I just got my '01 Limited Runner back from having a mouse condo removed from the compressor. I had the same problem last summer.

The only symptom I noticed last year was that when I turned the fan past the first click, there was a really loud noise. Well, louder than the normal sound you get when you turn the fan to increasingly higher settings. My mechanic cleaned out a mouse's home from there last June.

Last week I noticed the same noise. I made an appointment today and this was found:

Is this a chronic problem? My family has owned 7 4Runners over the years and have never had this happen as far as we know. All the other Runners have been SR5s (and a Sport Edition) that do not have climate control. My mom has an '02 Sport that I'm guessing should be mostly identical to my '01 under the hood, but she's had it for four years and never had this problem. Next time it goes in it's getting checked just in case, however.

 

holy crap.

 

Looks like the meese like your rig! WOW

 

ummm... yeah, holy crap.

I'd say that you're lucky you didn't get mouse parts flying out of the vents when you cranked up the fan.

"Chronic"? Yeah, I'd say so... Dunno what to tell you about doing something to prevent it. I'd guess that they must be getting in through the fresh air inlet - check to be sure that it's screened.

wow.

 

I meant is this a chronic 4Runner problem, not a chronic problem in my particular 4Runner.

And I did worry each time I turned the fan up: it's been 80 degrees here in the south and I've only been able to run it on the first click. Turning it up higher made that awful noise and I was sure I'd have had something coming out of the vents at me.

 

man that is rediulous! I doubt a mouse will look and see a 4runner and go toward it as opposed to any other vehicle. You may have a mouse problem at your hosue that may need to get checked out

 

I used to have a mouse problem in my attic, but after I got two kittens in 2003 they took care of the problem in a few weeks. The mice aren't in the house, but maybe they're close to the house outside.

 

Do you let your cats outside? The mice like the house, but if they cant survive in there b/c of the cat, then they will seek refuge around the house. That means in your wood pile, shed and yes - your vehicle.

 

Check your wiring for damage, mice like to chew on wires for some reason. A year ago my AC unit for my house had the wires all chewed up and wouldn't work. The mice had stripped the insulation off a lot of wires and on one big wire there was just a few strands of copper still intact.

 

time to lay some traps

 

Heh Heh,...been there before too. My woman was complaining to me that the inside of her Corolla suddenly started smelling funny one day. Especially when she runs the heat. I guess I forgot about it until we took her car somewhere and I got in and noticed the smell. I told her it smelled like something I had smelled before,... mouse pee. And it was bad when the blower motor was running. I was looking under the hood with a flashlight to see if there was anything obviouse and I happened to see the same sort of chewed up material in the fresh air intake just above the squirrel cage. On an 03 Corolla they have a cabin air filter just above the squirrel cage. Well it catches mice too. I popped out the glovebox to get to the filter and found the mice had been getting in there after she parked, nesting on top of the filter. The little bastards had also been living under the plastic shroud that covers the valve cover also believe it or not! Chewing up the sound deadining material glued to the underside of the cover and taking it back to the cabin air filter where they pooped and pee'ed all over the filter. They also chewed up one of her injector wires which I had to fix because it was bare. We replaced the filter which was like 26 bucks! and a week later they did it again! So we bought another filter and I got some of that aluminum gutter screen. Removed the plastic shroud on top of the cowl by the wipers, and siliconed some of the screen over the fresh air intakes to keep the little buggers outta there. That stopped em, but I had to wash the engine to get the rest of the pee smell off of it too. What a Pain In The A$$.

 

LOL! That's crazy!

 

This is what I would suggest as a solution for 4RunnerSally as well. Just some aluminum screen over the cowl vent where the air enters and goes down to the blower fan will stop all your mouse nesting issues for good. Just use some good quality silicone adhesive (like GE) when you glue it down.

 

This happened to my moms 2001 Camry with Climate Control....

Wad the noise a clicking? Mine clicks when the speed gets above one, and am wondering if I might have the same problem?

 

Mine wasn't clicking, it sounded more like the fan was having to work harder than normal. It sounded normal on the lowest setting, but once I turned it up to 2 or 3 or 4 it was really loud. It was just a louder than normal fan noise, if that makes sense.

 

So I thought I had this problem fixed. A few weeks ago I started up the car and turned on the heater. I heard this horrible noise and was pretty sure I'd just ground up a mouse or two in there. After I got my truck back from my mechanic, it smelled really bad.

I've been running it with the windows down and the air circulating in from outside. I thought it was gone but after sitting without being driven for two days it reeks again.

Any suggestions on how to get this disgusting smell out? It's a cross between dead fish and rotting roadkill.

 

Happens to my truck EVERY fall when it gets cool. Nothing like turning the blower on and having a blast mouse hair and crap..come flying out.

I have the same trouble with my tractor and 4 wheeler.

I store them in my converted barn\workshop. I have put out traps and poison. It doesnt even slow them down.

I think has more to do with where I live. I am really out in the boonies. The field mice just seem to migrate to my workshop.

One thing I saw the other day I thought may help was a 5 foot black snake in the workshop. I hope he takes care of the mice.

 

Spray a heck of a lot of Febreze into the intake vents? Right below the windshield wipers, I believe. That'll help only if there's nothing in there rotting that you need to remove, or else the smell will persist no matter what you try!

Ground up mice, sheesh!

If you have to live with the smell and drive anyway - get one or better yet, two of those scented hanging tree things. They smell absolutely overpowering when new. Better then mouse guts, though.

 

argh....

This thread jinxed me.

Just pulled the truck out of barn storage after 2-3-4 years...

Blower doest do anything on FRESH but works on recirc...

Pulled the blower motor out...nothing.

Reached up into the hole and yeeech.....

Hanto Virus anyone?

Cleaned it all out...

scraped off the flapper door but its all kinda rusted ...

We'll see how it goes

 

Moth balls help apparently.

Both my Toyota and my Honda had mice issues when I first got them, no problems now though. Getting the smell of the piss out is a BITCH!