Mouse smell

[mattyd7]

Help!!!

When I bought this Spider, I noticed some signs of mouse activity under the hood, so I knew to expect to find some. Didn't see any damage to wires, etc so I went ahead. In fixing up the car over the past two weeks, found things like droppings and food stored under front and back seats, cleaned all that up. First time I really let the car run and heat up, the smell got so bad, and I couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Well, I took off the cowling to lube the wipers and jeez I found the source. There was a massive mouse nest in the cavity for the heater air intake! Ugh. Cleaned it all out best I could. Used some household cleaners all under the cowling and it seemed to get much better.

Fast forward to last night. Finally got the car all fixed up and in roadworthy condition. Took it for it's first real ride and I was so disappointed because the smell was there once it heated up. And this is with the top down! I can't imagine how bad it will be with it up! And people are going to be grossed out when they get in the car, so I need to take care of this ASAP.

I hate taking the cowling off because its so easy to nick the paint. So I'd like to do it one more time, really kill the smell and be done with it if possible.

Do any of you guys have good advice for what I can use to clean/neutralize the smell? With the rustproof coating under there, it is difficult to scrub very well (chews up paper towels, cloths, sponges, etc) and I don't want to use a cleaner that could cause any damage. But I want the smell GONE!!!

Also, what is the routing inside that cavity? Under the flap door, does that go straight to the footwell in the cabin? If I just used a hose and blew water in there for a while to clean up, would all that water drain out under the car, or am I going to swamp the interior?

Any advice is appreciated!

[joelittel]

I think that under the flap leads to the heater core, and fan, then down to the floor.

The mice could have easily made a nest in or around the heater core housing.

It's not easily removed but I'd consider taking your upper center console out and cleaning everything between the cowling and the floor vents.

I found a rediculous amount of rodent poison in mine, who knows what's in yours.

[azruss]

I would pull both consoles and cowl and drop the heater core. Inspect closely with a light and mirror around the top of the heater core. There are lots of places for meeces.

[johnsje6]

Wow did this post bring back memories!

the heater core is directly under the flap, pretty much have to take it out and clean it and the surrounding area, which then leads to replacing the leaky heater core valve. That got most of the smell out, but I also had a colony under the rear seat and several of their deceased relatives inside the frame in the trunk.

[redcars]

+1 on removing heater and cleaning it. It is not an easy job. You Wil most likely find a mess in there.

[mattyd7]

I took it all apart and soaked the heck out of everything: cowling, under the cowling, heater core, flap, etc in Nature's Miracle and scrubbed it in with a soft nylon brush. I got the Urine Destroyer and the Advanced Formula. Did one, let it dry, then did the other. Really helped a lot. I also used an ozone generator and that helped too. Nobody I took for a ride mentioned the smell, so I think it worked. I catch a faint whiff still once in a while, so I might repeat the process on the accessible areas one more time in a week or so. But I can definitely attest that Natures Miracle works to kill that smell.

[DieselSpider]

Urine is very corrosive. It is toppling street lights in San Francisco so imagine what it can do to your Spiders sheet metal.



http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/C ... 424634.php

[baltobernie]

I swear, I only had one beer ...

[joelittel]

Mattyd7 you got the job done in record time, I'm impressed with your time line.

You've motivated me to pick something and knock it off my list this coming weekend.

[mattyd7]

I just got the car last month, so my motivation level is super high right now, haha. I've been going full time on the car everyday and staying up late. My original plan was to wait to redo the interior over winter, but once things starting coming in, I just went ahead and replaced the carpet, seats, and dyed some parts while I was waiting for brakes to come in. Now that its on the road and safe to drive, I think my motivation is going to wane as I'd rather drive it!

[joelittel]

Glad to hear it. Post some pictures, especially of any custom work you've done, like the parts you dyed.