I get in my new Max today and the air kicks on...what the h*** is that smell. I know this is the dead mouse smell. So I figure somehow this little bastard got up into the air vents?? Bust out the owners manual to see where the cabin filter is (behind the glovebox) and you won't believe this. As I pull the filter out there is freakin' insulation and dog food on top of the filter!! So I vacum out what I can and clean it up, problem is I still don't know if I got the mouse or the thing is decomposing in my new Max. I figure giving the smell through the vents Speedy is taking a dirt nap. The other issue is now there is a vibration above the glove box (must be a motor in there) whenever the fan runs. If anyone can offer any suggestions/ideas to help me out please do. Also if anyone can figure out how he got in there let me know.

 

Ahh, sorry, thats not dog food, i pooped in your dashboard.......

Well, i gotta say, you wont have that new car smell forever, but i do belive there are some car care products that make your car smell like a new car... maybe you can spray that on your filter....

 

That does suck... Back in 82-90 I was a mechanic at a large GM and Nissan dealership in Montana. Needless to say we had allot of wealthy ranchers etc bring their cars and trucks in with bad odors, burnt out windshield wiper motors and no heater fan operation..... Like you, all filled up with their "pet food" dog, cat etc. Several so packed tight that it seized and burnt up the wiper motor etc. On all that I saw, the little critters crawled in around the cowl area at the base of the windshield then proceeded to stock up their new "home" for winter... Not sure of all the nooks and crannies in the 2004 Max but sucking it out like you are is a start. Check the cowl area under the hood, around the wiper linkage areas, see if you can see where they gained access. You may find that area full of "stuff" also. I actually pulled a living family of five out of a Nissan Stanza one day. All nice and cozy in the heater core box.... :-)

My guess is you live outside of town??

Good luck and congrats on the new pet! - hope you get ride of him quickly :-)

Smitty

 

What about putting a mouse trap under your seat with some dog food on it?

 

Where do you guys buy your cars Petsmart?

 

LOL

 

time to break out the pressure washer and shop vac.

 

i think he's referring to "animals" crawling into the car...
M I C...K E Y...MOUSE.

 

If you leave your car outside, always honk before you start it.

 

Well after a couple of weeks I finally have this problem solved. The mouse had dropped so much crap into the fan motor squirrel cage that a very noticeable vibration occurred while the fan motor was set on 3-5. The dealership replaced the motor and everything is fine. Never did find the mouse so that is a good thing, I figure the odor was from his nest and mess.

Dealership said that mice can get into the system via the air intake by the wipers. No more odor or vibration so everything is cool.

 

This is too wierd huh!.... Just yesterday driving home from work, bout halfway home, I hear a loud tick-tick-tick-tick... from the glovebox area!, I increase the fan speed, the ticking increases along with it. So I completely shut down the climate system fearing I may do more damage to the fan/motor. First thing this am, I'm at the dealer, left the car, bout an hour later service mgr calls me saying "Well, we diagnosed your problem and your not gonna believe it!"....
Turns out they found the dead mouse, the beginings of a nest - large wad of insulation, and a chewed cabin microfilter!!! Wierder thing is I had never noticed any odor or any signs whatsoever... I would have never known if the fan ticking hadn't started!.... musta been his little head hitting the fan!
They replaced my cabin filter, cleaned out the mess, and sprayed biocide in the ducts, and all is back to normal.
I guess a nice warm garaged engine on a cold night is very inviting for these varmits!

 

Wow this mouse thing is to weird. The problem with mine was when the fan was on high speed 3-5 I had a very noticable vibration. The dog food the mouse brought up there got into the fan motor and messed it up. The dealership replaced it and I am throwing my wifes cat out there to stop this.

 

Just curious but did they cover the repairs under warranty or did u have to pay for it?

 

wow oddest thing...im getting the same tick tick on fan speeds 2-5.
is there a write up where i can check this out?
im out of warranty :-(

 

Nope, not covered under warranty. That darn rodent cost me bout $100. $40 for cabin filter + labor.

 

They didn't even ask, they just said they need to replace the fan motor which they did under warranty. Took them about a half an hour.

Hint, they only charged me $22 for a new cabin filter when I asked them to replace it, the guy at the part conter wanted $46 dollars for it.