Mice made a nest in my fan blower, need help getting everything apart!
 

I turned on the blower and I could hear something inside moving around. It was on low, so then I put it to medium speed, then to high, then thump, lol. I then realized it was an animal probably, but it was surely dead after being on HIGH, due to the SMELL! I pulled the blower fan apart, and this is what I found, with two mice inside.

http://www.burtmanindustries.com/ima...z/mice_fan.JPG

I cleaned it all out yesterday but it still stinks in my truck! I borrowed my neighbors Sea Snake (a portable flexible camera with has a light on the end)

http://www.burtmanindustries.com/ima.../sea_snake.jpg

I aimed it in the channel where the fan blows the air through the big black box beside where the fan mounts, and saw this:

http://www.burtmanindustries.com/ima.../mice_vent.JPG

Yep, thats mice guts! I don't know how I'm going to get it all out of there and need some help on how to get everything apart in that lower black box area where the air blows through. Anyone have instructions on how to do this, or something from the service manual???
Great way to spend Labor Day! :saw:

UPDATE: I recommend everyone clean their blower out anyway, as it does get dirty over time and you are breathing it all in!

Here's an awesome write-up on how to clean your blower fan! click me

Dude, thats just nasty! Do you not drive the truck much anymore? I had a wasp nest inside my 88 when it sat for a few months.

I've never pulled it apart so I cant really help. But you should be able to find instructions in the factory service manual and you can download them here http://www.ncttora.com/FSM/

Looks like they transferred the firewall liner for a long time.

check out some of the audio posts and they should give you a start on tearing apart the dash.

Can anyone tell me how they got in there????

It might have gotten in the fresh air inlet. I had left it open on my 89 and that is the only time I have had a mouse problem. I make sure to shut it when the truck is parked now.

Good thought! If I remember, there is a big flap that opens when it's on fresh air.

Just when they said it couldn't be done, Burtman Industries builds a better mouse trap :D

But all kidding aside the best best may remove the blower and use a shop vac with a smaller hose to suck out as much as you can. The spray it down with some A/C evap coil cleaner to break the stuff loose and GENTLY wash it out by putting a baking pan in the floor board and using a hose on LOW.

The only other alternative is going to be pulling the eavp coil and then you have to swap the drier, vacuum then recharge the system.

I would really be curious to know how they got in there. I would look under the hood and see how much insulation they tore off and god knows what else they tore up.

When it comes to mice nothing works better than a liberal application of warfarin.



FOG

Be sure you get it cleaned out thoroughly, my dad's 89 was totaled from leaves getting into the blower and eventually caught fire. Burned all the wiring and components in the dash. Dried mouse guts and fur could catch fire too? Unlikely, but possible.

OMG what a mess! Reminds me of a Seinfeld episode where Jerry sells his car after a smelly valet stinks it up LOL.

Might look into some liquid odor eater stuff they sell for carpet pet odors, it has the ability to eat organic material unless the EPA has outlawed it now or something. Of course clean it up as much as possible 1st.

That is just nasty! :barf: Now I think I am going to clean out my blower this weekend...

Oh yeah also look for wiring with the insulation chewed off of it. I had mice eat the wiring on my AC unit outside my house, some wires were chewed clear through the copper too.

Thanks for the tips. I have a bulilding I've been parking my truck in recently, and that's where they had to get the yellow insulation from, as the building isn't finished, -- the walls are all insulation on the inside.

I was able to get most of the black cover off the evaporator and twist it down enough to get in there and get everything out (luckily I did this, as there were two more dead mice in there!) I used a smaller vacuum hose like you suggested which helped alot. There was a ton of insulation over the coils on that mini looking radiator/evaporator. I use a mixture of bleach and water in a spary bottle to clean off everything. Super clean and now the air comes out harder than a hurricane!

http://www.burtmanindustries.com/ima...mice_after.jpg

I did dent some of the coils a little, but I don't think that is hurting anything. I recommend everyone clean their blower out anyway, as it does get dirty over time and you are breathing it all in!

Here's an awesome write-up on how to clean your blower fan! click me

P.S. They didn't get the insulation from the hoodliner, as I don't have one. Only 99+ trucks got the insulated hood liner.

Hmm, this is an interesting thread. I had mice build a nice little nest in my blower once, I am curious as to what else I might need to check for blockage besides just the fan as the ducting system is pretty much a mystery black box to me.

My air blows nice and cold but it seems like an excessive amount of condensation drips from the drain hole when I use it. I am talking puddles of it after running the A/C for 5 minutes.

The heat does't seem to be burning hot like it used to either. Could possibly be the heater core is clogged but I have done a pretty good job of keeping the coolant fresh. Is it possible that there could be some debris blocking the hot air path allowing slightly warm air to come out only?

I wish my blower motor was that clean when I pulled it out. I have now pulled the fourth mouse nest from my blower assembly in 2 months.

Hopefully the people at Toyota responsible for this egregious design oversight have since ritually disemboweled themselves for such a disgrace. Doubtful, but I can dream.

A previous '94 pickup of mine met with constant rodent intrusion. The only thing you can really do is put the vent selector on "recirculate" when parking the truck overnight. That helps keep them out of the cabin, but they still build a nest on top of the trap door and everything dumps into the fan when you open the vent. That happened several times and at least once involved a live mouse getting shredded in the fan. Their guts reek even when they're not rotting.

I had a 2000 Taco with the same problem, but not as bad because 1.) rodent populations were down at the time from drought and 2.) I didn't have the truck that long. (After that I got a '00 Nissan Frontier and it had the same problem, but everything about that truck sucked. Moving on...)

Now I have an '04 with the same damn problem. It's a bad rodent year and as of this morning I've caught 32 mice in the engine bay with many more expected. About 10 days ago they destroyed the steering column-to-firewall seal and got in the cabin. :mad2: Every surface had droppings on it, there was a nest in the glove box with a rotting corpse, and everything smelled like mouse piss and death. It's better now after thorough cleaning, but the interior is forever tainted.

Second-Gen Tacos have a vent riser under the plastic cowl cover that is simple to access and and simple to build a mesh cover for. With first-gens like ours, you pretty much have to cut an access hole in the cowl sheet metal to even access the vent riser.

[/RANT]

You can pull your windshield wipers offand take that cowl peice off and put some kind of mesh across the whole opening. I did this with some of the mesh that was left over from doing stucco on a house. I have had no more mice in the air vents.

They haven't discovered the cowl drains behind the fenders then.

Wow, nice thread bump :) I haven't had this happen again, but I will tell you it was the smell of death.

That's good. I didn't feel bad necroposting since it will be an ongoing problem as long as these trucks are on the road.

I'm looking for some special M5 hanger studs to replace the fan motor screws with. The plan is to put some thumb screws on them so the plastic blower box threads don't get worn or pulled out and the fan can be removed with no tools. It's that bad....I have to have a quick-release fan motor. Caught mouse #35 last night BTW.