Getting dead rodent funk out of cars

[1_FnkyFrm]

Quote:
Are you meaning, to switch to recirculate? The choices of settings in my 2000 toyota are a/c on or off, recirculate on or off, fan off or various speeds, temp in red for hot or blue for cold. Now in that 54 ford truck we used to have, it was just pull out the knob that opened up the big ol' vent scoop in the cowling

and watch out for flying spiders being blown through. Now there was a vehicle I understood (that and my 66 bel air).

I really don't want this to happen ever, to any vehicle.

The truck is drying and airing out today with all the doors open, seats lifted back...its a bit less humid today, best hopes...

Yes, that is what I'm talking about....

 

[TigerLilly]

If nothing else has worked, try a bowl (something sturdy that wont tip over) of vinegar & let it sit for a couple of days.
That, lysol at the origin and everything else that's been mentioned should do SOMETHING!

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I have never tried Febreeze on anything, so I don't know what it its like - would it work here?

 

[littlefork]

This happened twice with my Toyota Rav 4. After taking the car to the shop to have the dead bodies removed, I carried a spray bottle of Odoban in the car and sprayed the vents every day before turning on the heat/ac. The Odoban made it liveable until the smell finally went away.

Never have figured out how to keep the little rodents from taking up residence tho.

 

[chicks4kids]

We had a cat get stuck and fried on the engine of our car when I was young, and MAN OH MAN!! Did that ever smell!!

She took Vanilla extract and poured it all over the engine. Maybe vanilla would help for dead mice

Then there was this one time ( at band camp

j/k) that my hubby spilled some milk in the truck and proceeded to unproperly clean it up. The next day I have spoiled milk odor eminating from my truck. After shampooing, I could still smell it. I used unused coffee grounds and placed it on the floorboard of the location. 2 days later the smell was gone. But it wasn't like a just lightly sprinkled it, I covered the floor with about a quarter inch or so-so much that I couldn't see the capeting underneath...Maybe that could help too

 

[StupidBird]

Ok, update: I drove the truck downtown to deliver DS to the dorms; I only got an echo of migraine and the stench is again reduced. It is only there when I turn on the a/c - not with vent fan or heater. We tried an hour with an office ozone machine from ancient times; now I have to wipe sticky from everything. I have a can of cheap ground coffee and another of activated charcoal that I close up in it at night, other wise the windows are open unless it looks like its fixing to rain.

Hopefully time - and not too much - will eliminate it. If not, one last shot is the Mercedes dealer in Buckhead offered to run their ozone shock treatment in it for a hundred bucks. they swear by it, as do many on the interweb. Pretty pricey, but I'll do it if all else fails; it's either the smell goes or the truck goes.

I am also spraying an enzyme odor eliminator down the cowling/air intakes while the a/c is running before I set out driving.

DS says it really just smells like wet dog now. The rotting fishy component, he says, is gone. Thank you all for the help.

 

[1_FnkyFrm]

Throw about 6 of those air fresheners trees in it and let it run with the air on for about 30 min. Make sure you switch to recirculate. That should help alot...

 

[redstars]

Try putting a little Vick's vapor rub above your top lip before you get in.
at least until someone else says the smell is gone.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Seems like only yesterday...

Febreeze masks the odor, but this little diddly helped me breathe...

You can buy it at Wal-Mart for about $3. DEFINITELY makes a dent in the smell.

 

[Rare Feathers Farm]

It must be a problem with Toyotas! I have a 2007 Rav-4 and they crawled into the backside of my glovebox and perished. You have to remove the glovebox (it's pretty easy) and get a new CABIN AIR filter. Mine was full of mouse pee and nesting material so every time you turned on the heat or a/c, the rodentia funk would fly!

I've since detailed my car (TWICE @ $165/each time) AND changed the air filter. The smell is gone but I noticed more poop in there. I'm about to sell it because I think the mice left a pee trail to invite others in?? And it's all because I left a bag of feed in the back one snowy/freezing night because I couldn't carry it to the coop and hubby didn't want to...so it drew them in.

Other than that--there are little baggy things with white rocks in them you can get...they work too...