This is not in the Dart, but in my Miata. The little bugger crawled into the right rear fender and died. And it smells pretty bad. I have taken all the carpet and trim out, and can not get to him. I suspect he licked a little antifreeze and then crawled into the car.

Any ideas about how to cope with the smell until he decays to non-smelliness? I put some drops down in there which helped some, but thought there might be some brilliant ideas out there for dealing with this. I am pretty certain I can not get to him without cutting the car up. From now on, there is a loaded trap sitting in me garage.

Sam

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Thats what you get for driving a Miata

They make different deodorizers that you can probably spray into the cowl and the run the A/C with. That should at least help.

Do you find these at an auto store? The smell is coming fromt he rear, so I would likely spray into the rear fender openings. Maybe the mouse thought it was small enough for him to drive.

Sam

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Can you try to reach it with one of those spring loaded grabber tools?

Instead of covering it up... how about sealing it off? Maybe that spray expanding foam or rubber undercoating aerosols.

One morning when I was going on a motorcycle ride, there was a dead bird on my porch.

Didn't have the time to deal with it, and it was covered in ants.


By the time I got home, 90% of the bird was gone................



Find an ant hill, park the car next to it; then make a trail of food for the ants to follow so they can find the mouse....................

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

I like the biological solution. Ed, you would make a great scientific researcher. Ants are nice since they are not as gross as maggots. I might scoop up some ants and dump them down there, after parking near the ant hill. I bet if you pull out a body plug below the general area and put some honey or similar below that after a while, they'll find their way out too. There are other scavengers that might work...

There are various ways to think about engineering this situation for ants in/out.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Maybe I'm missing something... but do you really want ants in your car? Seems like its trading one bad situation for another - if they find their way into the cabin then they will find their way onto you.

Gentlemen, gentlemen.

Spring-loaded grabbers? Deodorizers? Ants? Really?

The answer is obvious. The Miata is now an ideal donor for a Locost.

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"When you find a big kettle of crazy, it's best not to stir it." - Pointy-haired Boss

1964 Valiant V200, 225/Pushbutton 904
BBD, CAI, HEI, LBP, AC, AM/FM/USB, EIEIO

I appreciate all the tips. I think ants would leave after all the carrion was gone. But, I doubt if I would have the courage to do that. It would be a rather elegant solution though. I know from past experience that eventually the smell will go away. I wonder about the spray foam. The thing is, that smell just travels pretty much everywhere, and it seems the only real fix would be if somehow you managed to completely encase him in it. At this point I am not certain where he is. I only think it is the right rear fender because the smell seems to be get stronger as I get my nose closer to those openings, and fainter as I move away. I guess I have pretty much given up finding it, and will just dump perfumes of some kind down into the rear fender, through the well the top folds into. Eventually the smell will go away. We have taken pianos apart that have had mouse skeletons in them with no odor left.

I guess if I leave the trunk lid open the smell will not collect inside as much. Thanks again for the tips. It is a wierd problem is it not? It reminds me of one of the questions on Car Talk where Tommy ends up say, "Doesn't anybody screen these calls?"

Sam

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Shop vac? Maybe a trip to the coin op car wash to use their vacuum?

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

I haven t had the Rudemaster out much lately...

Jumped in ....started the car and WOW!.....the heater fan exterminated the whole Mouse family.....a week later and I knew it was time to get busy. After a few fruitless attempts at this and that I bough a lil tin at the HomeHardware that has Cherry flavour deoderizers in it. I opened the tin and stashed it under the dash. With the car all closed up I can smell it acrost the yard.

No dead smell in the car.....at least I dont think so.....

The tin looks like canned heat......smells like cheap candy.

Recommended.

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Yeah....Im the one who destroyed this rare, vintage automobile.....

Last night I poured an entire small container of deodorizer drops that are supposed deodorize and entire room with a single drop. When I opened the garage door, the entire garage smells like t hose drops. Much better than dead mouse for sure. So, I put the car back together. One bonus, .....if and when I ever have to change the top, I know how to do it now.

Thanks again. I did not realize I was going to be so entertained by the posts. I don't know why I didn't. I was just really, really angry when I started this thread. Not so much now.

Sam

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I certainly was entertained....

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

Sam:
A dead mouse hidden deep in the bowels of someone else’s car is always entertaining.

Bill

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67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

I think you should do the ant thing. That makes for a better story and it's also free labor. You gotta make sacrifices in this economy.