Mice Suck!
Thread Starter
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 921
Likes: 0
From: Houston TX
Mice Suck!
Bought the car a year ago. I noticed carpet damage in the cargo area and chauked it up to spilled battery acid or something. In the following couple weeks, there was a worsening odor. It got so bad the whole garage reeked.
I took some of the dashboard apart and found 2 mouse nests made of floor insulation. There was a dead mouse in one of them. I cleaned as much surface as I could with bleach and put it back together.
It was fine for a while but the odor slowly crept back.
Last week I ordered a new cargo carpet set from Ecklers and went to install it saturday. I pulled out the old carpet and couldn't believe my eyes. There was chewed up stuff everywhere underneth. And when I removed part of the console, another huge nest made of insulation and carpet was in there!
I didn't pick through it for skeletons. It was to nasty.
I drove the car Sunday to the bodyshop where it's being painted
and there wasn't a hint of foul odor.
The car will be back thursday and hopefully it's the end of that story.
As far as I'm concerned, every mouse on the planet can upend and die!
I took some of the dashboard apart and found 2 mouse nests made of floor insulation. There was a dead mouse in one of them. I cleaned as much surface as I could with bleach and put it back together.
It was fine for a while but the odor slowly crept back.
Last week I ordered a new cargo carpet set from Ecklers and went to install it saturday. I pulled out the old carpet and couldn't believe my eyes. There was chewed up stuff everywhere underneth. And when I removed part of the console, another huge nest made of insulation and carpet was in there!
I didn't pick through it for skeletons. It was to nasty.
I drove the car Sunday to the bodyshop where it's being painted
and there wasn't a hint of foul odor.The car will be back thursday and hopefully it's the end of that story.
As far as I'm concerned, every mouse on the planet can upend and die!
Drifting
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 1,251
Likes: 1
From: Pueblo CO
Tell me about it. I just cleaned about 2lbs of mouse turds outta my daughter's car a couple weeks ago. 
My wife doused the car in spray cleaner with bleach, as mice around here carry a nasty disease. Not sure if I smell mouse sheet or bleach now.
We're looking to trade the car on a Tacoma Prerunner for her.
Thank goodness you got it all cleaned up and odor free. Put some dryer sheets in the nooks and crannies. Glove box, under seats, etc. I hear that keeps mice away.
My wife doused the car in spray cleaner with bleach, as mice around here carry a nasty disease. Not sure if I smell mouse sheet or bleach now.
We're looking to trade the car on a Tacoma Prerunner for her.
Thank goodness you got it all cleaned up and odor free. Put some dryer sheets in the nooks and crannies. Glove box, under seats, etc. I hear that keeps mice away.
Racer
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 430
Likes: 113
From: Easton, PA
Irish Spring
When I put the car away for the season, I grate up a couple of bars of Irish Spring soap and put it on some paper plates on the inside as well as around the 4 wheels. I even put some in the engine compartment up front under the headlights. I have done this for 5 years and not one little critter has bothered the car. It smells nice too.
Drifting
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 1,905
Likes: 1
From: 2003 Points Champ Great Lakes Corvette Challenge; 2006/2007 Winner MSD True Street
When I put the car away for the season, I grate up a couple of bars of Irish Spring soap and put it on some paper plates on the inside as well as around the 4 wheels. I even put some in the engine compartment up front under the headlights. I have done this for 5 years and not one little critter has bothered the car. It smells nice too.
I've stored my car for 19 winters now.
I also stuff steel wool in the exhaust tips.
Mice HATE steel wool.
Throw dryer sheet all over the interior.
Park on plastic, then set traps all around the car.
I don't like using poison as I have too many of my own critters that will eat mice.(NO, I don't have cats)
Matt383
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 247
Likes: 0
From: West Burlington Iowa
I have tried dryer sheets, moth *****, electronic sound devices, traps, and nothing seems to keep them away. Guess I will try the Irish spring soap. I park my Grand Prix right next to the vett and they don't get into it. Guess its a much better sealed up car for them to get into. Never have figured out where they are getting into the Vett at.
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 1,327
Likes: 5
From: 2010 C6 Grand Sport Convertible
When I did my interior restoration, I also had a good sized mouse nest under the center console. The rug was shot, most of the backing rotted and eaten. I've used moth ***** now for 3 seasons in pie tins on the floorpans and fortunately no critters have made my '78 their home.
Mike
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Advanced
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 73
Likes: 0
From: Germany
Had the same problem - it was impossible to ride in the car without having to fight against vomit making its way up the throat. Ripped the whole interior out, finding about 3000 pounds of mouse droppings in the process and a well past its sell-by-date mouse. How do these stupid things manage to get into the Vette anyway? Through the ventilation tracts? Who knows.
