Guest Furman83 Posted July 18, 2017 Share Posted July 18, 2017 All, I am certain I have a Dead mouse in my 1988 Reatta. I noticed a funny smell the other day and today when I took it out I turned on the AC and OMG!! Where do I begin to look for it? Under the glovebox? is there a way to open the vents up without tearing out the dash? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89RedDarkGrey Posted July 18, 2017 Share Posted July 18, 2017 (edited) Physically- there is no way a rodent can enter via the HVAC compartment. Under the wipers is the screened intake, then the blower cage, then evaporator/heater core area. There is a 1/2" drainage passage under the evaporator, but that is unlikely. Most likely- there is mold, mildew, and rotten leaf matter on the evaporator. Remove the blower resistor control module, shine a bright light in, and (if you can) take a photo of the evaporator to see it better, and post it here. Vacuum or blow out debris first. Then DOUSE it with Lysol or a "Scrubbing Bubbles" type antifungal bathroom tub & tile cleaner. Wait 30 minutes, spray out with garden hose to rinse, then vacuum excess water out. Check under car at AC drain for proper drainage. Use a coat hanger wire to clean opening if necessary. Run the heater to fully dry out, or better- stick a hair drier in a few hours. After drying- apply several coats of your favorite scent of Lysol again. BLOWER CONTROL MODULE (under cowl) Edited July 18, 2017 by 89RedDarkGrey (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KDirk Posted July 18, 2017 Share Posted July 18, 2017 Eh, never say never. I extracted two baby mice from up inside the dash (behind glove box and adjacent to BCM) last winter from my good 88. They (or their momma, who was conspicuously absent) had shredded up a bunch of napkins I kept in the center console to make a nest. Sucked them out with a shop vac, luckily no damage to wiring or vacuum tubing was found. My tip off was that I heard them squeaking in there. No idea how they got in, but they did. This also raises the question: who needs a mouse when you have a touchscreen? KD 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89RedDarkGrey Posted July 18, 2017 Share Posted July 18, 2017 25 minutes ago, 89RedDarkGrey said: Most likely- there is mold, mildew, and rotten leaf matter on the evaporator. Remove the blower resistor control module, shine a bright light in, and (if you can) take a photo of the evaporator to see it better, and post it here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89RedDarkGrey Posted July 18, 2017 Share Posted July 18, 2017 9 minutes ago, KDirk said: Eh, never say never. I extracted two baby mice from up inside the dash (behind glove box and adjacent to BCM) last winter from my good 88. Inside the HVAC system- unlikely. Anywhere else, yes. Touchscreen is nearing obsolescence with voice and A.I. systems. A corded, 3 button trackball mouse is a museum piece. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Furman83 Posted July 18, 2017 Share Posted July 18, 2017 Unfortunately, my car has to stay in my garage due to insurance (Hagerty) and I did have (no more) a mouse problem in my attic and I did leave windows open on car. My workbench is right next to the window. I saw couple droppings under the eat and it looks like some carpet stuffing is sitting right outside of the Vent under passenger seat. I am going to try and remove the passenger side kick panel and see if it is there. I hope it is not in the vent system!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smithbrother Posted July 18, 2017 Share Posted July 18, 2017 1/2" opening will allow a mouse to enter, maybe even a tad smaller is enough. They may appear they are to fat, but they can flatten out more than you might think. Dale in Indy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avgwarhawk Posted July 18, 2017 Share Posted July 18, 2017 Also, debris from trees and the like accumulate in the heater boxes over the years. Some water enters from a wash or rain. Next thing you know there is a bog in your dash festering away. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89RedDarkGrey Posted July 18, 2017 Share Posted July 18, 2017 34 minutes ago, Furman83 said: Vent under passenger seat. No such animal in any Reatta. 20 minutes ago, avgwarhawk said: Also, debris from trees and the like accumulate in the heater boxes over the years. Some water enters from a wash or rain. Next thing you know there is a bog in your dash festering away (please see video in post #4) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordrodsteven Posted July 18, 2017 Share Posted July 18, 2017 Mine didn't have any critters in it when I got it home but it did have droppings pretty much throughout. I gave the car a thorough cleaning. (three times before it didn't have a stink to it!) I found a very smelly nest in the trunk under and around the spare tire. The jack is missing from the large rubber insert in the trunk and that piece of rubber was really stinking up the whole car. I finally had to pull the piece of rubber out of the trunk. Other places I found nests / droppings..... up under the dash on top of those plastic covers right above the floor well. The foam on those covers was permeated with urine. It took a few times soaking and drying to get the smell out of those. There was a nest inside the console as mentioned earlier by someone. There was a nest under one of my seats. There was also a mess of stuff (which I thought was the remains of a nest) inside the heat / blower cover at the evaporator. About three months after I replaced the evaporator the fan started making a racket. I remover the fan and found half an acorn shell sitting in the bottom. It was hitting the fan blades and made a lot of noise. