Kind of and on topic at once. Have an old truck (82 GMC) started it yesterday for first time in months and turned on heater and was met with a barrage of mouse nest. And stink!!! I took out the blower motor, cleaned it, sprayed a can of industrial health care grade disinfectant/deodoriser in it. My question is, what have you guys used to neutralise that smell?

Plastic blower wheel? I would see if you can find one at the junkyard and just swap it out (or a new one if they are cheap enough). Once that stink gets in the plastic, even metal for that matter, it's hard to get rid of.

You can rent an ozone generator. They eliminate the smell for good. Just set it up in the car. Roll up the windows and close the doors. Turn it on and come back in 24 hours.

It is all in your duct work in the dash now.Hard to get rid of.
The only thing I know of that might help is 1 of those botttles with a wick in that folks use to get the burn smell out of a house or something.Check with a home restoration company that helps with burnt houses.We had a juke box and video game to get a burnt smell in them.That was the only stuff that helped.

fortunately, there is very little in the way of duct work.... will try a few of these ideas, heres hoping it works, hate to have to tear the dash out cuz of one little critter

What the used car guy's do to get rid of smoke smell in cars is to start the car up. turn the heat on, and then spray a can of lysol in the vent intake. the area in back of the hood and at the bottom of the windshield. you could also throw some fabric softener sheets under the seat, but that would only mask the smell and not realy do anything to get rid of it.

Good luck

Get a "pound" can of ground, perk coffee. It will absorb the odor rather than hide it. Coffee has an odor for sure, but the huge surface area of all those particles will do the job just like a carbon filter.

pour a bottle of hoppes No. 9 in the heater. problem solved.

Get a container of activated charcoal or go to a moving and storage facility and get a couple packs of the deodorizer they use in refrigerators that are going to be stored. KB

Rob,

Not to scare you but, be very careful here. If you begin to experience any type of respiratory problems in the next few days, seek medical attention AT ONCE! Do not dismiss it as "something going around".

Mice and other rodents carry a virus in their droppings and dander called Hanta Virus and it is deadly to humans. It is and airborne virus.

Remember, an ounce of prevention is always worth a pound of cure.

Mike.

eHow reinforces Mike's comment on the Hanta Virus.

For more on removing mouse droppings click here.

Another used car trick is to place apples under the seats. That seems to absorb the smell too. At least some of the bad ones.

Rob, Get A Cat! I had a similar problem with a stored Mercedes... I used Arm and Hammer Pet stain and odor Remover. It has an enzyme that breaks down the organic compounds in animal feces and urine. Hope this helps!

Try vinegar. Works on cat pee. Mist it into the fresh air intake of the cool/heat system. And its a disinfectant.

Thanks guys, quite familiar with the hanta Virus, wore an N95 mask while removing the nest and cleaning the duck. Its the smell I'm worried about. I think I will start one by one some of the suggestions here.... the arm and hammer seems like the first, most logical step!!!!

To get rid of mouse smell you should find a roadkill skunk and place it in the vent. This will work on any smell but then you are on your own getting the skunk smell out.

Febreze is about as good as it gets.

My current daily driver is a Maxima that I got for cheap because it had become a mouse cemetery. I had to remove the complete interior and enough of the dash to clean the vents. I pulled the carpet and pressure washed it til it was spotless, steam cleaned the seats washed the complete interior sheetmetal with lysol and again with more chemicals and then ran an ozinator in the car.
After that I re-assembled the car and put some air
freshener in it and with the windows down it didn't smell too bad.
Now a year later I cannot smell any mouse in the car. My wife claims she sometimes can smell something but it could have been the skunk I hit

Bill

I painted a car for a guy a little over a year ago that put the febreze stuff in the carpet. Shop stunk for almost a year! Don't do it, the skunk smells better!

^ I guess you just don't like Febreeze.......???

Look up "Fresh Cab"....I got a sample in a goodie bag from a Car Show I was in..It's a little pouch,,,I put it in my 48 Station Wagon and it smells good and repels mice too ....Carl