Cleaning up after mice...

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JHZR2

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In the car
frown.gif


Went to get my 240D, and when I opened the door, I noticed a decent smell. Not overly foul, Id say a garbage can is worse. More of like a faint reminder of the smell in an old school, dirty subway. Slight combo of urine, BO and stagnant humid air.

Didnt take long to notice little bits of mess everywhere. Ugh.





Got the car pulled into some daylight, saw a mouse scurrying on the floor mats.

Left the car on, turned on the HVAC, finally I saw this:



Decent nest. Granted, I havent operated the car in a few months.

Kept looking around, finally saw it leave...



Seemed to be its standard entry point...



So, I pulled the mats, letting them air out outside the car. Will vacuum the car substantially tomorrow. Should I get the floors shampooed?

The seats are vinyl with horsehair in them. I didnt see much sign of hair that would indicate that the mouse got into the cushions. Seems it was mainly some newspaper and other paper scraps.

There's no noticeable compromise of the cowl, but Ive read that it only takes a mouse 1/4" to get into something.

Any good way to try to keep them out? Anything else they typically do that I should look out for?

Thanks!
 
They could still be in your heater ducts. We had to have the dash pulled on wife's Crosstrek and a few chewed parts replaced and the entire air duct system cleaned. $1400.

We bought some ultrasonic mouse chasers that are 12 V, 3 levels of annoyance to the mice, plus a blinking light. They do not like lights as it lets predictors see the mice. Mounted it under hood connected to battery. You can hear the highest level. Level 2 and 3 really bother 30 yr old daughter. It goes off when car is running.

Peppermint oil drops on cabin air filter.

Bounce dryer sheets.

Small bags of pine needle/balsam.

Cat.
 
Originally Posted By: rollinpete
Get rid of them quick,
They start chewing wires and you'll be in trouble.


Fortunately its a 1981 Mercedes with mechanical windows and vacuum locks.

AC and radio work. Hope there isnt much to see regarding damage.

Set traps in my garage though...
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Originally Posted By: rollinpete
Get rid of them quick,
They start chewing wires and you'll be in trouble.


Fortunately its a 1981 Mercedes with mechanical windows and vacuum locks.

AC and radio work. Hope there isnt much to see regarding damage.

Set traps in my garage though...


If it were my car I would have to bomb it with some good chems. I wouldnt want one of those critters (hitch hikers) climbimg up my leg while I was driving. LOL
 
Originally Posted By: i_hate_autofraud


The mess they left indicates MORE then ONE mouse! Be thorough!


Not entirely sure how to be so though...

All I can do is pull mats and carpets and look. Anything else would need to be stinking them out Id guess...
 
FWIW.
Noticed one of my dogs in wheel well of a friend's car in driveway and hanging around one of my cars but not the others. Conclusion: Vehicles treated with Fluid Film, no chipmunks. Friend got his vehicle treated(we were both curious). Chipmunks skipped his vehicle next visit went straight to my untreated car.
I am not a scientist or a salesperson for Fluid Film.
Don't know if it would work to repel mice but it wouldn't hurt your car to try.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
In the car
frown.gif


Went to get my 240D, and when I opened the door, I noticed a decent smell. Not overly foul, Id say a garbage can is worse. More of like a faint reminder of the smell in an old school, dirty subway. Slight combo of urine, BO and stagnant humid air.

Didnt take long to notice little bits of mess everywhere. Ugh.





Got the car pulled into some daylight, saw a mouse scurrying on the floor mats.

Left the car on, turned on the HVAC, finally I saw this:



Decent nest. Granted, I havent operated the car in a few months.

Kept looking around, finally saw it leave...



Seemed to be its standard entry point...



So, I pulled the mats, letting them air out outside the car. Will vacuum the car substantially tomorrow. Should I get the floors shampooed?

The seats are vinyl with horsehair in them. I didnt see much sign of hair that would indicate that the mouse got into the cushions. Seems it was mainly some newspaper and other paper scraps.

There's no noticeable compromise of the cowl, but Ive read that it only takes a mouse 1/4" to get into something.

Any good way to try to keep them out? Anything else they typically do that I should look out for?

Thanks!



Need to understand mice/rat habitats I'm assuming the vehicle was park in the spot for some period. You can try to get traps and so on but the best bet is to move the car in different spots weekly. A stationary spot is inviting a habitat to nest or a house. I've seen that happen before...need to think out of the box mice/rats has instincts they won't nest something that's not stationary.
 
You can rent a Bissel Big Green Machine at Lowes for around $30. There's a $5 off coupon plus get the upholstery attachments. For a cleaner solution I would go to Home Depot and get some Premium Zep Carpet Shampoo for around $10 per gallon. Trav recommends it and works excellent. The Bissel cleaning solutions are kind of expensive. The machine is a bit heavy and the only thing I don't like about but that's more of an issue when cleaning the carpets. It's about 45 lbs when filled with solution. Easy to operate. I used to work for Stanley Steemer in high school so I have some experience.
 
Friends up north (in the woods) have constant mouse traffic.
During any handling / disassembly be sure to wash your hands.

They resort to moth balls. At least the smell dissipates predictably.
 
stinkwise, you might get a UV light and shine in the carpet to see the urine spots when you run a carpet cleaner. Consider Nature's Miracle to dissolve some of that urine smell. Also, the best total odor eliminator i've found is Valugard Odor Terminator. I believe it's only available from Valugard.
 
I'd wear a respirator cleaning up after rodents. I remember when we were living on the Navajo Reservation that some of the locals came down with a deadly illness that led the CDC to send scientist to the rez. Turned out to be a virus carried by field mice that were prolific that year due to a bumper crop of pinion seeds.
 
Or just have a mobile detailer clean it up. Shouldn't be too much and much less in the long term if you get sick. You can check on www.yelp.com for decent detailers in the area.
 
I took it to a place to have the carpets washed and extracted. Fortunately on a W123, the carpets are completely removable, so that helps with water and all.

With carpets out, the car has no odor at all. The carpets are hanging to dry in my garage, and despite the cleaning, I can still sense some odor.

May try a shampoo and shop vac extract myself once or twice. What else do I have to lose? The pros got the big dirt out and now I can work primarily the remnant urine odors or whatever it is.

Still bummed, but its getting much better...
 
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