Mouse smell HELP!!

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celticsam

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Feb 15, 2013
43
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0
OK...When I bought my 85 Cutlass it had sat in a garage for years. With only 84K on the clock, that was a no brainer. I should have wondered why there was a forest of tree de-odorizers in the car (at least 10) throughout the car...but the flawless (save for the carpet) interior and rust free body panels lured me in. The car STINKS like mouse urine. I have removed all of the old carpet, insulation and padding, and scrubbed and painted the floorboards (after repairing the driver's side), replaced the headliner material, disassembled and scrubbed behind the dash, and shampoo'd the seats 3 or 4 times. I have also scrubbed out the trunk, and removed the blower motor and cleaned the nest from the heater box. The smell persists. I put mothballs into the glove compartment and ash trays to prevent further rodent invasions...so now it stinks like mothballs soaked in urine. I don't want to drop my 455 into this car if it will continue to stink...but I really don't want to get rid of such a solid body. Any advice?
 

Badpontic

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Oct 17, 2012
29
0
0
Chambersburg PA
hot water and bleach and a hard bristle brush pull the carpet and everything bleach and scrub then hit it with hot soapy water with no bleach to remove all the bleach its a tough smell to get rid of.
 

Chopper

Apprentice
Feb 9, 2013
84
2
8
Midland, MI.
Wow. You would think after all that work you wouldn't smell anything. I can't help but hope someone can. Unless the smell is coming from inside the heater box what is left to clean?
 
Nov 4, 2012
5,998
12,671
113
Don't worry, my car when first purchased had the lovely aroma of wet dog, rat urine, and cigarettes. :puke: The source in my car was the usual under-the-backseat location. I had to douse the seats with Lysol for weeks. If you are going to use an air freshener, use Lysol, not febreze. Lysol kills the bacteria that cause the odor, where febreze just covers the smell.
 

spudd

Apprentice
Sep 10, 2012
95
0
6
Zep makes a Oder destroyer that works wonders. I use it in my shop and it has done the job every time
you just have to soak the areas for a few days and it kills all the odder causing bacteria.
 

celticsam

Not-quite-so-new-guy
Feb 15, 2013
43
0
0
You'd think that using an upholstery shampoo-er 3 times would clean the seats, but it has to be there or the heater core / evaporator. I'd hate to have to replace the seats...G-body seats in really good condition aren't that easy to find, but the smell has to go. If I spray into the heater box, where will it drain? I don't want it draining inside the car...and i'd rather not have to remove the whole box from the firewall...if that even possible to do intact.

Neil
 

83StreetMachine

Master Mechanic
Dec 16, 2011
395
819
93
Central NJ
Coffee grinds are what you need! Dry and unused obviously.

I've used them for years to get rid of any odor. I just recently used it again to remove the gasoline smell from an interior of a brand new subaru. Customer was transporting a gas can inside their car and it spilled. I used the coffee grinds and in a week the smell was completely gone. And that was gas! If it will work for that smell it will work for any!

Remove the seats and put the grinds directly on them (don't allow them to get wet, it might stain). Then you can either sprinkle the grinds inside the car or put the grinds in a couple open containers and leave them in the car. It will absorb the odors and leave behind a wonderful coffee aroma. Vacuum the grinds off once the mouse smell is gone. That coffee aroma will dissipate rather quickly once vacuumed away.

You can also remove the lid of the A/C heater box without removing it from the car. Make sure there are no nests inside there. Once cleaned out, put in some coffee grinds either loose or in a container.

Good luck!
Ed
 
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