Mice inside 2015 Chevrolet Silverado. Entering through the recirc vent

[foghorn23]

Not a Silverado. Thankfully they didn't get into my truck, but it is parked inside in the garage. These are pictures from earlier in the spring of my son's 2012 Chevy Cruze. Gives an idea of what it looks like under the wiper cowl and how easy it this case it (was after my mods) is for rodents to gain entrance this way. Not sure if this is typical but GM sure didn't make it hard for the little devils.

 

In this pic you can see the fresh air vent that is directly under the cowl. In this pic it is crammed full of the rodent nest. I had always supposed this would be covered with some type of grate metal or plastic to discourage things like this, but no; it's just open to the world.

 

 

To the immediate right of the vent is the central drain for the cowl. GM ingeniously put a flapper over the exit of the tube in the engine bay. Little devils just list up the flapper and up to the main level. You can see in this pic the crap they were dragging along the way

 

 

In this shot you can see both the vent and the central drain along with the nest they built. It was all on top of the cabin air filter. In this case there were about 7 or 8 baby mice that died and we began to smell....well you can imagine. Fun Saturday morning project huh?

 

 

Anyway in the car there were fender drains at both ends of the cowl and the central drain for entry points for mice. I covered and secured with automotive silicone all three vents with rat wire mesh from the local hardware store. I also took the mesh and fashioned a cover for the air inlet and secure it with self tapping screws and auto grade silicone. Don't know if it will work or not, but so far so good.

 

Funny thing we never found any damage where the mice cut or used anything inside the Cruze. Our answer as to how this happened came a couple of months later. My wife works for the state and has a 2013 Ford Fusion for her job. It was parked next to the son's car. At her scheduled oil change they found all kinds of mice damage under the hood. They ate the insulation off the underhood wiring. Also found out that Fusions are one of their favorites to eat. Haven't told her, but I think the nest material came from her car seats.

 

If you haven't heard car manufacturers have switched to enviro-materials that attract mice. The seats in the Fusion are such Wire coatings are soy based as well. A tasty treat for rodents.

 

http://www.synlube.com/IncredibleEdibleCar1.htm

 

Anyway sorry to be so long winded, but I would like to see the under the wiper cowl of our trucks. If GM engineering designed the Cruze as above, it wouldn't surprise me to see something similar. Just thought some might appreciate seeing how easy it is and the new enviro-reasons for mice to find a way in.

Edited August 12, 2016 by Foghorn14

[Graphic]

In our camper, we use a product called Cab Fresh. You should be able to get it locally. Our previous pop up was litterally destroyed by mice. Since then we have always put Cab Fresh in side our current camper. Not one mouse yet. We live in the sticks, no garage. The camper is old, so we are not talking about a new unit with great seals. Cab Fresh is good stuff and the aroma is nice. All natural, piney sort of scent. I also use it in the shed around the mower where the mice like to build next up in the engine cowling. I just place it on top of the engine.

[Gofas]

This is 2nd time I’ve had a dead mouse in my truck. Can’t find this one however. Convenced it’s in the hvac

ayatem. Smells horrid when I turn the fan on.

[Gofas]

This is 2nd time I’ve had a dead mouse in my truck. Can’t find this one however. Convenced it’s in the hvac

ayatem. Smells horrid when I turn the fan on.* Found A nest of babies!*  lol, fan blows now!

Edited August 7, 2018 by Gofas

[Gofas]

Need a screen mod for side of vent behind hood..stop em from making my cabin air filter their home!

[Muleskinner13]

I have a couple of Chevy Pickups  a 2005 Silverado  and a 2015 Silverado.  As of today 03 Sep 19 I have never had a mouse in my 2005 which sits outside and has never had a mouse in it .  Now as for the 2015 which sits in the garage all the time, I have to keep traps in it and if I don't check them everyday it gets pretty ripe. You would think after shelling out the amount of dough it takes to buy a 3500 Duramax  that the damn thing would be at least mouse proof.  Guess  they must have lost  the mouse lockout patent.  I don't care what their excuse is  you shouldn't  have to deal with  mice in a  $50,00.00 + vehicle or at the very least come up with a solution.  

 

No wonder their days seem to be numbered.

[spencer chase]

People who say this is not a design problem are FOS. I have never had a mouse in my 2008 Mercedes Sprinter, our 1984 Mercedes 300 D or TD our Range Rover Sport or even our Honda Ridgeline after putting in wire over the fresh air intake and finally finding a vent hole that should have had a sign that said "mousies welcome, enter here. 

 

There is no reason that the primary routes of entry into cars and trucks can not be covered with suitable wire or plastic screen. 

 

I don't understand why most mfgs do not give a ****** and bother with this. Mercedes cares, even Land Rover.

 

I have mice getting into my 2022 Colorado and there is no evidence on top of the cabin filter so there must be another vent.

 

The BS about the size of a dime is BS in several ways. First it is not true, mice can deform their skeletons and fit through small spaces but nothing smaller than their skull bone. 1/4" hardware cloth will keep them out but I have used perforated stainless steel sheet when I needed to keep them out.

 

And there are even vehicles where they are welcome to get into the engine air filter and destroy that. I had a car (forget what it was and I was very lucky to check the air filter which was almost destroyed and there was a nest and about a pound of acorns. That would have been nice being sucked into the engine. No metal screen around the filter.

 

I just remembered that the K&N filter I just put in the Colorado does not have metal on it. I am going to block the air intake.

 

Oh don't worry insurance will cover it. Bullshit.

[spencer chase]

I took the cabin filter out and there was no mouse ****** there but there was on the floor mats. so I decided to find the cabin vents that let air out when you close the doors. Turned out to be quite a job. They re locted in the wall behind the rar set in the crew cab version. You have to take the plastic panel out which is not easy because the plastic tabs that hold it fit into metal sockets with one way barbs. One side of the panel cracked in a few places and needed to be welded. It is not true as others said that you have to remove the truck bed to get the one valve units out. With some major manipulation you can pull then out from the inside. I screwed stainless screen on all the openings and put the vents back.