Jofus Posted September 22, 2006 Share Posted September 22, 2006 I have the nasty smell coming from the heater. I am pretty sure I need to take the deal apart to clean it, but how do I go about doing so? I started to take apart the dash but I appeared I would need to really get into it and did not have the time. I have a "blow and go" attatched to my ignition so if there is a way to get at it without serious dash work that would be sweet. Thanks for the help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turbone Posted September 22, 2006 Share Posted September 22, 2006 You will need to pull the glove box out and the panel under it also. This way you can get to the duct work and the heater itself. Pull all the duct you can and wash it with hot soapy water. Some here have used some type of chemical (Pine Sol maybe?) to help cut the odor. The motor should drop out the bottom of the heater, the nest might be in there. There is some ducting that goes over to the drivers side also, pull the panels off under the dash to get to them. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrap487 Posted September 22, 2006 Share Posted September 22, 2006 you may have to pull the heater core too... I found that in both my wagons that I have that they resided mostly underneath the heater core. I've spent the last 3 days taking my entire dash out and I found 3 dead mice in there this morning, dead for probably several years, fragile, dry, shriveled bodies not quite properly decomposed. Best to take it ALL apart if you want to get the smell out for GOOD, as soon as I pulled the heater core out of the car along with everything else the smell went with it. Also a good oppurtunity to clean up any wiring, touch up or paint parts of the dash and maybe do some work to the gauge cluster etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgd73 Posted September 22, 2006 Share Posted September 22, 2006 Time to make an omelet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ogiesdad Posted September 22, 2006 Share Posted September 22, 2006 When I first got my 93 wagon, the blower didn't move much air--then a couple weeks later, it just quit. We pulled the blower and it was full of yarn, scraps of fabric, twigs--your typical mouse nest. We used a shop vac on the ducts and fortunately didn't find any mice. One other thing that will help with the old Japanese car smell is a few chunks of charcoal in a paper bag for a few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Durania Posted September 22, 2006 Share Posted September 22, 2006 Something about Subarus attracts wildlife more than anything from my own experience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrap487 Posted September 22, 2006 Share Posted September 22, 2006 Something about Subarus attracts wildlife more than anything from my own experience. um, well its fairly easy access for mice into the vents from outside the car, and I think possibly something about coolant in the heater core may attract them and eventually kill them when the car is sitting... after I'm done with this I'm putting screens over every possible extrance into the duct work, and also retrofitting a cabin air filter from some other car to help keep pine needles n crap from being sucked in and clogging up my heater core. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted September 22, 2006 Share Posted September 22, 2006 Fotunately on the EA82's they don't seem to live in the core - it's in the blower housing and AC system that mine had a nest. Looked like a mouse city down there. I cleaned out the blower housing, and used a coat hanger to pull all the crap out of the AC. Nasty pee smell dissapeared after that. Now it just smells like stale fries and old McD's wrappers. GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TomRhere Posted September 22, 2006 Share Posted September 22, 2006 Best thing I've found for cleaning the "smell" out of a car is Murphy's Oil Soap. It's actually for cleaning wood paneling, furniture, mill-work, but works great on other things. Leaves a pleasant fragrance in the vehicle. Pine Sol will work, but it's rather strong and lingers way to long afterwards, atleast for me.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeneralDisorder Posted September 22, 2006 Share Posted September 22, 2006 Yeah - pine oil is VERY potent stuff. My grandfather says the sewer department used to use it to clean people's basements after broken/overflowed sewage lines. Only thing they could find that would eliminate the smell permenently. GD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daeron Posted September 23, 2006 Share Posted September 23, 2006 I like using suntan oil for scent in the car... gives that "beach" smell that Kraker from seinfeld was so nuts about... another good scent i like in the car is fresh gardenia blossoms... smells like honeysuckle to me. not necessarily powerful stuff at cancelling foul odor, but i smoke clove cigarettes. what odor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davalos Posted September 23, 2006 Share Posted September 23, 2006 Double-Shot on the Murphy's Oil Soap plug. I don't know why it works so well, but it does. I don't know if it soaks into the plastic or what. 2 other things: If you can get your hands on an ozone generator - plug it in there & leave it overnight. Then crank up the blower full-blast for 15 minutes or so. Probably not a good idea to stay in there while to do it. Another one - there are enzymatic cleaners out there, whch are amazing (for carpets, etc. Spray it on, let it sit for awhile (4-6 hous, depending on the strength) then wipe it away/extract. It's remarkable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverback Posted October 18, 2006 Share Posted October 18, 2006 Jofus, hopefully by now you have been successful with odor control. After odor removal comes rodent repelling. I had a mouse in my 87 Loyale 4WD 5spd hi/lo. I researched chemical treatments. Poisons are too dangerous. Various forms of animal urine are available. I found 'peppermint oil and spearmint oil' are seriously disliked by mice. I placed a combination of the oils in my air intakes and blasted the ductwork. The smell was so strong that sitting in the vehicle during 'venting' was difficult. The strategy is to drive it/them out and make the equipment unattractive to rodents. The strong smell will dissipate. Your vehicle will smell nice. I purchased the oils at an 'Herbal' type store. I am waiting for someone to tell me that a straight shot of these oils will eat up the plastic ducting. Hate those meeses to pieces........ I have been wondering about those animal urine products: If I apply coyote/fox urine to my vehicle and drive into the National Forests -- what kind/size critter will urinate on my vehicle to 're-mark it'?????? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgregory Posted October 19, 2006 Share Posted October 19, 2006 Check the whole car out beyond just the heater system. I had the same thing happen a few years back to a nice Misubishi Galant, thought I had it taken care of with the ventilation system. A month or so later the smell returned and I found 2 additional nests where they had burrowed under the padding in the rear seats. Ended up just getting rid of the vehicle to a dealership. I could't get rid of the smell. Just saying be thorough so they don't ruin the car. Good luck on the extermination. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GlTurbo1987 Posted October 19, 2006 Share Posted October 19, 2006 that happened to my gl.... there were so many nests in there, because it sat in a field next to a horse stable... they also ate the air cleaner and had made a nice nest on top of the throttle body.... just ripped all the ducts out and washed them thoroughly.... it doesnt stink anymore... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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