OMG - I am pretty sure I have a rodent lodged in my heater motor - the smell is pretty bad, and it sounds like the actual motor is laboring running - it never made a sound before.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Dan

 

This happened to me the day I bought my car. Under the passenger side of the dash, there are a couple of plastic clips holding the hush panel on. Pop those off and move the hush panel out of the way, disconnecting the light if you feel it necessary. The blower motor is right under there and held in by 3 bolt. It literally took me two minutes to get it out of there. Just as you suspect, a mouse had fallen into there and had its tail stuck in the squirrel cage and was getting flung around. The whole dash was vibrating like an earthquake. Spray a whole bunch of febreeze/ozium/whatever up inside the dash and then dump some more febreeze down the intake vent on the cowl and leave the windows down for a few days when you are not driving it.

 

Bill C has some great pics of his adventure..

 

I have a friend who had issues with the heating system for years. He finally got it fixed and within a few weeks no air was coming out, it smelled and it was vibrating. Same thing, pulled the motor and there was a nest in there with about five baby mice all dead. Guess they didn't like the ride

My daugther tried a new Envoy a few years back and the dealer kept them parked under the trees at the edge of some woods. Same thing, I turned on the heater to play with it during the test drive. I bet all his new trucks had similar issues. Needless to say she ordered hers

Happens all the time, get them out of there. Also, mice leave urine trails that others will follow so you need to clean things good and spray. I have heard/read they don't like Lavender so a spray with that scent may help.

 

I appreciate your taking time to answer this one - I will endeavor to figure what the hush panel is and see what I can come up with this afternoon - thanks again....


Dan

 

What I want to know is how they are making their way into that area? Where do they get in? The air intake for the HVAC is up on top so how can they get through the hard plastic grill? They can't reverse climb into the udders unless they are missing, then I can see how they get in there but most are not missing.

 

From what we could tell, they go in under the screen from the driver's side and then it is a straight shot.

 

Unless I'm thinking of the wrong thing, that screen is hard-molded plastic and it shouldn't be possible for a mouse to get through it. I must be thinking of the wrong thing.

 

Maybe while the driver's door was open, one climbed into the vent tube that goes to the driver's door. Could they possibly climb up through the heater ducts on the floor?

 

Mouse mods

 

I have to go look, but as I remember it there is a gap on the driver's side that they go under. It doesn't have to be very big either. We traced to that side.

 

Had similar problem with my Z06 last spring, although the culprit was a large rat with a 6-inch tail that died and began to decompose in the engine bay just below the battery box ... in fact, some of my local Vette and Cobra buddies have made a bad joke about my "rat motor."

The odor was the first clue on a trip to Carlisle for the Kit Car weekend, altough at first I thought it was just coolant overflow. Carlisle is about 150 miles from my home in Fairfax, the weather was unseasonably warm, and by the time my wife and I reached the Fairgrounds, it took on the character of a week-old-roadkilled deer.

The trip back with windows down was from a Twilight Zone script, and pretty brutal ... once back in the driveway, when I began to focus in on the source and had removed the battery and platform, I was able to see a brown shape at the base of the firewall and confirmed it was a critter of some sort.

In order to remove it, however, I had to rig up a probe using a two-foot-long spring steel closet organizer and a barbed hook from my box of deep sea fishing tackle ... the rat was in a late state of decomp (my wife actually blew lunch in the driveway as I removed the remains), and the odor remained until a baking soda solution, white vinegar, and high-pressure hose finally flushed it away ... about 2 hours of work with the probe and the hose.

Not just to share the anecdote here, and trying to be helpful, when I inspected the firewall area where the critter had croaked, I noticed a stiff rubber boot through which wiring is channeled into the dash area and passenger footwell where the in-cockpit fuse box and BCM live ... in my case, the boot was not seated in the firewall, and this was one of the reasons the odor of the dead rat was filling the cockpit ... if that is the case with your car, it could be the avenue the mouse used to gain entry. I confess that when I saw this, I became paranoid about the possibility of a nest and a decomposing litter of abandoned babies, and tore the dash apart to confirm there was none.

So in checking for an entry point, even though it is a minor pain to pull the battery and tray, don't neglet to look there and make sure that boot is intact and seated properly in the firewall ... while you're down there, it's also a good idea to see if you've even had battery acid leakage onto the wiring and connectors below the tray, which is not uncommon among the community of cars still limping along with the OEM Delco or other lead acid batteries.

(I've also got moth ***** in a baggie made from nylon hose that I hang in the engine compartment when I'm putting the car up for a few days in the garage or under a cover in the driveway ... the urban legend is that mice and rats hate the smell ... I can confirm that the odor does keep my wife from getting near the car, but can't promise it will chase away the wildlife.)

 

Ok Lucky,,,,,here are the pictures of the MESS!

They get in thru the HVAC air inlet opening under the windshield cowl:










I actually started the engine and the ENTIRE dash shook. I guess Mice don't like 1040 RPMs



His little feet were sticking out of the rotor blades (click click click click) as the fan coasted to a stop:



MAN,,,,,,,,what a mess!!!

I will just let my buddy prowl the garage!

 

Thanks for the help and support. I got the heater out and, same thing dead mouse - I found the drain/vent rubber bladder which comes out of the firewall adjacent to the battery chewed up. This gave them a nice gerbal trail up into the heater.....gone now, and I replaced the end of the tube with some screen.

Thanks,

Dan Brown
Woodinville, Wa.

 

What is this with mouse's in Corvette. I purchased my 99 back in April of 2009. Picked up the vette in Santa Clara California and drove it home to Concord Ca. Around the 50 mile mark, I noticed a faint smell of burning straw like in the car. When I got home I popped the hood and I located straw like stuff under the right "Plastic valve cover" under it was a big ball of straw and what appeared to be a mouse nest, mouse droppings etc. I called the original owner and asked was this a performance upgrade and if so, I'm missing the part or mouse.. We both had a great laugh about the whole thing. I'm sure the mouse didn't think it was funny as I was driving home at about 70 miles, I thought it was just a bump on the road... So even mouse's like vettes...

 

Hello All,

I have been reading through your posts about this issue as I just got my 00 out of storage from it's winter sleep. For those that don't realize it, vette driving in Ontario or most parts of Canada is strictly a fair weather sport..

I immediately saw evidence of mice all over the outside of the car. Strong odour inside but no activity in the car. When taking a tight corner yesterday, heard a thump and then the fan started ticking..

Thanks to your posts, was able to open this up today quite easily (fan) and remove the little guy before he really started stinking. While washing today I saw his mate scurry away into a nearby field. I think they had just moved in (lack of crap present in the fan and not a big mess).

Regardless, I really appreciate this forum and all of your expert posts and comments, pictures, etc.. This forum is fantastic.

Thanks Again,

Keith

 

Mine does his work in the basement too. He crippled it up so I could heave it outside (third one this winter):