Bratastick Posted May 8, 2017 Share Posted May 8, 2017 (edited) Well, at least they have been. Lots of evidence that I have vacuumed up and cleaned. Unfortunately now I'm discovering that the heater control lever will only go part way. The fan works great and blows lovely smelling rat nest odors. I'm pretty sure they have been in the duct work and have a nice little mouse pad, probably with photos on the walls and lots of furniture. It's been sitting for 25 years so plenty of time for decorating. Is there any way to clean out something like that without having to disassemble the whole dash? I can't see a way. Edited May 8, 2017 by Bratastick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subaru Scott Posted May 8, 2017 Share Posted May 8, 2017 (edited) Oh yeah, they love to make homes in old subies. I had one make a nest in a gen1 wagon right before we left for vacation. During the trip while driving through a state park, a little field mouse popped out onto the hood, ran around in circles, then jumped back down the wiper shaft hole! At the dealership, I used to have to clean them out all the time. Their favorite place is in the blower cage. One time I was pulling the blower out of one where a whole family of mice had died, caught in the spinning cage, and my side was getting all wet from the carpet. I got out and told the service writer that the car must have some kind of leak as well. He said: "Oh no, that's from the car wash where they had to stop on the way here because the smell was so bad, the passenger puked in the floor..." I charged an extra hour for that one. You have to make a barrier from some fine chicken wire under the cowl panel, and make it tight around the wiper shafts. And, of course, patch any rust holes. Pull the blower, and clean the nest of carpet insulation out. You can take the vents out and stick a small flexible hose hooked to a vacuum down the ducts to get most of the turds... most. Otherwise you will have to pull the dash to get everything out. Have fun! Edited May 8, 2017 by Subaru Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted May 8, 2017 Share Posted May 8, 2017 When I got my 87 wagon, mice had made nests in the hvac system. I took out the dash and everything and cleaned it with bleach, etc. There can be some nasty stuff in there that you don't want to breath in and get sick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferp420 Posted May 8, 2017 Share Posted May 8, 2017 Is that a dr suess book lol get a cat in a hat have him live in that and eat that rat that lives in the brat i couldent resist 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subaru Scott Posted May 8, 2017 Share Posted May 8, 2017 I made a great little trailer out of the bed of a wrecked gen1 Brat. Left the rear roof pillars, cut off just below the "B," so it said "rat." Towed it behind my Brat! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bratastick Posted May 8, 2017 Author Share Posted May 8, 2017 Oh yeah, they love to make homes in old subies. I had one make a nest in a gen1 wagon right before we left for vacation. During the trip while driving through a state park, a little field mouse popped out onto the hood, ran around in circles, then jumped back down the wiper shaft hole! At the dealership, I used to have to clean them out all the time. Their favorite place is in the blower cage. One time I was pulling the blower out of one where a whole family of mice had died, caught in the spinning cage, and my side was getting all wet from the carpet. I got out and told the service writer that the car must have some kind of leak as well. He said: "Oh no, that's from the car wash where they had to stop on the way here because the smell was so bad, the passenger puked in the floor..." I charged an extra hour for that one. You have to make a barrier from some fine chicken wire under the cowl panel, and make it tight around the wiper shafts. And, of course, patch any rust holes. Pull the blower, and clean the nest of carpet insulation out. You can take the vents out and stick a small flexible hose hooked to a vacuum down the ducts to get most of the turds... most. Otherwise you will have to pull the dash to get everything out. Have fun! I'm thinking there's a pretty good wad of stuff in there since the lever only goes about half way. Cleaned one out of my Ramber when I got it that was huge. Filled up the bottom of a 5 gal. bucket. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted May 9, 2017 Share Posted May 9, 2017 (edited) If it's anything like an ea82 hvac system, they probably ate the sealing foam off of the blend doors. I had to replace all of that also. Edited May 9, 2017 by DaveT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR_Loyale Posted May 9, 2017 Share Posted May 9, 2017 They have a wet bar and jacuzzi too. I was at a wicked party there last weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idosubaru Posted May 9, 2017 Share Posted May 9, 2017 It sat for 25 years - is it now not going to sit? I'd set traps, poison and kill every rodent I could. Remove all the debris you can. Ignore every comment about liquid concoctions that work. They don't. They cant get behind panels, folds, inside materials, passages, etc. Rent an ozone generator and run it for at least 12 hours. Fire departments and some hotels usually have them. Or rent them, places that rent equipment (bobcats, backhoes, tractors) usually have them. There are even online companies that will mail you one to rent. before running it, expose every surface you can - remove floor matts, seats, easily pulled panels, open glove box, etc. hook up a battery charger so you can leave the fan blowing all night and circulate the air. Sometimes I'll run it all night but just a few hours with fans running. Make sure the vehicle isn't accessible by anyone while it's filled with ozone. That's the only simple method of neutralizing *really nasty* organic smells from pet, smoke, mildew, or rodents. Works very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starlite Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 Twice i had mice eating and dying in my 89 superstation air intake filter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaBrizat Posted May 30, 2017 Share Posted May 30, 2017 Drat! Rat shat in BRAT! Scat rat, scat. