Our jeep smells like a dead mouse...any suggestions on the best way to take apart the ventilation system and clean? 08 Sahara two door. Oh, and it makes my wife VERY unhappy.


When you turn on the fan, pieces of nest comes out and the smell is terrible.

Howard

 

When is the last time you went wheeling? I know a forum member had a similar smell about a year ago and he described its as spoiled milk mixed with ass mixed with rotting corps! lol or something like that and i think his problem ended up being a a/c condenser drip line that hangs down that got plugged with muck and then it plugs up and drips inside under the Carpet and makes the inside of the jeep stink...i can't remember where the line is and just because its part of the a/c system it still needs to run when defrost its on, so i would look into that before you tear your dash apart. Other then that its easy to pull the vents out to get a look in there with a flash light, just turn the ring and they pop out.
It could be a drain plug that fell out and is letting water in, or something else completely. I hope you get the stank out!

 

Oh, I think the mouse turds and nesting material, plus the chew marks indicates mice...

 

Take off all the vents, go to the car wash with the most powerful vacuum. Shove it as far down each vent as you could. Any further than that I dont know how you would go about it.

 

I have a small shop vac and the hose is a small diameter, i use it for cleaning the jeep and the wifes car. With a small diameter hose like this maybe you can run the hose down the vents? Just a thought.

 

Man do I hate when those effers get inside my rig. All my rides have hardware cloth over the HVAC intake and the engine air cleaner intake now.

I live in the woods. Over the last 10-15 years I've taken 3 dashboards/heaters apart and replaced about $300 of intake air filters. The filter element for my CAT diesel is $80 a pop. Really hope I sucked a couple of those little 4-legged turds through that big 10.6 liter engine! Organic fuel!

 

I couldn't find a diagram for the JK, but it might help...
http://www.jeep4x4center.com/air-con...rangler-tj.htm

 

I have a small story about mice. A few years back I was driving down the highway and suddenly there was lots of smoke coming from my Camry's hood. I quickly pulled over and opened the hood just to find a fire over the engine. Luckily it was raining and I the shoulder had lots of mud, which I threw desperately over the fire and after a three or four large "scoops" I dug with my bare hands the fire was out.

Called the tow truck and went to the dealer. Technician calls me smiling and shows me what was left of a rats' nest over the engine. Since I park the Camry on my house's driveway, which is near the lawn and flower beds it was not difficult to imagine the mouse building its nest over the cozy warm engine (it was Winter).
So, after replacing a harness and the plugs' wires everything was fine again. Luckily no serious damage. My Camry has been running for a few years after this incident and never had any issues.

So, be very careful about what you find in your engine's compartment. After that scare I now do regular checks on all my cars, Jeep included, no matter parked outside or inside.

 

It looks like I am going to pull the vent covers and blower motor out and start vacuuming today. Just ahead of this winter storm that's coming...

Howard

 

That's the best textual description of a smell I've ever seen.