Mice in the heater box

[F14CRAZY]

Howdy. Today, for the 4th time between two 1st gen Explorers, I've cleaned mouse nests out of the heater box. Happens after being in indoor storage for a few months or outdoor storage for like 2 weeks. Symptoms are a noisy blower motor, and sometimes no blower at all, AND THE FXXXING SMELL! My god mouse pXXs smells bad.

Last time it happened in my Limited, they did enough damage to ruin the fan blades of the motor and I had to replace the "squirrelcage" (advance auto parts got me a metal one instead of the stock plastic). They mess up insulation inside and seem to only make the nest inside the HVAC box right where the blower motor goes. So I pulled out the fan, pulled all the insulation out, and then blew it out with compressed air (and the vents from the interior)

To stop the smell and bacteria I Lysol-ed inside the heater box (as far as I could reach) and put the blower back in and turn it on full blast. With that running I put more Lysol into the system though the intake in front of the windshield. After letting that run and moving through the panel, floor, etc positions, I put it to max air con (engine and compressor off) and spray Lysol through the intake above the passenger footwell.

This works, but eventually, mice are going to get back in. My truck is my domain, and no [insert 4 letter explicits] mouse is going to mess it up :fire: Where do they get in from? Can I put in a screen or something to block them from getting in? How about mothballs or something? Thanks guys.

 

[mrboyle]

I deal with this all the time at work and can't tell you how much I hate mice! I can't tell you how they get in, they can sneak inside some of the smallest cracks you'd never think anything could get through. My only suggestion would be to put a few boxes of Decon under the hood of your X before leaving it for any amount of time. If you have any pets (especially cats) this may not be a good idea, but it is the only thing I know of that works. Mothballs STINK and don't really work.

 

[IBJEDI]

I would avoid poisons for one reason,the infected mouse just might make his final resting spot in your heater box
I knew a girl who tried d-con and the mice died in her walls,they had to rip out all the walls in the house!!
Take my word for it,regular mouse traps baited with peanut butter.
Good luck!

 

[F14CRAZY]

Yeah I figure Dcon would suck if it got the mice to die in the ducts or something

So, it sounds like traps around the vehicle and under the hood seem good. My dad's had good luck with sticky traps so I could try those.

It really sucks cuz its happened so many times

 

[Jason94sport]

Sorry I have to laugh at that. That's messed up but it's funny to me. I never heard of such a thing.

 

[ld50]

Hey,

Well darn it I gotta pull my heater box aprt and take the mouse nest out again.
I am going to have a good look at the system but here is what I am looking for:
Is there a setting I can leave my heater on that will isolate the heater box?

This past storage I had the setting to OFF and the temperature at COLD.

I think this keeps the bottom vents open though, and I suspect that the mouse got in through there because I actually seen the bugger jump down from under there and run under my seat when I went in there a couple weeks ago.

I wonder if setting the heater to defrost is the better way to go when you store it, or are out camping.

PS. the mouse was harmed with the tried and trusted mousetrap and a little peanut butter on the trigger. I wish I took a pic for ya!

 

[ld50]

Well, I do not think there is a way to keep mice from the heater box, seems to me there is always a way in there, unfortunately.

 

[Maniak]

I dont know if it works for mice but for packrats we thow mothballs under the hood. It seems to keep them away.

~Mark

 

[ghosttrain2]

You can set the controls to recirculate to eliminate interior entry through the recirculate door, but I'm guessing that they are finding their way in here:

This is the area under the cowl panel, the large oval hole you see is the outside air inlet. I found a mouse nest at the A/C evaporater, with the entry being through the water drain at the bottom. I rolled up some aluminum screening to keep them out, and still allow the water to drain.The frash air intake would be harder, would require removal of the interior portion of the heater box.

 

[92exp4x4]

Keep in mind that an adult mouse can fit through an opening the size of a Dime. Now thats flexible! I have never had many problems with mice, I live in an established residential area. There are also cats galore here. Now if I could only find a way to keep the neighbor's kids off my garage roof...