My heater clean-out project

[OregonNed]

My truck is down for the winter, so I decided it was high time to take out my heater box to once and for all rid it of the old mouse nest inside. I've had particles flying out since 2012 when I bought it. I thought I's share pictures along the way - though I know the subject has been documented at least a few times. Here goes:

As it sat when I pulled the powering wire:

[OregonNed]

Removing the cable inside the cab:

[OregonNed]

Removing the heater hoses to drain the coolant. A handy Tupperwear container worked perfectly. Note: I already had the inner fenders pulled to paint this winter:

[OregonNed]

Here goes the top hose:

[OregonNed]

Hardware removed and box removed. With a little jiggling, it easily came out - clearing the still-attached hood hinge just fine. If there is any difficulty on the way back in, I will consider removing it:

[OregonNed]

Looking inside, the heater core is new and looks great! :

[wpavlis]

I am in the middle of doing this now. Having trouble with the inner fender. I am a little scared of what I will find when I get it apart.

[Grumpy old man]

Good thing there's no Hantavirus in Washington !

[REEDS 72]

mask&gloves

[GASoline71]

Originally Posted by REEDS 72

mask&gloves

Yup...

Hanta Virus...

Gary

[Gromit]

I'm guessing you might find Mr. Mouse's) skull and bones up between the sheet metal of the roof and the cab ceiling.. remove a sun visor and stick one of those borescope cameras through the sun visor swivel hole and fish around until you find him.. I think the mice can move up from the heater blower hamster wheel through the hollow front pillar to get into the space between the roof and ceiling sheet metal.. Lysol will help with hantavirus but don't rely on it (until they find a cure for the virtually certain death or at least permanent health effects of hantavirus)..

[zeldman]

Hantavirus is serious, sometimes deadly serious. Please use a mask and gloves to remove and clean. Then use plenty of disinfectant like Lysol.

I have flown several people out sick with hantavirus. Its not something to take chances with.

[F.A.A.benny]

They can be made to look pretty nice. I restored this one last month

[LockDoc]

-
You got pretty lucky. It must have been cleaned out when they replaced the heater core. Here's what mine looked like.... You can tell by the size of the screwdriver how much stuff was in there.

LockDoc

[F.A.A.benny]

Yea them rodents can leave a smelly mess. The last system I restored, I could not reuse the heater box. Even though it was bead blasted and clear coated, the smell would not go away

[OregonNed]

Originally Posted by F.A.A.benny

They can be made to look pretty nice. I restored this one last month

Do you sell the rebuilds? Or just use them again.

[F.A.A.benny]

Originally Posted by OregonNed

Do you sell the rebuilds? Or just use them again.

I sell them. That went to a guy in Florida.

[OregonNed]

That looks really nice! The brackets holding my core in are pretty rusty as well as the inner door having some surface rust (light)

[F.A.A.benny]

Originally Posted by OregonNed

That looks really nice! The brackets holding my core in are pretty rusty as well as the inner door having some surface rust (light)

I always replate the brackets.

[OregonNed]

That was bad! I think a lot of my nest flew out using the heater the last few years. I looked for the brackets but couldn't find them. I ordered a new fan cage because mine was a bit chewed up.

[firedemon]

mine was so full I don't know how the mouse fit in there anymore . I thought the fan was shot couldn't get air through any where and the doors were froze in place thought the cables were froze . works good now but there are rust holes on the inner box thinking mouse pee

[Ochre Ogre]

F.A.A. Benny, what did you use on the fiberglass to shine it up like that?

[F.A.A.benny]

Bead blast and clear coat

[OregonNed]

I received my new fan yesterday so I can start putting things back together..

[OregonNed]

Cross posted - but almost ready to reinstall