Mice have been living in my Z, It stinks!

[MaximumHP]

I recently brought a 240Z I've had in storage for a couple years home to start working on it. The bad news is something decided to use my Z as a toilet over the last winter, presumably mice. I have stripped and cleaned everything but the dash out and the car still smells. They seemed to be living in the tailgate area and I don't see any signs of life in the dash area, so I think the dash was not inhabited. Do I need to wipe down the entire body on the inside with bleach or something? I think all the carpets and such are destroyed by the stink. Has anyone had this happen and any solutions to rid the car of the stench would be greatly appreciated.

[Tim 76' 280Z]

Try Fabreze for the carpets. That stuff works really well.

[bpilati]

Yup Fabreze is great, worked in my Toyota.

[MaximumHP]

OK, well that will be easy to try, Thanks. Any advice on the shell. I'm thinking of scrubbing it down with bleach, that kills pretty much everything usually.

[Tim 76' 280Z]

There is a cleaner made by clorox that works really well. It has bleach in it but not much. Its Clorox green works All Purpose cleaner. That way you dont mess anything up with the bleach.

[beandip]

Just shoot it with the fabreze . If you want to clean dirt and grime use simple green. On the carpets if they are not all chewed up just spray the Fabreze on heavily to both sides and place in the sunshine. Worked great for me the same for the insulation that is on the firewall and tranny tunnel. Mine smelled sour like from moisture and the Fabreze took care of it as well. Any mold use spray Lysol, I found that it kills it and will prevent it from forming when the car is stored for winter. Like on the seats and door panels and such.

Gary

[DatsunZsRule]

I'm a mechanic at an RV dealer. Working on customers rigs, I could tell some horror stories on the things I've seen those little bastards do :sick:

Sometimes you can get by using fabreeze but if it's majorly bad plan on pulling things out and doing a good thorough shampoo job. check your engine bay too if you haven't already. They love to nest in there and drag in debris, chew through wiring, hoses ect. Those things have created such nightmares for me at work but hey, it's part of job security .

I don't know about bleach on the outside. I can't believe that would be good for the paint job. I'd power wash the undercarriage and just wash the rest of the car with a good car wash soap and give it a good wax job afterwords.

Hopefully this helps you. It's hard for me to say because it all depends how bad they trashed it.

[ChrisB77]

My 280 sat many years and became a home for them. When I removed the interior, found mouse droppings in every nook and cranny. With the interior completely removed, it took several hours of scrubbing to remove all traces and get that blasted smell out of it. I used Simple Green and lots of elbow grease!

[beandip]

I found a nest in the dogleg down at the bottom. In the engine bay . The little buggers packed seeds from the bird feeder in the space between the inner fender and the fender form back by the battery along the top of the inner fender. It was packed full on the passenger side. they will get inside the rockers and back below the rear hatch. shoot some simple green in the spaces when you find droppings then flush it out. If you follow with POR be SURE that it is COMPLETELY dry. Moisture will cause the POR to foam and set up quickly and because of the foaming moisture can penetrate it. Done correctly I know of no other finish that is superior . If you wish to paint your color over POR , do it while it is still tacky and it will bond . Other wise when the POR is cured and you paint regular paint over it , the paint will just peal off. So either sand it or use the primer(ti-coat) then what ever paint you want. Gary

[Carl Beck]

The absolute worst odor - I've ever had in a car - was TCP {Tom Cat wizz}. This came about while transporting my at the time Girl Friends pet to the Vet. I had him in a trasport box, sitting on the passenger side seat - he got scared and let go - all over the seat, down onto the carpet, into the carpet pad ...

After removing and cleaning everything with various soaps - then letting it all air dry... The odor from TCP was still there. Finally another Cat owner - hearing of my situation - suggested the use of White Vinegar as the cleaning agent. I used it, and the odor was GONE!!

FWIW,

Carl B.

[=Enigma=]

Male cat pee/spray has got to be one of the worst smells on the planet. If that method actually works Carl, that is an excellent tip.

[Carl Beck]

Hi Adam:

White Vinegar {aka White Distilled Vinegar usually made from corn} - seems to be one of the "miracle" solutions.

It is effectively used for potty training puppies, applied to sunburns, cleans corrosion off electrical connections. Used to clean tile floors without leaving a soap scum and removing calcium buildup from coffee makers. Mixed 50/50 with Witch Hazel it's used to treat "swimmers ear" {also used to clean dog's ears when they get a fungal infection}. We know it's used for other yeast infections found in some of our favorite places.

As it pertains to the TCP - there is some off-setting effect between the uric acid in the TCP and the acetic acid in the Vinegar - that eliminates the foul odor.

FWIW,

Carl B.