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ambonurse Posted July 4, 2017 Share Posted July 4, 2017 I cleaned out all the rodent stuff by using a high pressure hose to blow into the outside vents while I had the fan going and vacuumed with a narrow hose from inside. I used "Fresh cab" rodent repellent in the cabin and under the hood until I could finish all the cleaning and get it running. It took a while, but they haven't been back. The local professional carpet cleaning company guaranteed a product to remove any smells/stains, and after a lot of wasted elbow grease I paid a local detail shop to have at it (carpet and under the hood) until it was clean, and it worked. Using poison will pretty much guarantee that the critters will crawl into spaces you'll never find to "perfume" your Soobie forever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveT Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 Tomcat Press N' Set - white plastic mousetraps at hardware stores. Put one with it's mouth facing an edge. No bait needed. Mice follow edges. I've lost count of how many tens of mice I have gotten rid of with these, Mostly just around the outside of the house & garage, make a little tunnel with a few bricks & patio block so your cat can't get at the trap. I keep one in the cab of my Dynahoe now. I kept one in the parts car I had also. When I first put the one in the Dynahoe, I was getting 1 in the AM, one in the evening. Every day. For almost 2 weeks. Holy crap. Every once in a while, I get another wave in various traps. Just had a week of 2 per day in the edge of house & stone wall traps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turbosubarubrat Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 Just pull the dash. It's not that hard. If you need a new wind shield i would pull that first since it makes the job quite a bit easier to get the top four 10mm bolts off. You will have to drop the column out which has two 12mm nuts under the dash and disconnect the steering joint in the engine bay. There will be one 12mm nut on either side of the dash by the A pillar. The four 10mm bolts can be accessed once you remove the black vent covers. Those are the only points holding the dash in. You will still have to disconnect the wiring connectors, take off a few grounds, remove the shifter console, radio console, disconnect the hvac cables and vac hose, and pull off the speedo cable from the cluster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MR_Loyale Posted July 5, 2017 Share Posted July 5, 2017 Oh yeah, they love to make homes in old subies. I had one make a nest in a gen1 wagon right before we left for vacation. During the trip while driving through a state park, a little field mouse popped out onto the hood, ran around in circles, then jumped back down the wiper shaft hole! At the dealership, I used to have to clean them out all the time. Their favorite place is in the blower cage. One time I was pulling the blower out of one where a whole family of mice had died, caught in the spinning cage, and my side was getting all wet from the carpet. I got out and told the service writer that the car must have some kind of leak as well. He said: "Oh no, that's from the car wash where they had to stop on the way here because the smell was so bad, the passenger puked in the floor..." I charged an extra hour for that one. You have to make a barrier from some fine chicken wire under the cowl panel, and make it tight around the wiper shafts. And, of course, patch any rust holes. Pull the blower, and clean the nest of carpet insulation out. You can take the vents out and stick a small flexible hose hooked to a vacuum down the ducts to get most of the turds... most. Otherwise you will have to pull the dash to get everything out. Have fun! Yes I totally get you on that one. Within a month pf buying my Loyale, that field mice moved in. I drove the thing every day too. It wasn't until little bits of straw and other nesting debris started flying out of the vents that I took it to the dealer. They said they got three big garbage bags of mouse nest out of it. Does Subaru translate to "Home Sweet Home" in Rondentia Lingua? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rust Posted July 6, 2017 Share Posted July 6, 2017 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bratastick Posted July 6, 2017 Author Share Posted July 6, 2017 wow, looks more like squirrels, they are rats too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bratastick Posted August 29, 2017 Author Share Posted August 29, 2017 finally got into the rat problem. Found a huge nest that was clogging up the duct from the blower. I don't think there is a nest blocking flaps keeping the lever from moving. Looks like the lower flap is stuck, and really stiff. Needs a little exercise and maybe a squirt of lube. Why do they have to cut their own hole? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bratastick Posted August 31, 2017 Author Share Posted August 31, 2017 (edited) Rats were literally in my Brat... fell out when I removed the driver side defroster duct. Edited August 31, 2017 by Bratastick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ferp420 Posted September 4, 2017 Share Posted September 4, 2017 those arent squrals there hampsters lol thats the wheel they run on to power th3 bus the problem with this set up is if you leave the door open the hampsters can get out then your screwed lol there no fun to chase down 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scoobiedubie Posted September 4, 2017 Share Posted September 4, 2017 It is best to pull the entire heater unit below the dash board and replace it with one that mice have never got into. Because you will never be able to get the mouse stink out. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subaru Scott Posted September 5, 2017 Share Posted September 5, 2017 It is best to pull the entire heater unit below the dash board and replace it with one that mice have never got into. Because you will never be able to get the mouse stink out. Wrong. Sorry. Where are you going to find one? Mice have been in every Brat on the planet. Should we replace our houses too when the mice get in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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