[Zippyd0g]

Had my 2019 Elite in for routine service and they found a mouse nest in the air intake box. They said they cleaned it all out and replaced the filter. I also replaced the cabin air filter and found some Dog food from the garage in there, but no nest.

Now, when I start the engine, the HVAC smells like a stinky barn. The smell goes away after a couple minutes, but with it getting much hotter here the last few days, the smell is getting worse.

I have:

• opened the air intake tube & box and cleaned with bleach
• re-visited the cabin air filter and shop vac’d out any remaining dog food
• inspected the engine compartment, found a nest between the hood and liner. Removed the nest with shop vac, sprayed liner with bleach.
• inspected the runways at the base of the windshield - clear

My best guess is that there’s something more I’m not finding, but am out of places to look. Its gotta be in the air system somewhere. The other puzzle is the awful barn smell goes away a couple minutes after startup. I’d think if I had a dead animal somewhere, the stink would be continuous, no? That’s how it went with my wife’s CR-V.

Any suggestions, ideas or experience with this?

My wife‘s CRV had a similar problem, but the dealer service guys got it cleaned up. Not so lucky in my case. I recently put sonic emitters in the garage and plugged suspected entry points with copper mesh and expanding foam, so the garage is clear (I think). I also bought a sonic emitter to mount under the car hoods...so (I hope) it’s just about that smell now…

thanks so much for any suggestions!

 

[carpayments4life]

1. Get some laundry room Drier Sheets. Bounce
2. Get some bread bag tie wraps and tie wrap a Bounce sheet near the area of the nest, which was removed. If you see another "ledge" that may become a mouse home...tie wrap a bounce sheet there too.
3. After using the AC, park the car and find where the condensation drips from. Once you've found the drip tube, spray some Wurth notice the long application tube
4. Find the AC vent that stinks the most and spray some Wurth in that vent and let it sit overnight.

 

[Zippyd0g]

1. Get some laundry room Drier Sheets. Bounce
2. Get some bread bag tie wraps and tie wrap a Bounce sheet near the area of the nest, which was removed. If you see another "ledge" that may become a mouse home...tie wrap a bounce sheet there too.
3. After using the AC, park the car and find where the condensation drips from. Once you've found the drip tube, spray some Wurth notice the long application tube
4. Find the AC vent that stinks the most and spray some Wurth in that vent and let it sit overnight.

Thank you!
I just did the bounce sheets. For the AC cleaner, would this work as well? The Wurth product seems hard to source. I can get this at Auto Zone today. OR should I be using a foam AC cleaner? Sorry, new territory for me. Thanks!

 

[jppelec]

Be thankful they didn’t make a meal out of the wiring, a friend of mine had them destroy the under hood wiring on his brand new Chevy SUV. Cost him $2300.

 

[fx_chip]

Thank you!
I just did the bounce sheets. For the AC cleaner, would this work as well? The Wurth product seems hard to source. I can get this at Auto Zone today. OR should I be using a foam AC cleaner? Sorry, new territory for me. Thanks! View attachment 15162

I believe this is meant to flush the compressor/coolant tubes and not the air intake/blower system.

 

[fx_chip]

If you are certain that the air intakes are clean of solid matter like mice droppings then you are dealing with an odor infused HVAC system.
You can try to fix that by making a mixture of water, baking soda and fresh lemon juice. Get some fresh upholstery foam, cut out 5 pieces in 6x4 inch seize, soak them in the mixture you just made then squeeze them dry a bit but let them retain at least 60% moisture. Arrange the soaked foam pieces on the air intake vent underneath the windscreen then run your A/C for at least an hour while parked with air circulation turned off.
As the system sucks in fresh air it will take in moisture from the foam pieces so you should be able to smell the lemon. The lemon and the baking soda should then sterilize the system. Soak the foam pieces at 25 minutes intervals, after an hour you can switch off the car, replace the interior air filter with a new one again and let the car sit overnight.

 

[Dbp_22SG]

Had my 2019 Elite in for routine service and they found a mouse nest in the air intake box. They said they cleaned it all out and replaced the filter. I also replaced the cabin air filter and found some Dog food from the garage in there, but no nest.

Now, when I start the engine, the HVAC smells like a stinky barn. The smell goes away after a couple minutes, but with it getting much hotter here the last few days, the smell is getting worse.

I have:

• opened the air intake tube & box and cleaned with bleach
• re-visited the cabin air filter and shop vac’d out any remaining dog food
• inspected the engine compartment, found a nest between the hood and liner. Removed the nest with shop vac, sprayed liner with bleach.
• inspected the runways at the base of the windshield - clear

My best guess is that there’s something more I’m not finding, but am out of places to look. Its gotta be in the air system somewhere. The other puzzle is the awful barn smell goes away a couple minutes after startup. I’d think if I had a dead animal somewhere, the stink would be continuous, no? That’s how it went with my wife’s CR-V.

Any suggestions, ideas or experience with this?

My wife‘s CRV had a similar problem, but the dealer service guys got it cleaned up. Not so lucky in my case. I recently put sonic emitters in the garage and plugged suspected entry points with copper mesh and expanding foam, so the garage is clear (I think). I also bought a sonic emitter to mount under the car hoods...so (I hope) it’s just about that smell now…

thanks so much for any suggestions!

I plugged the holes in my garage with steel wool and used the foam too. Also you can use peppermint oil and cut up Irish spring soap in all the corners of your garage. Been working for me