Tenacious urine smell from vents

Hello,

I have a 2005 Taco that spent a lot of time sitting over the winter (I live in New England). Some mice got into the blower housing and did their business all over it and now the pee smell is intolerable and - so far - impossible to get rid of. Here's what I've tried.

1. Replaced the cabin filter.
2. Removed blower motor and cleaned motor and housing as best I could with Lysol, soap, hot water and a few other cleaning products.
2. Turned on the AC with fresh air circulating and emptied about half a can of Lyson into the air in-takes.
3. Had the interior detailed: upholstery, seats power cleaned and vents sprayed with some kind of Ozium type stuff.

After all that, the nasty mouse pee smell is still coming from the vents with the blower is on regardless of AC being on, cold air, hot air, you name it.

My next step is to try some of that enzyme-based pet stuff that supposedly "eats" the odor. After that, I guess I'll call a priest and hold an exorcism.

Has anyone dealt with a situation like this? It's friggin' awful.

Thanks for any suggestions.
Moose

 

Try this

http://www.air-conditioner-cleaners.com/CarAirPurifier.html

 

http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/2nd-gen-tacomas/162576-c-vent-smell.html

 

Thanks for all the suggestions! Regarding the AC, I will check to see if the drain is clogged, but it's not a mold smell. It's most definitely mouse pee/crap because I cleaned some out of the blower housing. It's just that somehow, the smell is sticking to the rest of the venting system, or there's a bunch somewhere that I didn't get to.

Do mice ever travel beyond the blower housing up into the vents? Is so, it would make sense that that's why it still smells.

Thanks again.

 

Replace the blower housing

 

They will go anywhere that they can fit.

 

go to your local toyota dealer and see if they are still useing the foaming ac refresh kits its a presureized can of foam that they shoot up the drain for the evap this might help because im willing to bet that they were in the evap box and may also have made it to the heater core. if for some reason they dont use the kit im thinking of send me a pm and ill check to see if we still have any and get you a price to send one up to you.

 

I've thought of that. My concern is that the smell is actually in the vents. I may have my mechanic remove the housing and blow some air out the vents to see if the smell is gone.

 

Thanks a lot. When I asked them, they told me they use some kind of Fa-breeze type stuff to clean vents. Didn't sound like the most effective plan to me.

Mind if I ask a couple of questions about this?

Where's the drain for the evap. Is it that hose that runs under the passenger side carpet and out the wheel well?

Will the foam get to the heater core, or is that just for the vents?

Thanks again.

 

Hello Moose welcome to TW, I have a 1999 and there is so much foam in my ac system(where a union meets,two ducts come together) to make a good seal, and as it ages it comes out a little piece at a time, I am sure you have seen it in older vehicles, well that foam can and does hold odor!Just as seat foam and every other bit of upholstery holds odors. If it is as bad as you say be very aggressive in the airing out of the truck. Take seats out, take carpet out, wash carpet and let it dry in the sun for a long time. There is a foam that can be sprayed into the ac duct system that is supposed to rid it of foul smell associated with bacteria. (can't remember the product name but it's out there) reason I have so much to say is my dad had an upholstery shop for almost 20 years, I worked there off and on for 6 or 7 years, we has this come up a time or two. We actually had a guy who was an auction buyer-seller who we advised to pass on a car where a guy had killed himself in a storage unit and he wasn't discovered for quite some time, the car was cheap but it would have been so much money to make it right it wasn't even worth the effort, and we didn't want to touch that car! But some basic hand tools and a weekend could probably get you close to a better smelling truck. Hell any upholstery shop has a steamer that could steam the foam in the seats, that may help. Just let them dry b4 you reinstall the seats in the truck. Good luck.

 

Man that sucks.

I once had a cat piss in my truck. Took years took for the smell to fade away...

 

I had a cat piss on my couch. I don't own that couch anymore. Rodent piss is bad, really bad. Good luck

 

well you shoot the foam up the evap drain from underneath the truck and the drain tune should be somewhere on the lower passenger side of the fire wall its just a rubber tube about the size of a finger sticking out a few inches and judgeing by what im looking at in tis i think it would get the heater core also.

 

Thanks, yodanoob. I'm gonna give the Enzyme Digestant a shot, and it that doesn't work, I'll be in touch about getting a can of the foam from you.

 

You're telling me.

It's like that Seinfeld episode where the valet stinks up his car and he ends up trying to sell it. He can't even sell it, so he leaves it on the street so someone will steal it.

 

I hate to revive an old thread, but has anyone else here dealt with this?

I broke my ankle several months ago and wasn’t able to drive, so my truck sat for 7 weeks. At some point a mouse got into the hvac and pee’d in it. I pulled the old cabin filter and there was obvious urine stains and odor, so I replaced it. I also used one of those overnight chlorine dioxide shocker things on Amazon.

I thought the smell was gone, but as soon as I started it today and turned the ac on, the piss smell hit me in the face. I hope I don’t have to rip the whole dash apart.

 

Vinegar.


/drops mic.

 

The only rear way you’re probably going to get rid of the smell is to pull the entire dash and vent system out of the truck. Take it and spray it down with cleaner and hose it out. Or replace it all. Dumping cleaners it is t flushing it out. It may help some but I doubt anything will work entirely.

 

Im going to try to use the chlorine dioxide again with the ac fan running on recirculate.

I’m wonder what the dealer would charge to pull the dash and clean the ducting?

 

I just dropped it off at a body shop. Maybe they can do something with it.