JFon101231
Active Member
Yeah, funny, I thought about that very same thing while driving last night...
What’s in Your Cabin (Filter)
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Yeah, funny, I thought about that very same thing while driving last night...
Richard_arch74
Active Member
After having our car in storage (garage) for 3 months I opened the car and smelled this putrid/urine smell. Sure enough the bastards set up an encampment just above the air filter. The filter was used as a litterbox. The insulation was the insulation from the footwell area. I have an appointment with an interior detailer who has experience with this type of thing.
BTW, the traction battery only lost about 2% SOC over the 3 months here in Michigan. I had my battery tender on the 12v battery and the car started right up.
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BTW, the traction battery only lost about 2% SOC over the 3 months here in Michigan. I had my battery tender on the 12v battery and the car started right up.
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
Mice have been known to fit through a hole as small as a quarter inch in diameter which is about the size of a pencil.
Fast Eddie B
Well-Known Member
We had scratching sounds in the space between upstairs and downstairs. Set a trap, and couldn’t figure out how the bait kept coming up missing. Our CritterCam solved the mystery!
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And in our case, neither Irish Spring soap nor dryer sheets had any effect.
Richard_arch74
Active Member
My continuing saga with Mousecapades:
Went to a car detailer who said he was experienced with smelly cars (because of the urine smell) and I got it back and now smells like deodorizer (almost as bad as the urine smell), took the car to a local new/used chevy car dealership yesterday to get their opinion and they suggested an ozone treatment. I said let's do it.
Today I get a call from the dealership and they said they had a problem with the car. . . . , an employee backed into my car on the lot. Before letting me know they take the car to an autobody shop (which I have used before and have had good success with) and they estimate $652 of repair cost.
This whole thing is turning into a clusterfuk[emoji35]
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
Went to a car detailer who said he was experienced with smelly cars (because of the urine smell) and I got it back and now smells like deodorizer (almost as bad as the urine smell), took the car to a local new/used chevy car dealership yesterday to get their opinion and they suggested an ozone treatment. I said let's do it.
Today I get a call from the dealership and they said they had a problem with the car. . . . , an employee backed into my car on the lot. Before letting me know they take the car to an autobody shop (which I have used before and have had good success with) and they estimate $652 of repair cost.
This whole thing is turning into a clusterfuk[emoji35]
Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
MrFixit
Well-Known Member
I think it is fair to say that nobody knows !
Richard_arch74
Active Member
I'm hoping that they had access through the fresh air intake last time. I made sure I had recirculation on before I left for warmer weather.
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Maybe you could rent a mouse, put the mouse in the cavity where the cabin air-filter goes, put some cheese atop the engine, and then watch to see where the mouse emerges. However, that could become a smelly problem if the mouse just disappears. Alternatively, blow smoke into the cabin-filter cavity to see where it emerges?
ShrimpBurrito
New Member
Bumping this thread. Any updates on where the intake to the cabin air filter might be? I'm a +1 on finding mouse dropping in the filter, but fortunately no nest. I'm hoping I just had a visitor and not a resident.
MrFixit
Well-Known Member
In some ways finding a nest in the filter is a good thing because it is easy to remove.
If there is a nest somewhere else (who knows where) it could be more of a problem.
I am not responding to scare you, but rather to offer a suggestion. Since you do have droppings, it might be wise to set a mouse trap in the car in order to catch any unseen residents. I have had good luck with the good old-fashioned spring-traps using peanut butter as bait. If there is a mouse in there, he (she) will find the trap in short order. If you don't catch one, it may give you a little more peace of mind.
ShrimpBurrito
New Member
Good idea. I replaced the filter yesterday, and am going to check it again in a week to see if there are any more droppings. It was parked for a few months over the summer, but was run most days after that, so I'm hoping that summer period was when it happened. If I find more droppings in a week, or when I check in subsequent weekly intervals, I am going to go bananas with a counteroffensive.
But what I'd really like to find, as I know others here would like to as well, is find the entry point so I can put some expanded metal over it. In the meantime, I'll adopt the HVAC-off / Recirc-on method.
But what I'd really like to find, as I know others here would like to as well, is find the entry point so I can put some expanded metal over it. In the meantime, I'll adopt the HVAC-off / Recirc-on method.
Online parts diagrams show the Duct Assembly, Heater Blower parts, Cabin Filter, Fresh/Recirc Motor Assembly, etc. Thus far, I’ve seen nothing that shows a “part” that indicates the point of origin for fresh air intake.
Perhaps the parts counter at a dealer will have more detailed and comprehensive diagrams. Alternatively, fishing a wire through from the cabin filter compartment to an exit point may be our only option to discover the location where air and mice are allowed to enter.
Perhaps the parts counter at a dealer will have more detailed and comprehensive diagrams. Alternatively, fishing a wire through from the cabin filter compartment to an exit point may be our only option to discover the location where air and mice are allowed to enter.
MrFixit
Well-Known Member
Here is a diagram:
The fresh air comes in from the 'top'.
My guess is that air comes through the vents at base of the windshield (between the windshield and hood, where the wipers are).
Now, the question is - Does a rodent have to come in that way?
