Help! Rat died in my truck heater system. - Ford Muscle Forums : Ford Muscle Cars Tech Forum

fat64 · 01-05-2013, 06:42 PM

I pulled it apart as much as possible. Got rid of the dead rodent and sprayed and cleaned as best as I could but it still stinks pretty bad.
I tried spraying a bit of windex in there with the fan on full and that helped a little bit.

Anyone got any ideas on getting rid of the lingering stench?

FEandGoingBroke · 01-05-2013, 08:04 PM

Put a fresh rat in to drown out the smell of the dead one, or switch to skunk...

LOL

OK you need to take it all apart and wash the heater box out. Thinner is not as good as soap and water. But it does help After soap and water. You must simply remove the dead parts and the smell will go away.

Smell is organic. Get rid of it and no more smell.

mustang42782 · 01-05-2013, 08:47 PM

Find someone with an ionizer place it in the cab and let it run for 24 hours. Smell is gone, unless you didnt get all of the rat out.

67fairlane4dr · 01-05-2013, 08:50 PM

One of my co-workers had some mice die in his heater system. He cleaned them out, but it took a few weeks to get rid of the smell completely. He tried all kinds of things but it seems time was the only thing to help it.

FEandGoingBroke · 01-05-2013, 09:24 PM

Remove the organic material you silly nillies.....

Juan · 01-08-2013, 01:12 PM

Its called rats rights. Yes, you have to remove ALL traces of flesh. John--Las Vegas

retyler · 01-08-2013, 05:56 PM

Clorox bleach

danv · 01-08-2013, 07:23 PM

The rat probably thought it was sleeping in a Chevy.

ShotRod64 · 01-08-2013, 10:24 PM

Couple things you can put in the car and close it up that have worked for others is like charcoal briquets for bbq and plain ol coffee grounds. I've heard mention many times bout the coffee grounds being used in the trailers of tractor trailer rigs to get rid of the smell of previous loads they might of hauled like onions or cabbage etc. Worth a shot and i know charcoal is a natural absorbent. I'd probably put it in a dish along with baking soda. That doesn't help remove the critter but might help with the smell after you find it or he turns to dust.

bassman97 · 01-09-2013, 10:05 AM

If you can get the heater core to put out enough heat, running the heat on full blast should help reduce it significantly, as the heat should kill the bacteria that causes the scent. Even if the heat isn't hot enough to kill everything, running it on enough cycles should do it, provided you can handle the smell. Of course you could clean every little component but that requires complete disassemble of the system.

KULTULZ · 01-09-2013, 10:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShotRod64

I've heard mention many times bout the coffee grounds being used in the trailers of tractor trailer rigs to get rid of the smell of previous loads they might of hauled like onions or cabbage etc. Worth a shot and i know charcoal is a natural absorbent. I'd probably put it in a dish along with baking soda. That doesn't help remove the critter but might help with the smell after you find it or he turns to dust.

Coffee and/or powdered cocoa...

There has to be a special chemical available as when a crime scene is cleaned.

FEandGoingBroke · 01-09-2013, 10:45 AM

You're screwed, Sell it and get a new one.

Hottarod · 01-09-2013, 11:28 AM

Swab it out with bleech.

fat64 · 01-09-2013, 11:55 AM

Thanks for the replies guys.
I had to do a 12 hour drive in the truck the other day so I turned the fan on high with the windows open and it seems to have fixed the dead rat smell. Now there is only a strong smell of lavender windex.

I might try the coffee/cocoa/ baking soda thing to get rid of the damn lavender now.

thekingofazle · 01-09-2013, 12:14 PM

Bleach is king, lye would work in a pinch too but high concentrations of those can damage aluminum fins and such. Anything that breaks down organic matter will help out.

Other than that, just time. Eventually bacteria will digest all the available food and will stop putting out the smell.