Mice in Suburban - help please!

[wiscburb]

Hi everybody, newbie here...

I recently purchased an 89 Suburban that sat on a farm over the winter. Drivetrain, body, etc. is all great, but there's a little problem -- mice took up residence in the truck while it sat on the farm. The problem of course is the smell. Strangely, I can't find much trace of them in the interior of the truck, which is basically pristine. Here are the clues I have discovered so far:

• Mouse urine and a couple of droppings on some documents in the glove box; also, a urine stain on the rubber passenger floor mat
• A mouse nest inside the tailgate, on the left end (discovered it when I pulled off the inner tailgate access panel)
• A likely mouse nest (soft lumpy area) between the fabric and foam of the headliner, above the driver's head, with 2 holes in the headliner fabric nearby
• A terrible mouse urine smell when I turn on the heater; also got a few fuzzy particles out of the heater the first time I ran it
• Particles flew out of the rear A/C unit the first time I turned it on as well. When I went back there, it looked kind of like ground-up styrofoam
• And finally - a dead, intact mouse in the driveway, under the rear driver's side door, which was NOT there before I parked the Suburban in my driveway.

The thing that's missing is any evidence that the mice ever spent time around the interior -- seats, floors, etc are all clean as far as I can tell. I tried using a black light to locate the urine and didn't find any.

Here's my theory -- please let me know if you think this is plausible... I'm thinking if a mouse got into a rocker panel through a rust hole, he might be able to run up into the cowl and build a nest in the heater box. Then maybe the mouse could run through the rocker panel again, into the body in back and into the tailgate somehow. Then maybe the mouse could run up inside one of the posts between the windows and find himself in the headliner... Plausible? Are there any blockages along the way that would prevent our little mouse from doing this?

My thought is that the mouse couldn't get from the tailgate into the cabin because the access panel was sealed up tight -- couldn't get from the heater box through the heater core into the duct work -- didn't care to jump down from the headliner. Would that explain the circumstances? Apparent lack of urine except for in and under the glove box/dead mouse under rocker area/urine smell when heater runs? I don't know what to think about the styrofoam...

Lastly... Any suggestions on how to go about clearing all this stuff out? I hate to just start disassembling the truck willy-nilly with no game plan.

Thanks, VERY MUCH, in advance!

-John

[smashingchuck]

For some reason they love to get into the ducts and heater boxes. I woud start out with a few strategically placed bags of Deacon throughout the truck. Don't know what to tell you on the smell... besides that it's nasty.

[Justin36]

Put a snake in the floor board

[datguysaL]

set the cheese under the truck.. lol...

this might work. set a few cups of water inside the truck. its worked for me, but never had the same problem. its something about the water attraction the stinky molecules.
also you can spray alot of Febreeze spray or some kind of disenfectant and then run your heater for long time then do the same with the a/c. oh yeah and that stuff that flew out the vents, was probly dead mice. euww.. grosss... lol..

dont be surprised if a more fall out from under the dash while your driving, the vibration and road bumps will eventually end up knocking them out.

[68Timber]

People say coffee grounds are good at absorbing odors, don't know if it works.

But I'm reminded of all the heaps I've seen resurrected on TV - when they find mice droppings they put on the respirator and gloves and clean it out thoroughly.

[RuralRoute C-30]

I sympathize with what you've got! From what you describe it sounds like disassembly may be the best option to get the cab free from its past.

Just getting over where this little "mouse problem" took me in a truck I bought in February.
No signs of any damage except in the dash, but that was more than enough. A seat would have been easier to replace. But there was a smell of "something" I couldn't find a source for until I discovered this.

To get rid of the smell I just cleaned and cleaned and put a lot of those little deoderizers in it until it finally went away. (it needed it anyway) Also fresh paint did wonders when I spray bombed the firewall after cleaning up this mess!

A good poison is what I call "green bait". Comes in a white plastic container and consists of green cubes. Sold at any farm store or Farm & Fleet type retailer under the name "Hawk Bait Chunx". They love it and it loves them. I use this stuff everywhere on the farm in the fall and during winter where mice used to go. Key word: "Used" to go. (wear rubber gloves when tossing this stuff...it does work on more than mice! Keep it away from kids and family pets)

Good luck!
Mark

[wiscburb]

Yuck! Well, I know what I'll be doing this weekend. I think I'll start in the heater and work my way out with the dash, remove all interior plastic trim, etc. Is there a preferred way to take the headliner down so I can keep it intact and hang it back up again if it turns out not to be Mouseville? I do have the roof-mounted console in front as well as the rear A/C.

[oldford]

mothballs will cover the odor, but they have their own distinctive smell. They (the mice) seem to like to steal the padding from the seats, etc and move it in to the heater. Just cleaned out my '78 K20 this past weekend. You'll probably find quite a mess in there. Wash up good after you get done, mice can carry some nasty bugs.

GL, Eric

[Colesnsty68]

Originally Posted by Justin36

Put a snake in the floor board

Love this idea!

[Chevy623]

I hate mice lol. I find myself strangly scared of them....

