F#%k, mouse infestation

[dansnyder22]

So, my 93 x has been sitting for a while because it needs transmission work. Well I ordered the part yesterday so today I figure I could start cleaning it out since it will be fixed soon. (miscellaneous things I have stuck in there to store for a while) and I have now discovered that it has become infested with mice. please help what can I do to get rid of the smell and make sure that they have not created any serious damage (IE wiring etc.)

I plan on stripping the entire interior. including the dash, seats, and carpet, vacuuming every last thing scrubbing the floor and washing all the carpets, hopefully that will get rid of the smell.

Has this ever happened to you?
Even if I do everything I can will it still smell?
what is a good way to clean/deodorize the AC/Heat vents?

Any and all suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you

Please save the "you are a horrible car owner", "can't believe you let it get that bad". I am already kicking myself for this. I am just hoping I can reverse the damage at this point.

 

[Charlie]

I don't have any other advice on what to do, I'd just say check all the wires where you can to make sure they look fine. Also, check in the engine areas, ect for bedding.

I had a mouse nest in my engine on my old 96. It never had been sitting for more than 2 or 3 days, but they liked the warm engine, since it was the winter. I found a whole mitten in my engine..along with many other wrappers, ect. It was a real mess.

Although, if you plan to have it sitting for some time again, put a lot of dryer sheets in it. For some reason, it keeps the mice away. It's what many people do with boats when they are put in storage.

 

[nitro71]

Buy some family packs of mouse poison and distribute it around your place. First thing I do when I move in somewhere is put the mouse poison out. Don't worry bout your cats. Vet says they have to eat like fifty of the poisoned mice to have any problems. Mice must die!

 

[jad2411]

Go to an auto parts store and buy the spray for the vents, it will kill the mold etc that forms inside there, follow the instructions on the can, I'd recomend doing this before you clean everything up, not sure if you'll turn the AC/heat on and all that stuff will come flying out of there...

PS I hate mice

 

[Joe Dirt]

Make SURE you drop the headliner. My Ex had odors after I cleaned everything, andf it ended up being in the headliner. Of the 3 Ex's I've pulled the headliners on at the junkyard, all of them had evidence of mice above the headliner...

Be careful cleaning the surface of it, but you need to clean it.

 

[TedJ]

Check the whole exhaust and engine for mouse nests, and keep a fire extinguisher handy when you start it up, you wouldn't want to start a fire. Take the blower motor out and check inside for nesting before you try it, so it doesn't blow it up into the vent system.

 

[BrianDye]

Man I swear if I ever let one of mine just sit or anything, im gonna have that thing vaccuum packed LMAO

 

[94EddieBauerRock]

Ditto to the mouse poison and checking the engine and wiring etc. My parents had a camper that they ended up taking to the junkyard due to a mice infestation. It smelled so bad you could barely walk into it. Even after a very thorough cleaning it stunk. Good luck!

 

[dansnyder22]

thanks for the advice guys. ripped most of it apart today and cleaned the hell out of it. will post pics later. hopefully I can put it all back together quickly.

wasn't planning on taking out the headliner but i will do it now, old one is slightly damaged so i will see if i can pick a nice one up at the junkyard since i am doing all the work to take it out anyways

 

[99ex22]

man I would just strip everything and hurculine the floor and where the headliner was....then shampoo the seats or get some junk yard ones.

 

[jhclance]

mice hate moth balls

 

[Maniak]

mice hate moth balls

ditto on moth balls.. I just throw a few in a few corners of the engine compartment.. and that keeps them from building there. I threw some in the cab of the old flatbed and it so far has kept them out of t here..

~Mark

 

[dansnyder22]

Well I just recently finished putting everything back together. This thing is freaking clean!!
Cleaner than it was before, cleaner than it was when I bought it.

And it smells exactly how I want it to smell, and that is no smell at all.

I took out everything, absolutely everything. Washed it down, sprayed with bleach and scrubbed and rinsed. I took the upholstery off of all the seats and washed them at the laundromat. took out the carpet and completely washed it. Removed the dash and scrubbed everything in there. Removed the headliner and sprayed the fiberglass side with cleaner, and the fabric side was scrubbed with upholstery cleaner. Every single interior piece scrubbed with bleach and rinsed clean.

I found no damage to any wiring or anything else just poop and that dreadful smell. But now it is all gone.

It was painstaking work, and it took forever. But it was worth it. If I had know that I was going to be able to make it so clean. I would have done it even if I didn't have a mouse problem.

