[Bluenose1]

Parked car for the winter, and the mice got under the hood and built a nest under the intake manifold. What would be the easiest way to get this nest out? I'm planning on trying a vacuum, would it be easier to take off the throttle body or the power steering pump? I'd rather take off the power steering pump because I don't want to disturb any gaskets.

 

[ballstothewall]

Pulling the intake manifold off really isn't very hard. It should take ~2hrs to take off and put back on for a competent person who hasn't done it before.

 

[powercaddy]

this happened with my 89' Iroc-Z28, i just put a normal snap trap with some peanut butter on top of the intake, and every morning there would be a dead one, until it took a couple morning without a mouse in trap, i assumed they were gone. found the nest by the firewall. It was all ok after that

 

[pocketpared]

They love chewing on wiring. It may only be a certain type of soft coated wiring they prefer but I stored my K1200S in a friends garage one winter and they camped out atop the trans and chewed their way through everything.

 

[Submariner409]

Much easier to remove the intake manifold - it's dry - no coolant involved - fairly easy job start to finish, and you'll be able to do a very thorough throttlebody cleaning in the process. Use a couple of old toothbrushes and lots of rags. You cannot clean the inside of the manifold itself, so accept that; it's not critical anyway. While you're in there, disconnect the battery and double-check the starter mounting bolts and electrical connections. The manifold is a glass/plastic composite, so go easy on the bolts - 89 in/lb of torque - about 7.5 ft/lb - not much. Double check the PCV clean and dirty air piping - if it's cracked or connectors are decayed, replace it all with vacuum hose from a parts store or NAPA.

 

[powercaddy]

Much easier to remove the intake manifold - it's dry - no coolant involved - fairly easy job start to finish, and you'll be able to do a very thorough throttlebody cleaning in the process. Use a couple of old toothbrushes and lots of rags. You cannot clean the inside of the manifold itself, so accept that; it's not critical anyway. While you're in there, disconnect the battery and double-check the starter mounting bolts and electrical connections. The manifold is a glass/plastic composite, so go easy on the bolts - 89 in/lb of torque - about 7.5 ft/lb - not much. Double check the PCV clean and dirty air piping - if it's cracked or connectors are decayed, replace it all with vacuum hose from a parts store or NAPA.

well we all should know this, i was just talking the "lazy" way to do it! :canttalk:

 

[Newman]

In the future to keep mice out, I heard peppermint oil on a rag keeps them out. Or I have heard a product called cab-fresh works (from True Value Hardware). Also heard of someone using mothballs, but I hate the smell of them....cheers!