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Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 40
Likes: 0
This message stinks
A question for anyone who might know. I stored my 1974 Corvette in a pole barn for the winter. Now when I first start and run the car, I get a dead animal smell. The smell appears to go away after a little while of running. I have looked in all the areas I can see with the naked eye and can not find any telltale signs of anything. Does anyone have any ideas short of dissasembling the whole dash what I might be able to do?
Thanks
Steve
Thanks
Steve
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 4,883
Likes: 11
From: North Easton Mass
You might have some dead mice in your heater assembly. I don't know why, but the critters seem drawn to the blower assembly. They drag in carpet backing and seat stuffing and build nests. If you find a nest, spraying the blower with bleach or Febreze will help get rid of the lingering smell. Mice seem to have inordinately large bladders for their size.
Rick B.
Rick B.
Team Owner
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 37,637
Likes: 3,116
From: Crossville TN
It takes a while for dead mice to "disappear". You will have that smell for some time, unless you find the dead critters and dispose of them. Fabreeze will only mask the smell for a few minutes.
Drifting
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,892
Likes: 3
From: Springfield Illinois
You might have some dead mice in your heater assembly. I don't know why, but the critters seem drawn to the blower assembly. They drag in carpet backing and seat stuffing and build nests. If you find a nest, spraying the blower with bleach or Febreze will help get rid of the lingering smell. Mice seem to have inordinately large bladders for their size.
Rick B.
Rick B.
I would probably consider taking out all the duct work and soaking it in bleach for an hour or a day or so whatever.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 2,241
Likes: 6
From: Arizona
I found a nest behind the access door, passenger side, neatly tucked into body mount #3 bolt void. He had carpet, jute, rags, and some mouse poison in there. He had everything but a small refrigerator and a sink in there. No idea how he got in there, the access door was solid and secured.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 2,625
Likes: 0
From: Cut n Shoot TX
You might have some dead mice in your heater assembly. I don't know why, but the critters seem drawn to the blower assembly. They drag in carpet backing and seat stuffing and build nests. If you find a nest, spraying the blower with bleach or Febreze will help get rid of the lingering smell. Mice seem to have inordinately large bladders for their size.
Rick B.
Rick B.
Le Mans Master
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 5,814
Likes: 414
From: Pittsburgh suburbs Pa.
Mouse smells are hard to get rid of.
I had a 67 convertible that always had a mouse smell until I did a body off and found a nest in the siderail of the frame and the door hinge area. I did everything imaginable to clean those areas and got rid of most of it but my 87 convertible had mice in the dash from being stored winters in a barn. I had to tear the entire dash apart and scrub scrub scrub and more scrub every inch of the area behind the complete dash with every type of cleaner that I could think of and never did get rid of the smell. When you think it's gone, you open it up on a hot day and there it is. Think about that when you are happy to come across that rare barn find.
Team Owner
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 23,831
Likes: 10
From: Springfield MO
St. Jude Donor '07
Put dryer sheets around the inside next time you're going to let it sit. Then carefully examine your firewall to figure out where they're gaining access. Mice are slippery buggers. As a worst-case fix, put plastic down on your floorboards with mousetraps. Whatever you do, DO NOT use rodent poison!!! (don't ask me how I know...I still give my dad grief about that bonehead move. 
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Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 4,876
Likes: 1
From: Jersey Shore Exit 98
If your smelling one dead mouse, just think of all the mouse droppings behind your dash from all his friends. I would pull as much of the dash as possible to clean it out. If your thinking of doing any interior work nows a good time to "git er done".
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,943
Likes: 44
From: Florham Park NJ Port Credit Ontario
I agree with what others have said...they can find their way into the weirdest spots.
When I did my resto I must have pulled about 25 feet of yarn out of the frame rail.
Since then I've used dryer sheets and shavings of Irish Spring soap in the Vette when I store it for the winter. No mice so far.
Stu
When I did my resto I must have pulled about 25 feet of yarn out of the frame rail.
Since then I've used dryer sheets and shavings of Irish Spring soap in the Vette when I store it for the winter. No mice so far.
Stu
Pro
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 528
Likes: 9
From: Grand Rapids Michigan
I use pine tree boughs. Apparently they don't like the smell of decaying pine. I just trim up one of my trees and put it EVERYWHERE. I have mice in my garage (along with a host of other rodentia) and they never touch the car. If they know what's good for them, they never will. 
Heel & Toe
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 23
Likes: 0
From: dillsburg pa
I've used decon in the garage for years. The carcass may turn up somewhere later but the nature of the compound makes them thirsty. So unless you've got water availible for them in the garage they'll pass on near a water source. Never found a dead one in a car, no acorn husks, no nests,no chewed wires/upholstery, and best of all...... no droppings for the family to enjoy!
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 40
Likes: 0
Thanks for all of the replies. I will first start with heater and vent system and then work from there. I added on to my garage this year so no more trips to the pole barn for storage. I will use all of the preventitive methods mentioned for future storage. That smell is the most obnoxious smell, so I have to find it and eliminate.
Thanks all
Steve
Thanks all
Steve
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 1,198
Likes: 0
From: staten island new york
St. Jude Donor '10
A question for anyone who might know. I stored my 1974 Corvette in a pole barn for the winter. Now when I first start and run the car, I get a dead animal smell. The smell appears to go away after a little while of running. I have looked in all the areas I can see with the naked eye and can not find any telltale signs of anything. Does anyone have any ideas short of dissasembling the whole dash what I might be able to do?
Thanks
Steve
Thanks
Steve