May want to check your cabin air filter

[reardiff]

Went to check the cabin air filter and found this.  Looks to be a shredded napkin but have no idea how it got in there or how it got shredded.  Could be a mouse or rodent I suppose but doesn't really seem to be nesting but just couple shredded napkins?  Always parked inside attached garage and no other signs of rodent activity in or around where it's normally parked.  Going to keep an eye on it  now going forward, this was about a year since it was replaced last. But you may want to check yours if you haven't recently. 

 

[rav3]

This defiantly looks like it's been done by a mouse. I have found this stuff in my cars that were parked outside & inside. Hope it doesn't get into your wiring. These guys love that stuff. I would look up stream from the cabin filter if I were you. Been there, done it. Once the fan cage in my BMW killed one when I turned the car on & the fan was on. It only took about 2-3 days before he REALLY started to smell. Took me 2-3 hours to get to the fan cage & I found the dead guy. Not pleasant. You might try some "rotten" repellant or try using some Peppermint Fragrance Oil. I heard that keeps them away. 

[reardiff]

That's what I was afraid of because there's really no other explanation. Where does it draw air from?  Trying to figure out where a mouse would get in at.  Hoping it was just something curious and it moved on, no evidence of droppings or any other signs of mouse activity near by, but it is a garage, attached to the house, but I'm sure there's critters lurking around.  Anyone have a cat they don't want... 

Edited December 24, 2020 by reardiff

[rav3]

9 hours ago, reardiff said:

That's what I was afraid of because there's really no other explanation. Where does it draw air from?  Trying to figure out where a mouse would get in at.  Hoping it was just something curious and it moved on, no evidence of droppings or any other signs of mouse activity near by, but it is a garage, attached to the house, but I'm sure there's critters lurking around.  Anyone have a cat they don't want... 

Here's a video showing where the fresh air & mice get into your cab. This is a problem when it get cold out & the mice want a nice winter home. Next comes all the poop & pee, as they use it as a bathroom too. In years past, the wire coverings were cellulous based & the mice would chew it off causing all kind of electrical issues. Not sure if that's still the case or not. I did the same as this video guy did on my old '96 Silverado, just to keep debris out. I'm not sure why GM engineers don't just install a plastic cover over that hole. Sure would save a lot of head aches. I can assure you there are many owners out there that have this problem & don't know it. In your case they found a location that you could find. Some not so easy.

After watching the video again, it appears that the plastic cowl is sealed/glued to the air opening, so that would need to be resealed or you'll have a possible water leak. The mouse would come in via the fender to the cabin air intake. Keep us posted. Mice are like trying to defeat squirrels from getting into the bird feeder.

 

Screen cover 2017 Sierra Hvac Intake prevent mice

Edited December 24, 2020 by rav3

[Gregory Krisa]

Wow one year and your filter has no dirt in it ?! Rather surprised.

Also you can use moth balls pretty sure it would only take one in the garage to keep them away.
But that's what I was told I keep forgetting to grab some from Walmart since the other store I did remember at didn't have any.


Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk

[Ed S]

On 12/24/2020 at 9:48 AM, Gregory Krisa said:

Wow one year and your filter has no dirt in it ?! Rather surprised.

Also you can use moth balls pretty sure it would only take one in the garage to keep them away.
But that's what I was told I keep forgetting to grab some from Walmart since the other store I did remember at didn't have any.


Sent from my Pixel 4 XL using Tapatalk
 

Best thing I've found is mothballs and also peppermint oil as well. I put a few drops of oil onto cotton balls and throw them on the floor and also in the glove box in my Sierra. I also throw a fee cotton balls on my garage floor. Just re adding some oil to them every couple of weeks. Mice don't care for the smell of peppermint I read. It seems to have helped so far. 

[reardiff]

Good call on the peppermint oil and mothballs  I did this (both) and added some wire mesh on the openings on the sides.  Hopefully this keeps the critters out, setup traps all over the garage before this but didn't' catch anything.  And going to keep an eye on the filter ever couple weeks going forward.  

[GMBoss]

i already check mine relatively often. i like to keep on top of these things - if i take care of the car, then itll take care of me. i usually get my air filters oem (https://www.gmpartsprime.com/, i got some good deals from there).  i check every 6 months - if nothings wrong i dont do anything. quick checks dont hurt, like in OPs case , a quick check found something that needed attention.

[reardiff]

Completely agreed, and it's quite easy to do.  I'm not sure what the dealer charges for this but you can pickup filter at any auto parts store for about $25 and DIY in 5 minutes.  Going to pop mine out and check at every oil change going forward. For anyone else who may be interested there's lots of good You Tube videos out there on how and where to add some wire mesh to keep the mice out.