My heater smells like death

[SprockFox]

Seriously.
I picked up my first 4runner a few days ago, 1991 V6 with 197k miles. If I use the heater, after maybe 5-10 minutes of it running I get a strong smell of DEATH, it's similar to when you drive past a dead skunk on the freeway. Gross.

I know there have been cases of rodents getting stuck in the heating ducts and rotting in there, I'm not sure if this is the case or not. Has anyone ever encountered this problem?

 

[jbtvt]

Unfortunately I do, and to really get in there to clean it out is about as involved as doing a heater core. Much easier if you don't have AC though. At the least though, if you drop the blower and open up what you can from underneath you can work the narrow end of a shopvac in the condenser/core and suck some of the nests out and spray it down with some baking soda solution.

 

[nevada]

Seriously.
I picked up my first 4runner a few days ago, 1991 V6 with 197k miles. If I use the heater, after maybe 5-10 minutes of it running I get a strong smell of DEATH, it's similar to when you drive past a dead skunk on the freeway. Gross.

I know there have been cases of rodents getting stuck in the heating ducts and rotting in there, I'm not sure if this is the case or not. Has anyone ever encountered this problem?

yep, it sounds like you have a dead animal in there. though, usually they get caught in the squirrel cage(pun? lol) and you can tell by the massive vibration when the fan is on.

either way, drop the fan and check. its only 3 screws, pretty easy.

 

[Hyde802]

I seem to always get mice in my fan if my truck sits for too long.

ew.

 

[mikekfr]

You'd be surprised how many of those 'carpet padding nests' i find up above the headliners i do.

 

[Hyde802]

I believe it! Ive pulled it out of my frame rails before. :redbrick: They get in everywhere!

 

[jbtvt]

Lil bastards deposited an entire package of sunflower seeds (previously unopened) in my headliner once. Rode around for months with my Camry sounding like a rainstick around corners until the seeds jammed the sunroof mechanism open and I had to pull the headliner. There goes the afternoon

Yeah, if you're lucky the nest will only be in you blower motor, they usually find their little way into the condenser and/or heater core as well in my experience though.

 

[gtgt_bangbang]

lol nice air filter.

I seem to always get mice in my fan if my truck sits for too long.

ew.

oh MAN thats gross. probably using the drain tube for a water bottle.

I bot a van from a pet shop once. For $25. You know where this is going.
Freeked them out driving off the long abandoned truck a couple hours later.

Ready to enjoy some toasty warm blower air, but thump thump thump and some hairy junk fluffs out of the vents.

Had my arm shoulder deep up in the plenum , feeling around for stuff when I reached the rat wheel and found ... the rat. Well the mummy rat. hopefully some one shut an air vent and trapped him back in there like a [fill in the blank]

man I lost some skin yanking my paw out of the dash in record time waiting for the fangs to follow

 

[gtgt_bangbang]

lol@ "My heater smells like death". I had a van that smelled like victory one morning

leaking fuel pump.

musta been one of them there pyrrohic victories, cos it burned down to the rims later that day