SCOTTVETTE1989

A mouse in my heater box!!!

I just pulled my 01 Z06 out of the garage after a long winter. It stinks!!
I pulled out the blower motor and there was a nest. I cleaned the blower motor area but it still smells bad. I tried spraying deodorizer,no help. Can anyone give me instructions on how to pull the heater box out from the dash. Thanks Scott

SCOTTVETTE1989

Come on somebody help me!!

menacebysociety

I don't think you'll ever get rid of it, totally. I saw the Mythbusters where they let a pig rot in a C4, and the smell was incurable.

Edit: Oh, sorry, I didn't read far enough...yes, you need that gone, but I don't have the answers for that one, my bad.

Vettefan400

I've seen that episode of Mythbusters also menacebysociety. To tell you the truth, It made me sick, seeing them do that to a Corvette.

ScottVette1989, I hope you the best...

menacebysociety

Aye, the episode was painful. I would've donated a vehicle for trade.

SCOTTVETTE1989

Luckly the interior doesn't smell. UNTILL you turn on the heat! thats why I want to pull it apart. I just haven't had a dash out of a c5 yet. Just looking for some tips.

corvettebob1

By all means possible avoid pulling the heater box out, I just replaced a heater core in my 98 coupe.
I would go to the auto parts store and get the stuff that is used to clean the mildew smell from the AC and try that a few times before removing the dash and top of the engine to remove the HVAC system.

SCOTTVETTE1989

Bob I've tried that two times, and no better.

Ricbear

Go get Ozium. Turn on the blower on lo. Locate the intake vent outside. Unload the can or cans. Ozium is a bacterial eliminator.

Before putting the blower back in take some stiff wire and carefully fish in the ducts for the body. Had to do that with the truck for one..

vettenuts

Ran into this several years ago on a friends car. We pulled the fan and the mice were in the fan. I don't believe then can get past the heater core so I am not sure it is worth pulling the box. Look into the box with a mirror (I used a boroscope) and you will see the mice are limited to how far they can travel, or at least I couldn't see a path. Is this where the dead mouse is and can you get it with a vacuum?

Are you sure there isn't another dead mouse in the car somewhere other than the heater box?

Blackout

I HAD THE EXACT SAME PROBLEM! I cant get over someone else had this happen to them too. I feel your pain brother. Not to be gross....but i actually made the problem worse...because the damn mouse had her children in the blower motor...and needless to say none of them lived once i flipped it on. What a disgusting smell....that i figured would NEVER leave my car. I ended up taking the blower motor completly out, then you have to open the hood, remove the wipers and the black plastic part that is between the windshield and the top part of the firewall. Once you have that removed you can see, if you look sideways at it, all the way down the channel of the car that the blower motor breathes in the outside air. I made up a long vacume hose and just started feeding it down...around ..up and all over the channel, inside the blower motor area....pretty much anywhere i could get the hose. I had to empty the vacume SEVERAL times...she had built the nest with about everthing in my garage!! Shop towels...micro fibers, leaves...anything..UGH. The only spot where i feel she could of gotten in is where the wiper motor is...there are 2 holes in the channel...1 has got a rubber hose that lets water down the car and drains it underneath...the other was just a hole...nothing in it..and bout the size of a half dollar ..maybe a little bigger. So, i sealed that up...been like 8 or 9 months...no more mice. and i spray the car with ozium, and peppermint spray (MICE REPELANANT believe it or not) and the smell is starting to go away...very slowly. Just be patient man...good luck! let me know man if you need any other tips...i didnt have the heater box out, but the smell in min was very minutt now...and it was HORRIBLE before.

Bill Curlee

Did it look like this????????????????





See,, the difference between you and me is,, I got the bastard! He didn't too much like the fan on full speed!!! LMAO His little legs stuck out and got hammered!!



This is what came out of the air box after the fan was fully removed and I reached in and pulled it out! You can see the hose that I adapted to my wet and dry VAC:







CALL ME (PM SENT) Had this problem and over came the smell... You most likely only solved HALF the issue. The OTHER HALF of the nest is most likely still inside the air box.. Remove the fan AGAIN. Reach up inside the the air box. When you reach in, you will dead end into the evaporator.. Run your hand straight down and feel for TRASH, TURDS, Nuts, and once ALL the trash is out, use a wet and dry VAC with a piece of rubber 1" hose adapted to fit on to the VAC hose. Go in and suck out all the remaining stuff. When you THINK THAT YOUR DONE,, look in with a light and mirror and make sure. Protect the seats and carpet and dump in some diluted bleach and water. (it does NOT take much bleach) See if the water runs out of the AIR BOX DRAIN on the passenger side of the fire wall in the engine compartment. If it doesn't run out,, you have trash and turds in the drain and you will need to get that unplugged! Once everything is 100% clean, inside remove the wiper cowl cover and make sure all that is clean!

Under the COWL was more crap!





Make sure that you clean out all the cowl water drains!!! They can stink too if that have trash in them also!





MOUSE DEFENSE!!!






RICBEAR "Go get Ozium. Turn on the blower on lo. Locate the intake vent outside. Unload the can or cans. Ozium is a bacterial eliminator.

Before putting the blower back in take some stiff wire and carefully fish in the ducts for the body. Had to do that with the truck for one.. "

Yep, Great stuff and it smells GOOD!

PM SENT



BC

Vetterthanyou2

Freakin great.... Now I have a NEW paranoia.

SCOTTVETTE1989

Thanks guys for all the help. I have had the blower out and cleaned everyware i could reach,standing on my head. Removed the cowl screen and nothing was found,still stinks. I will be disassembling more this weekend.

SCOTTVETTE1989

UPDATE!!
After trying every spray deodorizer I could buy. This weekend I went ahead and bit the bullet, and pulled the dash. I replaced the entire heater box assy. The smell is gone but it was alot of work!!

What I learned:
There is no easy way out.
Don't waste your money on things that sound to good to be true.
After a couple of days of work you will know your car better thought you could.
Scott

Vetterthanyou2

Ive learned something from this too. The value of mouse traps. Will be buying some on the way home TODAY!!!

dcandel

You'll need more than mouse traps. Also use drier sheets (like Bounce) and moth *****. I even go so far as to put a couple of shallow aluminum trays in the garage with a little bit of antifreeze in them. Animals like the taste antifreeze, and its poison. Caution: do not do this if you have family pets around.

dndrsn

Put a snake in your car, that will keep the mice out.

jim993

In late 2009, mice managed to get as far as the blower in my C5 twice. No smelly mess either time because I caught the situation early, but I was already running traps and have a cat in what is a very tight garage. Mice will still get into the garage.

That was 2-1/2 years ago. After the second mouse intrusion, I pulled the cowl and carefully screened with 1/4" hardware cloth every possible entry to the cowl area, checked all drains for secure closure.

If a mouse can get in, it will be through the cowl area then to the blower housing.

After screening, no problem in well over two years. I still catch mice in my traps every week or so (three traps baited ALL the time).

gjdubord

Great Information! This helped me a lot,I caught this very quick and got everything cleaned and sanitized with bleach and water solution. Thanks for the posting!!