Dead mouse in cabin air intake?

I don't know who else had this problem. Months ago, I had a mouse or something die in the interior air intake somewhere. Drove(so nothing chewed bad) it this summer when I had to, with the windows open. (Have another Tacoma to use), waiting for the thing to "mummify". It's now winter, & will have to use the heat. Where would be the most likely place it IS, & how do I get to it? I'm guessing I need a new air filter now, too.

 

I've seen pictures of nest in the blower motor.

 

Peppermint Oil.........

https://www.littlehouseliving.com/uses-for-peppermint-oil.html

 

Problem is they are beginning to find some of those are not good for pets/dogs. I travel with 2 Aussies in truck.So if the mice don't like??????? Maybe a reason.


https://peacelovedog.shop/blogs/blo...zl30Elw01UlnJ5rh1luKQ5p73SsQmSIub9eHxQIvBF27k

 

Have you checked the cabin air filter?

 

You left a dead mouse in your HVAC ducting to decompose? Did you even look at the cabin filter? I can only imagine what it smells like. I'll bet the smell has permeated every porous surface in the vehicle. Good luck with that.

 

Depending on where the mouse is, the less messy route would be to take the lower windshield valance (?) off. Its the part at the base of your windshield where your wipers are. There will be an opening that you can vacuum out the nest/corpse without making a mess in your vehicle. While you're there, you might want to do the inlet screen mod. The other route would be to pull the cabin air filter and use a needle adapter for your vacuum and suck that sucker through the slit where the filter goes in. You'll get debris in your blower motor with this method.

-J

 

I had a mouse in my cabin filter recently, so I blocked the intake with metal screening. I got the idea from someone on TW. Unfortunately, I can’t remember who it was.

 

Thanks!! This is the type of info I WAS looking for. I have nerve damage to my right hand. Have a hard time DOING things. So wanted to be pointed in the right places!

 

Great idea! Since I have 2 Tacomas, & fall is when they "move in".

 

That's the 'Inlet Screen' mod.

-J

 

A friend of mine had this same problem with her 2016 Tahoe this summer... nasty.

You must be one busy dude not to resolve a dead carcass in your car issue.

Hope you find/fix it quickly. Wondering how you cleanse the system after this if it's somewhere in the ducting.

 

Used diamond lathe on mine. Worked amazing. Also put some in front of the intake for my engine air filter. Terrible mice problems in some areas. Only ever park outside if camping and had them fill areas up with nesting materials in one night.

 

Mouse crawled in air intake above front wheel and built huge nest against the air filter. Offset the MPG gain of $50 replaceable air filter. Cabin filter should prevent mice from moving in under the dash, wouldn't be surprised if they ate their way through. Mesh on vent prevents all of that and stops leaves and pine needles from clogging your cabin filter so it lasts longer.

 

Rather than touching anything, use a shop vac to vacuum out whatever is on top of the now exposed cabin filter once the wiper arms and cowl are removed. If you're lucky, whatever it was didn't chew through the filter
If it did, I wouldn't even bother trying to clean the motor, I'd replace it. One electrical connector and 3 screws and it's out.

Close the cabin air filter door, and through the cowl, spray some Lysol into the fan while it's running on high speed. Cycle through the HVAC selector (vents, floor, defrost, hot, cold). You want all the ductwork damp. Shut it off, let it dry while putting the cowl back together. That should kill any germs in there.

You might want to rent or buy an ozone generator and let it run in the car for a few hours as well.

I re read my post from earlier. It sounded dickish to me now. If that's how it came across to you, my apologies. It was not my intent.

Saw your post count... Welcome to TW! There's a vast amount of knowledge here. And from what I've seen, it could also seem like the vacuum of space emptying your wallet.

Here's hoping for a quick and easy fix.

 

I just recently purchased my 06. The interior smelled horrible. I mixure of urine and BO. After looking into it i found that others had issues with similar odors. I replaced the cabin air filter and sprayed a can of HVAC sanitizer through the system. Helped substantially.

 

I had to do this too after rats moved into my truck, blew a hole in the cabin air filter and set up home in my HVAC box.
Had to blow most of the dash apart and use a vacuum and a endoscope to get all the rotten fruit, rat shit and nest out of there. It STUNK.
After I screened that off the rats paid me back by chewing up my engine wiring harness (to the tune of $3,900). After $10k+ of rat damage to my vehicles in 3 years, I finally got fed up and built a garage to keep the cars and trucks in.