$118 Car wash - mouse in the dash
02-02-07, 04:45 PM
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$118 Car wash - mouse in the dash
I wish I'd had my camera with me...I don't see too much on mice or rat infestation on our cars. There are thread where some rodent nested in an external area, chewed through this or that costing much more than my incident, but nothing where my problem arose.
I had a heater/AC fan clicking on low and roaring on high so loud you could not stand it. I have 03 430 with 33K miles that is garaged and not driven but every other week or so in the winter. I take it to the dealer and the service rep goes right to the cabin filter through the glove box and the mouse had a nest centered on the cabin filter, lots of nesting material, corn and it had eaten about 10% of the filter. Admittedly I have 4 acres sharecroped in corn just beyond my back yard, and had a mice chew up som injector wires on my Ranger pickup, but this was a damn nest right there. Since I had no idea that was the problem I was hoping to drop the car, get a loaner and come back later. I tried to no avail to convince them that a $55K car should be mouse proof. When cleaning it out, they discovered the mouse was alive and still there after the 30 mile drive to the dealer.
Remedy is dryer sheets in the glove box and near intakes under the hood. Also, moth ***** in small pie tins or whatever near or under the car in your garage.
My car did need washing and the labor was reasonable - filter however was like $75.
I had a heater/AC fan clicking on low and roaring on high so loud you could not stand it. I have 03 430 with 33K miles that is garaged and not driven but every other week or so in the winter. I take it to the dealer and the service rep goes right to the cabin filter through the glove box and the mouse had a nest centered on the cabin filter, lots of nesting material, corn and it had eaten about 10% of the filter. Admittedly I have 4 acres sharecroped in corn just beyond my back yard, and had a mice chew up som injector wires on my Ranger pickup, but this was a damn nest right there. Since I had no idea that was the problem I was hoping to drop the car, get a loaner and come back later. I tried to no avail to convince them that a $55K car should be mouse proof. When cleaning it out, they discovered the mouse was alive and still there after the 30 mile drive to the dealer.
Remedy is dryer sheets in the glove box and near intakes under the hood. Also, moth ***** in small pie tins or whatever near or under the car in your garage.
My car did need washing and the labor was reasonable - filter however was like $75.
02-02-07, 04:58 PM
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when i aquired my car, one of the first things i did was check out the cabin filter.
never did find anything else wrong almost two months later.
you never did say if it costed you anything else besides the filter. was all of your wiring ok?
never did find anything else wrong almost two months later.
you never did say if it costed you anything else besides the filter. was all of your wiring ok?
02-02-07, 08:38 PM
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Bought mine at the dealer, but it was right about $20.00 or so; not exactly sure, but nowhere near $75.00. I'd NEVER purchase a filter for that much ever.
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02-03-07, 06:05 AM
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That is a lot for a filter, but I was so sure that it was a problem with the fan motor and I was already having lunch at a Hooters across the road from the dealer. It was a really cold day and slow in service they got me in immediately and there I was. Admittedly as you can tell by the picture in deejay's post, its not much of a filter and mine, although infested with a little nesting material, pieces of corn, etc. wasn't nearly as that dirty, I suppose since it had been replaced because it was CPO only 3K miles ago. It did have a much bigger portion that had been eaten away.
02-03-07, 11:09 AM
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david - read this and you'll never pay $20 for an air filter again.
http://lexusmodz.netfirms.com/GS_DIY/hepa_filter
http://lexusmodz.netfirms.com/GS_DIY/hepa_filter
02-06-07, 09:28 AM
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How do you use the dryer sheets? do the mice not like the small of them & mothballs?
I just had to rewire my knock sensor 2 weeks ago after I removed my intake manifold because a rodent made a nest in the V in the engine block under the manifold. too bad my camera didn't have batteries. An independant shop quoted my 440 just to remove & reinstall the intake to get to the nest. It took me most of my saturday to do it.
Imagine if I went to the dealer. I think mice love these cars.
I just had to rewire my knock sensor 2 weeks ago after I removed my intake manifold because a rodent made a nest in the V in the engine block under the manifold. too bad my camera didn't have batteries. An independant shop quoted my 440 just to remove & reinstall the intake to get to the nest. It took me most of my saturday to do it.
Imagine if I went to the dealer. I think mice love these cars.
02-06-07, 11:32 AM
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According to the dealer mice do not like the smell of either dry sheets or moth ***** - they said to just put the sheets right in the glove box - I have not driven mine since I did to see if the car smells like dryer sheets, but my garage now does smell like moth ***** -ugh!. I did not look too closely when they pulled out the filter but looked like there was a couple of pieces of plastic in the back of the glove box, pop, pop and out it came. They also said to put some by the air intake under the hood like it would be obvious where they meant if I looked. I have not done that yet, but I have some fabric window screen I will probably put a couple in a little pouch and maybe attac with a nylon tie. I did make two shallow boxes out wood that was laying around about put in about 20-30 moth ***** and covered with screen. Put those under my car and wive's. Not driving daily is also an issue. I have a never ending supply of mice with the field a few feet away.
01-11-09, 07:37 PM
#14
Mouse in the Cabin Air Filter
**BUMP**
Instead of creating a new thread, I'll bump this old one from the past. I'm familiar with the odor of a dead mouse and that's what I was sniffing when in my car. My first place to look was the cabin air filter and sure enough the rodent was there wedged in my charcoal air filter. So I plucked it and few leaves from the filter and took a pic with my camera phone. I read somewhere awhile ago here in CL of another member who had a mouse in their filter but It still amazes me that I found that thing in there.
Instead of creating a new thread, I'll bump this old one from the past. I'm familiar with the odor of a dead mouse and that's what I was sniffing when in my car. My first place to look was the cabin air filter and sure enough the rodent was there wedged in my charcoal air filter. So I plucked it and few leaves from the filter and took a pic with my camera phone. I read somewhere awhile ago here in CL of another member who had a mouse in their filter but It still amazes me that I found that thing in there.