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCReatta Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 Mice can and will get inside the HVAC system. This is a statement from experience. Not pensively puffing my pipe behind a computer screen. If you're lucky, he hasnt made it past the blower box. If he has you'll have to pull the dash. Remove the blower motor and you'll likely find him in there. Having the blower resister module out helps with a place to shine light in as well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KongaMan Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 Just removed a dead mouse from the inside the fan of a different vehicle. Don't know if he met his demise prior to or because of the fan being turned on, but he was embedded into the vanes of the squirrel cage. No, it wasn't a Reatta, but there was no obvious entry point (screened intake, intact filters downstream, etc.). They are insidious creatures. The smell is pretty distinctive; it's not likely to be confused with rotting leaves, mildew, or the like. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89RedDarkGrey Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 (edited) On 7/19/2017 at 0:04 AM, KongaMan said: he was embedded into the vanes of the squirrel cage Really great nickname for it I've heard it called a "Hamster Wheel" too. Either way- it's a disgusting and potentially dangerous problem. Gloves and mask are a must at least, and as I stated before- douse everything with a powerful disinfectant. Hantavirus is no joke. No vaccine, antidote, or cure is available. Carelessly clean your car- and you're in an ICU fighting for your life. Please, everyone- read this information Edited July 26, 2017 by 89RedDarkGrey (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DS_Porter 89 Burgandy Posted July 19, 2017 Share Posted July 19, 2017 I have found mouse nests in the trunk of my first '89 Reatta and also in the trunk of my current '89 Reatta. Would like to know how they get in. When I pull things out they seem to easily escape. No luck with a mouse trap baited with tasty peanut butter. I believe they watch me and laugh like clowns. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnemac Posted July 26, 2017 Share Posted July 26, 2017 One day while driving to work a mouse ran across my thighs. I looked all over for a nest to no avail. Then being the peak of summer I got the "hot death" smell in the car...very bad. I finally found it under the passenger floor mat. Bought a 2000 Eldorado, removed the mouse nest in the blower. Bought a 2013 Ford Escape and removed the mouse nest from the blower. Many ,many, Escape forum entries regarding mouse nests in blowers. The problem is that mice urinate alot and eventually a trail is made to where they nest, then others follow when the prior one is eradicated. One has to wash the tires and engine bay to reduce repeat offenders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heygibb Posted August 16, 2017 Share Posted August 16, 2017 A couple of days ago, my fan made a clunking noise after engaging AC. I had read this thread and thought, "let's open up the evaporator/blower assembly and see what's up". Holy smokes. Not only was there pine straw/leaf debris, but shop items a mouse must have dragged into the plenum. There was rolled up paper towel, steel wool and a shop towel I had made from cheese cloth in there. How in the heck could that get in there? All of it was on this side of the blend door, so nothing was beyond that point as far as I can tell. There were no mouse skeletons, droppings, smell at all...just the debris. I've never had issues w/ air flow or smell prior to the clunking sound. Why it took this long to jam the fan cage is just luck, I suppose. I vacuumed out what I could, removed the big stuff by hand, and then use compressed air on a hose w/ open flow end I could wiggle into the evaporator area. Spraying some Lysol in there will be done before closing it back up. Thanks for that tip, 89DarkRedGrey. Sounds like a great idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heygibb Posted August 17, 2017 Share Posted August 17, 2017 While I had access to the plenum, I took a look at the blend door in action. First vid is AC activated. Second is heater activated. Pretty cool...smooth. DSCFACactivated.AVI DShtractivated.AVI Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heygibb Posted August 17, 2017 Share Posted August 17, 2017 http://embracingwonderland.blogspot.com/2017/08/reatta-related-revelations.html Here is an offsite link if the vids won't play for you. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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