I'd hoped the bad smell coming out of the vents was a clogged air filter, but when I changed it I found an entire nest of dead mice (momma and 5 babies) all almost mummified. This is not the first time I've found mice in the car or engine bay.

Where are the likely entry points into the vent system/car interior? I don't leave the doors or windows open. I don't think they are going from the car interior into the vent because I keep the car very clean and I'd notice the signs of mice wandering the interior.

The car is a 2005 Mini Cooper S.

I've searched the forum but haven't found anything specifically useful, although I'm very sure I am not the first person in the history of 1st gen Minis with this problem. Thanks in advance!

 

I think I've read here about rodents getting in through the hood scoop.

 

they crawl up from the wheels into the engine bay because the engine bay is warm. I had this issue with a previous car i had. they would chew away at the hood liner. it would only happen during the winter, which was really annoying...

 

Adopt a cat and your rodent problem should be history.

 

how sad...

 

It's sad but it's also a serious health hazard - we have hanta virus hereabouts, and these were definitely deer mice, so everything had to be cleaned out while wearing gloves and a mask.

A cat isn't a practical answer because a) we have 2 dogs who are not fond of cats; b) we live on forested acres in the high desert next to a national park and c) we have cougar, bobcats, packs of coyotes, badgers, eagles and hawks.

We're also 300+ miles from a Mini dealer....

The mice do like to nest in the Alta CAI box and on top of the suspension plates, just under the under-hood blanket. They also ate the spark plug wiring harness (including eating through the main coil wire) in my Jeep Wrangler. Plug wires I can deal with - rotting mouse bodies in the air vents, not so much.

 

I once had a mouse fill the left-hand cylinder of my BMW R90S (God, how I miss that bike!) with bird seed. The little bastard hopped into the muffler, travelled up the exhaust pipe, and crawled through the exhaust valve into the cylinder. The heads were dual-plugged, with a plug on top, and one on the under-side. I removed the bottom plug, and with an air gun, blew out almost a half-pound of bird seed.
He, or she, was storing the seed there!
It's amazing the spaces they can fit through.

 

I suppose breeding snakes to keep down the mouse population likely isn't an available option, either. Just a thought. Better than mice most days!

 

Where do you live?

 

About 20 miles south and east of Crater Lake, Oregon. Closest dealers; Rasmussen Mini in Portland, Oregon (295 miles) and Niello in Sacramento (about 300 miles).

Rasmussen Mini did come and get my car and tow it back to Portland for a warranty repair on the power steering pump. Although they wouldn't bring it back all the way, apparently they'll pick up from anywhere in "their" service area, but they'll only take it back in a 250 mile radius, so I had to meet the tow truck driver on I-5 to get my car back.

 

That is one of the best mouse-in-vehicle stories i've ever heard! I look forward to re-telling it to my friends who ride BMW's!

 

A guy I work with has had rodent problems also.

About three weeks ago his outside temperature was reading -40F here in Tennessee in June. This kept the A/C from turning on.

He had it towed to the dealership in Nashville. They found that something had gotten behind the headlight where the wires run for the air temperature sensor and chewed the wires in two. The dealership informed my friend that this was not covered by the warranty and cost $275 to repair.

Two weeks later same thing happens. My friend this time had one of the guys we both work with that is somewhat of a good mechanic to look at it. They found the same wire chewed in two again. They also found that the dealer didn't replace the wire, but just used some speaker wire and butt splices to fix the problem, the charged $275. Needless to say my friends did the same sort of splice and fixed the problem.

After some research, my friend found that the little critters don't like oil of peppermint. He placed some cotton ***** soaked with the oil to hopefully repel the little buggers away.

 

The Mouse Highway in the Mini seems to be - in through the engine bay, down into the cold air intake, into the air box (which has an Alta CAI and not the factory air filter) and then up into the intake into the heating and vent system.

So, in honor of Roadwork Season here in Oregon, we put a tiny highway flagger with a "Stop Ahead" sign at the air box intake. It stops us for days at a time, so we figure the mice will stop and starve to death, right there.

 

 

Some years back a mouse built a nest in our V35 Bonanza. The cost to get the plane recertified was horrendous. A simple home made trap solved the problem for the entire hanger complex. Check out a similar example at http://www.backwoodshome.com/articles2/easterly110.html

The bird's nest on the cylinder head jug is another story.

 

 

No jokes from me, my friend. I have had mice issues for three years. I tried everything. I finally ended up with Bounce dryer sheets near the back seat belt return; a plug-in gizmo that successfully has worked keeping mice away from the engine compartment. This after going through two sets of spark plug wires. It is still working. But I have had mice in the seats, mice in the headliner. I still check under the hood every few days. I am sorry for your problems. And in New Mexico hanta virus also is a problem. For the jokers who say get a cat or a snake, your humor is sophomoric and not appreciated.

 

You say sophomoric humor like it's a bad thing.

 

It's only bad for the freshman mind which is ill prepared to deal with it.

 

Eww! I have had a bad smell coming from the vents now for a while. Now I fear that I also have a dead animal in my mini!!

 

It could only be that you need to change the cabin filter. It is not difficult to do. There were good instructions listed about how to do it on NAM. As to where the mice may be, the thing to remember is that mice do not have a rib cage and can squeeze into the smallest of places.

 

Sorry, DeniseK, but mice do indeed have rib cages. However, they can fold their ribs to a certain degree which allows them access to very small openings.

 

mouse skeleton

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...num=2&ct=image