I've actually been hunting them most of the day after work in my garage while the roof was being repaired.

I had this problem in a '88 Mercury Cougar that sat a few months, i knew it had a rat problem under the hood due to rat poop on the intake, a nest inside the fender and when i popped the hood, i found one sitting on the intake eating something.

The A/C never worked in it... and i guess they cleared that up for me cause when i got in, the a/c blew really cold. It too, had stuff flying out of it. Then a rat dropped out onto the passenger floor board and i hurt myself tryng to get out of an already opened door lol.

My problem solved itself, a bunch of plastic grocery bags were in the back seat and he couldn't find his way out and it sufficated him.

You can also try sticking a dog/cat in your vehicle and closing the door, watch where they spend most of they're time.

[donut]

Mice can fit into some pretty small places. Every spring I have to clean out the "stuffing" from my lawnmowers usually between the shroud and the engine.

In my truck, I had a big nest next to the heater core, on top of the heater box, on top of the radio... My gauge cluster was 1/2 full of acorn pieces. (Truck only got used in the winter months.)
As far as cleaning, just pull the nests when you find them (look closely, wear proper ppe). I even blew out the dash area with compressed air. Smell, wash what you can, try is a carpet fresh type product or baking soda.

If my truck sits more than a couple of weeks, I'll usually have to pull a new nest off the intake or out of the air cleaner.

[Damien]

Don't use poison, you don't want the mice to die in the truck. leave it parked in front of your neighbors house for a couple days. A coffee can half full of antifreeze works very well. they will jump in and drown. They also will not decompose in the antifreeze. It will help the smell if you leave the windows open too.

[raws67]

If I were you I would disconnect the battery until you trace all of your wiring and clean under the dash. Mice love chewing on wiring and you could have a potential fire hazard. I would almost guarantee you have some wiring problems now with that many mice. Its really not that hard to pull the dash and heater parts and you will be glad that you went in there and cleaned it anyways. One thing that I have found to be a great preventative is using bounce dryer sheets. Lay a couple sheets up under the dash after you clean and scatter throughout the vehicle under the seats etc. It will act like an air freshener and believe it or not the mice hate the smell and they will leave your vehicle.

[James McClure]

Boy, does this bring back memories. Back in the 70's I worked at a ford dealership and we got a van in on trade that was INFESTED with mice and because I was the "young guy", I got it for repair before it could be resold. After much thought about how I was going to approach this and kill all the little bas*&^ds I came up with this. Took an exhaust hose and put it in the window and taped in a piece of cardboard to finish the seal. Started the eng, closed the door and left it like that all day. Asside from the CO gas it got up over 120 degrees in there. At quiting time I shut it off, and the next day got into the rest of the "fix". Pull dash and heater\AC appart and remove much debris and dead bodies. Final count was over 50 mice and I had to empty the shop vac once in the middle of it all. To p&ss the manager off I took all the mice and laid them out on my bench with toilet paper squares over each body. All the other mechanics laughed like hell, and I was surprised to see the manager smiled. It did work. A carpet shampoo and some thermo neuclear upholestery cleaner and that van was like new. LOL, thanks for the memories guys. Jim

[wiscburb]

Thanks for the tips, everybody! I'll definitely take apart the dash and pull down the headliner this weekend and see what I can find. Bounce sheets under the dash sounds like a great idea -- I'd rather drive them away than go searching for corpses.

[motornut]

Stinky mice...if you have the rear heater check hole in floor where the pipes go up to the rear heater,i'd say sure to them getting up the pillers,to the roof,and yes to the fabric softener sheets we use these for "protection" when we close up the trailer,and during the summer just thrown around under the bed etc,well known to work.....even at -40 lol....
i guess windshield removal and driving with windows down and goggles for a few weeks is out?

[billnorman]

The little rascals love the heaters and A/C units. Be prepared to blast a lot of compressed air through the heater box, and it may be simpler to remove the fan motor to check in there. You will also be finding the former Chinese leader, Mousey-dung. I wouldn't poison them, they will just go off and die, and stink up the place worse. Glue traps are effective, although rather inhumane. It's a shame to see Mickey and Minnie sprawled out, stuck and suffering.

[68Timber]

There is one poison that makes them thirsty and drives them out looking for water. The water doesn't help them, it helps you - it gets them out of your house (car) or whatever. It works well.

[wiscburb]

Thought I would post a follow-up on the mice... I tore the truck apart and didn't find any actual mice, but plenty of nests. There was a small one in the heater distribution box, one in the tailgate, one above the headliner, and a lovely multi-room mouse villa in the overhead console. I was able to clean all the hard parts first with bleachy water and then with Simple Green, and this took away the germs and the odor. The headliner had to come down, though, and ended up in the landfill. For now I'm going to go without, but maybe I'll order a replacement someday. Here are some pics...

This is the nest in the overhead console:


And here's the one on top of the headliner:


I'd say the big one was 12" across -- yuck! It's all out now, and the truck smells a LOT better.

[datguysaL]

dat sux. so im guessing the truck must of been sitting for a while, cuz i know the mice couldnt do this over night.