Cab Smell?

[BuckTruck16]

Hey guys I have recently bought a truck in the past month, and it has been sitting for 5 years. So, it's sad to say that some furry critters have been making themselves comfy in the cab. I took out the bench seat and the sound denser stuff (they made beds outa that). I took out all of it to get to the bare metal. I noticed stains and decided to wire brush it and pour thinner on it. I then wiped it and painted it. A day went by and the smell is back. Is their places I should look? I checked in the glove box and got rid of the crud, same with under the dash. I have a feeling it might be in the cab corners since it is open. My father suggested putting bleach or pneumonia down there. Any tips or places were the smell could come from?

[875.3CHEVY]

heater box and firewall pad

[BuckTruck16]

Will check that out, thanks.

[Ski-me]

Yea, I had the same thing. Kinda a sweet, coolant smell. The pad under the passenger's feet was always damp. Found out the heater core had a pinhole leak....very small.

To replace that $30 core takes some work so schedule several hours to do it and take your time. That is, of course, that the heater core is leaking.

[BuckTruck16]

Sure hope it is not that haha.

[INSIDIOUS '86]

Check your ducting. Them critters love to take your insulation and make homes in there
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[bigwheel15]

Yup id bet on your heater box and ducting needing a good cleaning out.
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[BuckTruck16]

That seems to be it! Glad they didn't chew through any wires haha.

[chengny]

I had the same problem - the truck was a lumber yard truck that never left the lot. For 21 years the mice made it their home.

I bought it (thought it was stale cigarette smoke), and by the time I figured out what the smell was - it was too late. The interior smelled so fr**kin gross - it'd make you almost gag.

No amount of vacuuming, wiping down, de-oderizer, etc. would get rid of it.

Long story short:

I completely stripped out the interior. Headliner & trim, pillar moldings, seat, the complete floor coverings, dash board. Next, I vacuumed every thing up -the void spaces above the cab corners were packed (solid packed a foot deep) with ... I don't even know .. dead mice, mice crap - I didn't inspect what came out that closely.

Pulled the plugs on the floor (under the seat had it been there), disco'd the battery and hooked a garden hose up to the water heater. I hydroblasted that truck interior till you could eat off of the floor. Reassembled everything and thought I was good to go - NOPE!

They had also packed the entire outside air ventilation system. The passages leading from under the windsheild cowling all the way down to the vents were packed with more mice stuff. Getting that out took for-fr**kin" -ever.

Good luck.

[motornut]

those real estate signs come to mind "build to suit"

[BuckTruck16]

@Motornut, I was still getting a little smell. So I figured to do what you did, I took out the dash and there was a HUGE nest near the right side, and above the Fuel/MPH gauges. Also, there was crap inside the gauge box, happy there was no nests so I did not have to take out the gauges.

@Chengny I'm glad you finally got rid of it, hopefully we don't find new projects similar to ours haha. We came to the conclusion to pour Ammonia down the pillars, that got rid of the smell and god-knows-what-else. We also wanted to get the foam in the can called "tough stuff" then weld a plate overtop. But since the smell is gone, it's not worth it.

[motornut]

[QUOTE=BuckTruck16;5516066]@Motornut, I was still getting a little smell. So I figured to do what you did, I took out the dash and there was a HUGE nest near the right side, and above the Fuel/MPH gauges. Also, there was crap inside the gauge box, happy there was no nests so I did not have to take out the gauges.

may want to see the back tho,mine is rusty assume from the mouse juice?lol
when it's out you can paint it up ,for night driving

[BuckTruck16]

@Motornut, you are exactly right, the top and bottom is rusted pretty badly. I'm guessing from all the fluids. We painted it up and got some Orange paint from Micheals Craft Store to re-paint the faded dials, came out quite nice. Altough, the dash cover is severely dry rotted. You poke at it and just falls apart. And I believe LMC sells 'em for 260$. Hopefully I'll be able to pick out some parts at Mcungie or Carlisle haha.

ALSO: The lights behind the gauges that you pop out don't work. Figuring it's just the fuses. The previous owner added some options, I have a lot of lighting; a roof light and some underneath the dash. It also came with another battery setup, with an extra plug on the firewall for lights. Pretty nifty. Glad they didn't munch on them, hopefully put them to good use some day.