All in all I can oddly say that I am glad the mice came. Because its now cleaner than ever, and I probably wouldn't have cleaned it if I wasn't so pissed that the mice where there.

 

[sledgehammer1990]

Glad everything is clean and working fine. Funny story about mice at my old house. I have a 1984 CJ-7 Jeep Renegade that we put away because it rusted out so badly that my dad's foot went through the floor under the pedals. Press the brake and your foot keeps going is not a good feeling.

We were moving to a new house so we pulled it out of the garage to see if it would start so we could drive it to the new house. It did! we had it run in the drive way for maybe 2 minutes and all of a sudden, you here popping noises. No it wasn't the engine, it was exhaust.

It seems that the mice had stored some corn in there, a lot of it, and for about 5 minutes, popcorn was flying out of the exhaust pipe. It was pretty funny though. It wasn't funny when we found that they had eaten through the soft top and destroyed it. We are in the process of rebuilding that jeep right now. Started back in April of 2007. It will be finished pretty soon.

 

[John A Rossi]

I just had a 94 EB edition given to me for free. The owner got too old to drive. It was sitting for 4 years in his driveway. It comes with all the dealer service papers for the recomended service required by Ford. 110,000 miles and absulutely excellent condition after we scrubbed and waxed it. I had it towed to my house to replace the battery and all the fluids and thoroughly inspect it before starting the motor since it sat so long. all machanics I called said this is a common issue with owners getting older and vehicles eventually just sit. Everyone has said the vehicle should run fine after changing fluids, filters and battery.
Well I lifted the hood and found out the engine compartment was infested by SQUIRELLS! It was filled with bedding material right up to the hood. After cleaning and vacuuming it all out I found out that they had chewed up the entire wiring harness including the fuse box and fuses. The entire top half of the blower box was gone and the blower squirell cage was exposed, (no pun intended). Every wire and vacuum hose was destroyed.
Went to the u-pull it junk yard and found everything that needs to be replaced in excellent condition for $25.00. Repacing this stuff will not be too difficult but time consuming. The towing was free so total cost so far was the $25.00. This should be a great looking rust free vehicle when finished for very little money invested (hopefully). Everything was in good working orded when parked with a perfectly clean leather interrior. I was at the right place at the right time. Also there was no odor at all, Perhaps squirells are cleaner than mice.
Wish me luck and no start up surprises. Any advice about starting up an Explorer after sitting 4 years would be greatly appreciated!
JR.

 

[boggs1227]

I just had a 94 EB edition given to me for free. The owner got too old to drive. It was sitting for 4 years in his driveway. It comes with all the dealer service papers for the recomended service required by Ford. 110,000 miles and absulutely excellent condition after we scrubbed and waxed it. I had it towed to my house to replace the battery and all the fluids and thoroughly inspect it before starting the motor since it sat so long. all machanics I called said this is a common issue with owners getting older and vehicles eventually just sit. Everyone has said the vehicle should run fine after changing fluids, filters and battery.
Well I lifted the hood and found out the engine compartment was infested by SQUIRELLS! It was filled with bedding material right up to the hood. After cleaning and vacuuming it all out I found out that they had chewed up the entire wiring harness including the fuse box and fuses. The entire top half of the blower box was gone and the blower squirell cage was exposed, (no pun intended). Every wire and vacuum hose was destroyed.
Went to the u-pull it junk yard and found everything that needs to be replaced in excellent condition for $25.00. Repacing this stuff will not be too difficult but time consuming. The towing was free so total cost so far was the $25.00. This should be a great looking rust free vehicle when finished for very little money invested (hopefully). Everything was in good working orded when parked with a perfectly clean leather interrior. I was at the right place at the right time. Also there was no odor at all, Perhaps squirells are cleaner than mice.
Wish me luck and no start up surprises. Any advice about starting up an Explorer after sitting 4 years would be greatly appreciated!
JR.

they are ! i've raised them for 10 years and they have almost non to them :

 

[dansnyder22]

just make sure you check every where for more nesting. keep a fire extinguisher ready, stuff might come out of the exhaust

 

[Fabbed4d88]

Kaboom with Oxyclean got the smell of dead Hooker out of my trunk....Hope this helps.

 

[dansnyder22]

lol that's funny

 

[blueka]

send a ferret in... mice hate ferrets... and will run away... or get a snake... and all the other stuff that everyone else has said...


Si