it for some reason.  They might also be in the heater coil or somewhere else in the dash board, which is also a problem.  I would go for complete kill, as they can cost you a small fortune.  I have seen fire ants eat through tires on a parked vehicle and live inside them.  They may even be eating the anti freeze and going through the tank!  Good Luck!

Answer 6

Wow, in just one week?  Sounds like you might be parked on an anthill.  Or could it be someone is really torqued with you?

Answer 7

Have you figured out how they are getting in/on the car?  Are you parking on dirt or grass?  Moving the car might be a good idea.  I think they might have moved the colony in because it is cooler in there or they want to avoid your automatic water sprinklers on the lawn.  Normally I suggest baking soda but I really don't think they are going to leave on their own.  So you might get some of those room bombs (check to see if it kills ants), close your windows, and set it off on a paper plate in your truck.  Leave it for a couple hours. All you will need to do is vacuum it as much as you can and leave the rest, they are so small I don't think you'll have a problem with them smelling.

Answer 8

Maybe steam clean the rug ,something may have gotten spilled without you knowing it ,this way if you do kill them you will not have to worry about them coming back .

Answer 9

First, mising cinnamon and sugar won't work. Ants don't eat solid food. Ants don't eat cinnamon. Kim G has been spreading this rumor for a long time.

http://competitionpest.com/index.php/Pes...

Since you saw a bunch of ants in your truck, but no reason to be there, this is the most likely reason:

Some species of ants do not always swarm when the want to make a new colony. Instead of all of the males and females growing wings and flying in a mass cloud, the ants will simply divide themselves in to two or more groups and separate.

The new colony will usually not travel very far and will seek a new place to live.

It appears you had a new colony hanging out in your truck either trying to decide if they liked it there... or how to get out.

Since you cleaned them out - just leave your windows rolled-up. An hour at 120 degrees F will kill them. There's no need to use poison or any other chemical remedy. If you called me and were willing to pay $100 for me to get rid of them, I'd ask you to save your money, refer me to someone else and I'd just tell you how to fix it... no charge.

Enjoy!  =)

Answer 10

Bomb it. Seriously,get an indoor insect bomb aerosol can-cover the truck with a tarp open her up and get out there for a few hours.

Answer 11

There are thousands of remedies.  I never heard of some of the remedies I see in the answers you've received.  I cannot say they won't work, but for your sake, I hope they all do.

In my own case, I've learned that it doesn't take much to attract them.  Did you leave a cup of soda in the truck, perhaps?

I found that the inexpensive bait traps they have in Lowes, Home Depot, or Wal-Mart are very effective.  I had an infestation a couple of months ago.  I simply laid out a few freshly opened bait traps along the path the ants were taking.  The ants gathered the bait, brought it back to their colony, the other ants ate it, and then they were all history.  Within three hours, there wasn't one ant to be found and the baited traps cost me a mere $3.

The trick with any poisonous bait method is to not use too much of the poison or else they'll die on the spot.  You want to blend the poison with an attractant that they'll take back to the colony where the others will get to it and die as well.

You might try this trick too using boric acid:

http://www.gardensalive.com/article.asp?...

Answer 12

Talcum Powder is good. Ants can't walk on talcum, so sprinkle it to prevent them entering. Works best on a flat surface.

Answer 13

Use a mix of cinnamon and sugar and place in in a bowl or container that will not tip as you drive around. The ants will come and pick up the sugar, along with the cinnamon, and take it back to their queen. Ants can’t digest cinnamon and once the queen dies from not being able to digest the cinnamon the colony will die without her.