If a mouse gets in (could be from anywhere) there are many opportunities for it to enter the duct system through an interior vent.
It is surprising how little of an opening is required for a mouse to go through. There may be easier ways for a mouse to get into the vehicle from the bottom of the car than to climb up on the hood and enter the intake vent, but who knows?
@MrFixit is correct as usual. The fresh air intake is here at the cowl:
It is then ducted to the right side of the cowl where it enters the cabin. Here is a view of the duct under the cowl:
I didn't slog through all four pages of posts, but saw something above about the "recirc method" or some such. If that means remembering to put your HVAC system in Recirc mode prior to shutting down the car, you may be fooling yourself. Failsafe for automotive HVAC systems is Fresh Air/Defrost/Heat. What that means is that whatever motive power is responsible for making your HVAC flaps move (be it electricity, vacuum, or something else) when it goes away, is turned off, or otherwise fails, the flap that does fresh air/recirc moves to fresh air, the flap and/or water valve that determines hot/cold moves to hot and the flap that directs air to the windscreen through the defrost louvers, or blocks it sending it to the dash or floor vents, opens to defrost.
I've not seen any evidence of residential rodents in my Clarity, as yet, though it doesn't sit still for long, either. I bought a Jaguar X300 over the internet from a dealer in Tucson, AZ and flew out there to drive it back. I guess it was the better part of 11 or 12 hours' drive. When I got home, we found a cozy mouse nest in the boot that wasn't there when I left AZ. Cleaned it out and he(she?) rebuilt despite my son commuting in it daily to school. We eventually eradicated one rodent via snaptrap and if there were others, apparently we nabbed the builder. Had another rodent that preferred a nest in the left front corner under the bonnet of a different X300 constructed of bonnet-liner nibblings. That one was not a daily driver and suffered significant wiring damage beneath the left front wing.
Advent of a feisty feline tightened up shop security and eliminated that one and all subsequent attempts at indoor nesting.
It is then ducted to the right side of the cowl where it enters the cabin. Here is a view of the duct under the cowl:
I didn't slog through all four pages of posts, but saw something above about the "recirc method" or some such. If that means remembering to put your HVAC system in Recirc mode prior to shutting down the car, you may be fooling yourself. Failsafe for automotive HVAC systems is Fresh Air/Defrost/Heat. What that means is that whatever motive power is responsible for making your HVAC flaps move (be it electricity, vacuum, or something else) when it goes away, is turned off, or otherwise fails, the flap that does fresh air/recirc moves to fresh air, the flap and/or water valve that determines hot/cold moves to hot and the flap that directs air to the windscreen through the defrost louvers, or blocks it sending it to the dash or floor vents, opens to defrost.
I've not seen any evidence of residential rodents in my Clarity, as yet, though it doesn't sit still for long, either. I bought a Jaguar X300 over the internet from a dealer in Tucson, AZ and flew out there to drive it back. I guess it was the better part of 11 or 12 hours' drive. When I got home, we found a cozy mouse nest in the boot that wasn't there when I left AZ. Cleaned it out and he(she?) rebuilt despite my son commuting in it daily to school. We eventually eradicated one rodent via snaptrap and if there were others, apparently we nabbed the builder. Had another rodent that preferred a nest in the left front corner under the bonnet of a different X300 constructed of bonnet-liner nibblings. That one was not a daily driver and suffered significant wiring damage beneath the left front wing.
Advent of a feisty feline tightened up shop security and eliminated that one and all subsequent attempts at indoor nesting.
ShrimpBurrito
New Member
Thanks so much MrFixit and AHolbro1 -- very helpful.
So if I found mouse feces atop the cabin air filter, doesn't that mean the mouse couldn't have entered from below the filter, since the filter was intact, as was seemingly the case with others showing undamaged filters? (It was squeaky clean, pun intended, under the filter.) If so, that means the mouse had to enter from above, and the only opening to the outside world I am understanding there to be is the fresh air intake at the cowl. Right?
Of course, this assumes the mouse didn't eat through a duct to enter -- all bets are off in that instance.
I'm going to check to see what happens to the recirculation control door (as shown in the diagram above) when I turn the car off when recirculation is ON. If it opens to fresh air, then indeed, using the recirc method of defense won't work, as AHolbro1 explained.
Thanks all!
So if I found mouse feces atop the cabin air filter, doesn't that mean the mouse couldn't have entered from below the filter, since the filter was intact, as was seemingly the case with others showing undamaged filters? (It was squeaky clean, pun intended, under the filter.) If so, that means the mouse had to enter from above, and the only opening to the outside world I am understanding there to be is the fresh air intake at the cowl. Right?
Of course, this assumes the mouse didn't eat through a duct to enter -- all bets are off in that instance.
I'm going to check to see what happens to the recirculation control door (as shown in the diagram above) when I turn the car off when recirculation is ON. If it opens to fresh air, then indeed, using the recirc method of defense won't work, as AHolbro1 explained.
Thanks all!
Without going through or around the filter, a mouse would need to enter through the intake ductwork in order to arrive, and set up camp, on the intake side of the filter. From the outside there is a fresh air intake, inside the cabin there is a return air intake.
Be advised that a mouse will never reveal their secrets under interrogation.