Mouse debris extraction

[Lady of the Creek]

I'm brand spanking new to this forum, with a big, big request for advice. Experience in other forums (fora?) I visit prompted me first to do a search to see if my question had already been addressed, and I didn't turn up much but computer advice.

I bought my fifth Nissan and first Xterra (2001, SE, 5-speed) last January. About 2 weeks ago I had a mouse infestation in my heating/ac system. There's still a lot of mouse trash in the system and may cost me hundreds of dollars to extract.

The only advice I got was to shut off the fresh air when I park.

None of my other Nissans had mice move in--and I've used the same garage for 20 years. What gives? Where to I screw on the hardware cloth? Can I clean it out myself?

Thanks,
Yours in Bewilderment,
Lady of the Creek (Marguerite)
Gettysburg, PA

[Schludwiller]

Heh. One of our clubmembers just found a nest of dead mice behind her air filter.

[Lady of the Creek]

Originally Posted by Schludwiller

Heh. One of our clubmembers just found a nest of dead mice behind her air filter.

Yum--like the Food TV shows where they cook things on the manifold.

Jerry at my Nissan dealership diagnosed that I had not one dead mouse but "two little guys," kind of chopped up in the heater fan and stinking like nobody's business. A can of Frigi-Fresh went on my bill and now, a week later, the smell's about gone.

This afternoon I pulled the glove compartment and the heater fan and groped around and removed more mouse nest and restored air flow from the AC. Should I find an air hose and see if I can shoot more nest debris back down the air system?

And how are the buggers getting in?

Marguerite
a.k.a. Lady of the Creek

[Schludwiller]

For the life of me I can't figure out how our members mouse got in behind the airbox.

Do you have an environmental filter? It might get jammed up with mouse debris, but at least you won't have mouse turds coming through your AC.

[Lady of the Creek]

Originally Posted by Schludwiller

Do you have an environmental filter? It might get jammed up with mouse debris, but at least you won't have mouse turds coming through your AC.

That must be the metal honeycomed thingie that I was vaccuuming mouse nest fluff from.

Thanks,
Marguerite

[OffroadX]

Hmm, if you do have the microfilters installed in the airbox and they're intact, it would indicate that the mice found their way in from the cowl area, not from the interior.
If you remove the cowling (black plastic between hood and windshield where air is drawn in) you will see the "duct" that leads down to the blower unit. You can cover the top of this duct with some metal mesh screen.
Here's a handy how-to that will tell you about how to remove the cowl:
http://www.rkrenn.com/xterra/mods/cb.../cbantenna.htm

[Lady of the Creek]

That's exactly the sort of diagnostic thinking I was hoping for.

I'll poke around and see what I can do with a screwdriver and maybe some hardware cloth.