[Bjoern]

First of all - sorry for my language since I'm not a native speaker!


I know there are already some threads about rodents (mostly mouses) but let me share my own story/suffering with you...

Last year (2019) arround October I did found some paper scraps on the backseats and something - up to this point - "unknown wolly thing". I didn't think to much about that and cleaned it.

About a month later I was opening the glovebox and I couldn't believe my eyes... NO FAKE


I was shocked and (a bit scared as well) because it was absolutely clear to me that I'm having an unwanted lodger in my car!
Cleaned up the mess and hoping to find a dead mouse or something like this but nothing.

Searching the interior for any further traces but only found a nippled bottle of water (no picture unfortunately).

From that day on I also discern a very awkward smell in the car which I couldn't describe!

Arround December last year (2019) I disassemble the seats in order to remove the carpet because I was hoping to find a mouse (dead or alive).

As you can see - no mouse but only some "droppings?" so I assembled everything and did some professional interior clean up to get rid of this smell.

BUT guess what... didn't help! Smell was still there and in the meantime my girlfriend refused to get in the car

So the search goes on and after some searching arround this forum my attention was catched to the cabin filter.
And here we are...

Obviously I'm going to need a new cabin filter and also need screening outside of cabin air filter.

Next steps are to remove the upper dashboard to clean up the air blower but for this I propbably will need some guidance on how to do that.
Does anyone know how to remove this?
Does anyone have good advice for screening?
Does anyone have an idea where this ****ing mouse is?

I appreciate any help!

[avalonandl]

I would say it was a squirell or a rat....

too big a mess for a mouse....

[Coded4SS]

Holy heck man. Looks like you went the right route. I'd steam clean that car though. Left over droppings or anything can cause sickness

[Rock-It Man]

I can't help but notice the candy wrapper in the glove box.

After you get everything sorted and cleaned out, don't leave food in the car ever again.

If your car is stored in a garage, call professional pest control. They will set you up with an ongoing program to control rodents. It's not "one and done", it's an endless war.

If the car is stored outdoors, again, DO NOT LEAVE FOOD IN THE CAR.

[Chutzpah]

Well, that really sucks!! Nice job pulling the car apart. I have a couple suggestions on removing the smells.

1.Wash any surface you feel that little bastard / bitch may have urinated on with a pet odor removal enzyme ( found at pet stores).

2. Vinegar - My girl decided puke out the window of my new truck (too much white wine), at highway speed.... needless to say, puke flew everywhere. I couldn’t get rid of the smell, even after dissembling the car and using #1 above. I was told by an old lady friend to place a large glass bowl with white vinegar in the car ( windows closed), let it sit there for at least a day. Miracle upon miracles, the car did smell like vinegar for a couple days following that, But it was a small price to pay to permanently remove the sour puke odor (especially when humid).

3.Buy a very small ozone generator place in car with doors closed (be very very careful if you go this route).. an ozonator can cause plastics etc to break down if over utilized. DO NOT breath in Ozone, it will destroy your mucous membranes/ lungs. The car will need to air out.

My guess your visitor moved out either before or sometime shortly after you started dismantle its home....

[ember1205]

Have had this same situation twice in my Silverado. There's something about the way GM has designed the HVAC system that rodents can not only get in, but they make nests on top of the cabin filters. It's irritating as all heck.

One thing I have learned is that you can slip a very thin piece of cardboard under the cabin filter before you slide it out. The cardboard need to be the exact width of the opening and has to slide in at least as deep as the filter itself - I have used the thin, printed cardboard from multi-box packages of facial tissues for this. With the cardboard inserted, pull the filter out (leave the cardboard inserted). All of the debris on the top of the filter that would have otherwise fallen into the fan assembly (like in the picture you show) will instead land on the cardboard and you can then slide the whole lot of it out without dropping any.

Removing that fan in the truck is easy but time consuming. No idea how different it is in the Camaro.

[Bjoern]

Originally Posted by Rock-It Man

I can't help but notice the candy wrapper in the glove box.

After you get everything sorted and cleaned out, don't leave food in the car ever again.