BTW, when we were moving the car from the driveway to another spot (after the cleansing job, of course), I noticed a trail of blood coming from the left front tire as the car moved. Apparently a mouse had made itself comfortable on the tire and not noticed when it slowly began to rotate...We had to pick pieces of brain mass, tissue and fur from the tread of the tire. But that critter deserved it!
BTW, when we were moving the car from the driveway to another spot (after the cleansing job, of course), I noticed a trail of blood coming from the left front tire as the car moved. Apparently a mouse had made itself comfortable on the tire and not noticed when it slowly began to rotate...We had to pick pieces of brain mass, tissue and fur from the tread of the tire. But that critter deserved it!
Racer
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 430
Likes: 113
From: Easton, PA
Tennis *****
In addition to the Irish Spring, I put a tennis ball in each of the tail pipes. They fit nice and snug in the Corsa ends. A buddy of mine used moth ***** for storage and the car still smelled like them in August!
Drifting
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 1,771
Likes: 1
From: Cuyahoga Falls Ohio
Mice get into the exhaust tips? What damage can they do there?
Pro
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 507
Likes: 1
From: Phoenix AZ
I used to work for a Dr. whose entire '88 interior was destroyed by mice while donating his time to a medical cruise ship for 2 months. How's that for getting rewarded for good behavior? His Vette was TRASHED! Yep,,,,mice suck!
DD
DD
Burning Brakes
Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 1,142
Likes: 0
From: Spring Grove Illinois
I had a little different happening..I bought my car from Florida and it sat nose first in a bush for months...I had it transported home and put it in the garage...That nite I went out in the garage for a smoke to admire my new toy and noticed something moving fast accross the windshield molding...Low and behold it was a car load of Pelmetto Bugs(giant cockaroches) ...I freaked out bought raid bug bombs...raid for the inside and anythig else I could think of.. Musta killed 500 of the critters some were so big you could here em hit the floor when they fell out of the car...Bombed the garage and got the ones that escaped....Thank God none got into the house..What a nice supprise... Since it was cold (October) they wern't used to the weather and were easy to confine..Made my wife real Happy
...I freaked out bought raid bug bombs...raid for the inside and anythig else I could think of.. Musta killed 500 of the critters some were so big you could here em hit the floor when they fell out of the car...Bombed the garage and got the ones that escaped....Thank God none got into the house..What a nice supprise... Since it was cold (October) they wern't used to the weather and were easy to confine..Made my wife real Happy
Burning Brakes
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 1,161
Likes: 0
From: Orangeburg, NY
Moth ***** in tins near the tires and fabric softener sheets inside the car. Put them near the dash (near air vents), under the carpet in the rear hatch area, under the storage bins, and laid several near the battery and heater-a/c fan. Never had a problem and the car smelled nice.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 2,954
Likes: 2
From: Obama=death for America
As others have stated, try scattering several pieces of Irish Spring all around the car and also scented drier sheets. I think with this combination, you'll be mice free. And don't forget to put them on top of paper plates as they may stain the carpet over time.
Team Owner
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 46,295
Likes: 2,596
From: Northern, VA
St. Jude Donor '15
"In honor of jpee"
I've stored my car for 19 winters now.
I also stuff steel wool in the exhaust tips.
Mice HATE steel wool.
Throw dryer sheet all over the interior.
Park on plastic, then set traps all around the car.
I don't like using poison as I have too many of my own critters that will eat mice.(NO, I don't have cats)
Matt383
) such as my '96, I did use those dryer sheets which I think are stinky, all over the car. I draped them over the car cover by attaching them to strings and they just touched the ground near the 4 wheels. I left the box of them open in front, and another one in back open. Awful perfumey, but if it kept "them" away, I was all for it!!!And I got a nice thick piece of cardboard about 3 by 3, easy to slide in and out from under the car. On it were several "juicy" pieces of mouse/rodent food brickettes. About midway under the car.
Oh and two plastic bags tied tightly over the two pipes and sta-dry bags on the inside.
Shoot, I wouldn't even go near the car!!! j/k
My friend got a great car!
Racer
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 430
Likes: 113
From: Easton, PA
Tailpipes
A member in our club stores his 84 in a garage at his brothers house out in the country. A few years back he went to start it after sitting for a bit and sunflower seeds shot out of both pipes. His daughter thought it was pretty funny and he was lucky that was the only place critters had stored their seeds. Probably wasn't mice but somebody was in the pipes.
Instructor
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 109
Likes: 0
From: White House Tennessee
A couple of week ago I was at a cruise in and I saw a mouse running under the cars and I thought, why is there a mouse in the middle of the mall parking lot? Well I guess this thread explains it. I wonder if a mouse trashes the car if insurance would cover it?