MBS Engine Air Filter

[David100]

I got quite a shock today at my Mercedes dealership where my 2014 Solera was undergoing routine maintenance including the complimentary multi point inspection. The debris in the attached photo was from some kind of varmint and was inside the engine air filter compartment. My service advisor said they had 7 instances of this in the past 3 months. The filter is a 30,000 miles replacement item so I never thought about checking it. I have installed a gutter downspout screen in the intake channel to hopefully keep this from happening again.

[Hexnut]

About a year ago, after driving my MBS about 5 hours to the beach, I noticed my air filter warning icon. I found a bird's nest of leaves & twigs inside the intake snorkel. Cleaned it out and it was fine. This spring...guess what, birds found it again. I cleaned it out again and attached a nylon string to a rag and stuffed it inside the snorkel (using an old aluminum arrow shaft) with a piece of red flagging on the end of the string hanging outside to serve as reminder to remove it before starting. No more nests, but how these critters find such a place to build a nest is beyond me when it is well hidden behind the grill.

[Pixelbum1]

Don't be surprised at all this! When the wx. turns colder the critters love the engines and
compartments. MICE too, especially. Last winter one(?) of the rascals partially ripped apart the sound absorber attached to the underpart of the hood. Made a nest using that inside the
cabin filter box found on the passenger side of the engine compartment.This winter am trying an ultrasonic critter repeller under the hood in hope of not having to replace the $40-
sound absorber again...wish me luck!