If your car is stored in a garage, call professional pest control. They will set you up with an ongoing program to control rodents. It's not "one and done", it's an endless war.

If the car is stored outdoors, again, DO NOT LEAVE FOOD IN THE CAR.

Absolutely! I won't make that mistake again.

Originally Posted by Chutzpah

Well, that really sucks!! Nice job pulling the car apart. I have a couple suggestions on removing the smells.

1.Wash any surface you feel that little bastard / bitch may have urinated on with a pet odor removal enzyme ( found at pet stores).

2. Vinegar - My girl decided puke out the window of my new truck (too much white wine), at highway speed.... needless to say, puke flew everywhere. I couldn’t get rid of the smell, even after dissembling the car and using #1 above. I was told by an old lady friend to place a large glass bowl with white vinegar in the car ( windows closed), let it sit there for at least a day. Miracle upon miracles, the car did smell like vinegar for a couple days following that, But it was a small price to pay to permanently remove the sour puke odor (especially when humid).

3.Buy a very small ozone generator place in car with doors closed (be very very careful if you go this route).. an ozonator can cause plastics etc to break down if over utilized. DO NOT breath in Ozone, it will destroy your mucous membranes/ lungs. The car will need to air out.

My guess your visitor moved out either before or sometime shortly after you started dismantle its home....

Great idea! I did bought some pet odor removal enzyme today and will try asap. Afterwards I'm going to proceed with vinegar.

Originally Posted by ember1205

Have had this same situation twice in my Silverado. There's something about the way GM has designed the HVAC system that rodents can not only get in, but they make nests on top of the cabin filters. It's irritating as all heck.

One thing I have learned is that you can slip a very thin piece of cardboard under the cabin filter before you slide it out. The cardboard need to be the exact width of the opening and has to slide in at least as deep as the filter itself - I have used the thin, printed cardboard from multi-box packages of facial tissues for this. With the cardboard inserted, pull the filter out (leave the cardboard inserted). All of the debris on the top of the filter that would have otherwise fallen into the fan assembly (like in the picture you show) will instead land on the cardboard and you can then slide the whole lot of it out without dropping any.

Removing that fan in the truck is easy but time consuming. No idea how different it is in the Camaro.

Makes sense about the cardboard. Will consider this next time.. although I really hope there will be no next time

Does anyone know how to remove the fan?

[DaveC113]

Wow, I knew rodents can get into cars but that's just crazy. I hope they didn't chew up anything important, like electrical wiring!

How do they get in and can you put some steel mesh in that area to prevent this? I have minor mouse issues in my home every once in a while, would hate for the little f#$%ers to get into my car like that!

[ember1205]

Originally Posted by Bjoern

Does anyone know how to remove the fan?

I haven't looked at the car yet, but the process in my truck involves taking off a trim piece under the dash (4-5 screws) and then dropping the blower motor. I would imagine that the process would be similar for the car unless GM did something significantly different in the design, but the same sort of setup seems to be in play (blower motor under the filter inside the cabin).

[ember1205]

Originally Posted by DaveC113

Wow, I knew rodents can get into cars but that's just crazy. I hope they didn't chew up anything important, like electrical wiring!

How do they get in and can you put some steel mesh in that area to prevent this? I have minor mouse issues in my home every once in a while, would hate for the little f#$%ers to get into my car like that!

I don't think there's a way to block them and am guessing that the setup from GM includes nothing more than a thin plastic "screen" that they chew through to get in there in the first place.

Moth balls, dryer sheets, and other things laid around the car have been reported to ward them off, but I'm not a believer. They've gotten into my truck twice, but that is admittedly parked outside. In the garage, I keep freshly baited traps with hair triggers to keep them away (I use the original Victor wooden traps and bend the latch pieces so that it take almost no pressure to release it).

[STYLO LT1]

Bjoern- I’ve had success in the past using Baking Soda to get get rid of funky odors in cars. Just crack a box open and set it in the car for a few days. I was skeptical at first, but it does work. Hope you get it all sorted out.