gettin out the stink

[mikeconner1]

slightly off model, but I 'spect it ain't a unique problem. Got my old one ton Chevy dump out today to go get a load of sand for some upcoming stone work. I only drive this truck maybe 10 or 12 times a year, so she sits a lot. Built a killer smallblock for it, so she pulls like a bear, but it drinks gas like a drunken Arab so its only driven when necessary.

Since the truck sits, it has apparently become a haven for mice over the winter. I drove it home today after getting the sand in the rain. I had noticed that odor of rodent(yall know the one, all of us have been junk-yardin') but it wasn't too bad until I had to roll up the windows and turn on the defroster. Man, that s%*t about burned my eyeballs out!

So, a couple of questions. Little pieces of nesting material were coming out of the defrost vents, so that means the HVAC is infested. What's the best thing to use to clean this system, and secondly what is something that could be used to very much discourage their return?

Man, this old Chevy stinks.

[fordman]

i would take the duct work apart and get the nest out and use soap and water to clean out what you can reach. then use some fabreeze inside of it and all around the inside to get or kill the smell. lysol alos work for killing that kind of mouse pee smell. one way to help keep them out is to mow the grass out from under and around where it is parked at.

[ToughOldFord]

Sorry, but I can't resist:

Chisel off all the Ch*vy badging, the stink will seriously minimize.

[ToughOldFord]

i would take the duct work apart and get the nest out and use soap and water to clean out what you can reach. then use some fabreeze inside of it and all around the inside to get or kill the smell. lysol alos work for killing that kind of mouse pee smell. one way to help keep them out is to mow the grass out from under and around where it is parked at.

Then do that!

[knightfire83]

Been there done that on a 88' Chevy Sierra that sat in a field for several years.

The heater core box and all the ducting will need to be removed and cleaned (I used bleach.)

Carpet can be removed and cleaned with a power washer and some lysol, but if there's insulation on the back of it that goes in the trash.

Headliner will need to come down and if cardboard likely to be thrown away.

Power wash the interior and scrub it with Lysol or bleach, but the trick is that smell will NEVER be gone unless you seal the metal with some new paint. I used a quart or two of Rustolium. Of course you would have to let the cab air dry for a few days before painting.

Seats will need to be taken care of too......

Check the wiring inside and out for chewed and bare wires.

It'd be a good idea to use eye protection thew out the process and NEVER wipe or touch your eyes after handling rodent waste. (long story about an eye infection for months goes here.)

As a short term way to catch mice, the old spring trap loaded with smashed up candy corn works good.

[papabug71]

Been there done that on a 88' Chevy Sierra that sat in a field for several years.

The heater core box and all the ducting will need to be removed and cleaned (I used bleach.)

Carpet can be removed and cleaned with a power washer and some lysol, but if there's insulation on the back of it that goes in the trash.

Headliner will need to come down and if cardboard likely to be thrown away.

Power wash the interior and scrub it with Lysol or bleach, but the trick is that smell will NEVER be gone unless you seal the metal with some new paint. I used a quart or two of Rustolium. Of course you would have to let the cab air dry for a few days before painting.

Seats will need to be taken care of too......

Check the wiring inside and out for chewed and bare wires.

It'd be a good idea to use eye protection thew out the process and NEVER wipe or touch your eyes after handling rodent waste. (long story about an eye infection for months goes here.)

As a short term way to catch mice, the old spring trap loaded with smashed up candy corn works good.

Yes to all of the above. Espically the checking for chewed up wires part. Them little suckers are like mini beavers, they can & will chew through anything. Hell, they chewed through the body ground on my 72 Ranger parts truck.

[tsherry]

You need to do better than get the stink out, you need to eliminate the possibility that you're not breathing Hanta Virus spores.

I'd bleach the heck out of everything....