Hoping someone can help me. My truck has been sitting since last summer and some mice decided to make it their home. Somewhere in the airduct work they have made a nest and it smells terrible when the air is on. I have no choice but to take apart the duct work and find it.

I was hoping that someone could post or send me a diagram of the duct work and how it comes apart. I really don't want to take more off then I need to. I started but there is alot of stuff surrounding all the duct work and thought maybe a schematic would help taking it apart. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Ray C.
clark1ra@gmail.com<!-- google_ad_section_end -->

 

I hate when that happens. Same thing happen to me with a car, I think I interrupted the nest build and I was able to run the fan on high and blow it out.

 

Welcome to the site!

Man, been there done that. Picked up a Ranger that a pack rat made a home in. Little varmit chewed on everything and built six nest in the duct work. Even after it was cleaned out it still would blow nuts and stuff out of it.

This is probably going to be a difficult job with a possible dash removal if you can't find it. Even after you find it the pee is still there. You might be able to dislodge the nest by running the blower on high and driving down the road with the vents open. The more air you can force down it the more likely the stuff will end up at the vent openings. It's not fun but might save you from opening the dash.

 

I havent had a mouse problem in my truck, but everywhere else.
I did have to change my Blend Door Motor this fall and to do that you need to remove the dash. Once the dash is off you have access to all the duct in the truck.
Maybe you can find some pictures and instructions on here or the web for dash removal, I used a Chiltons.
For me it was an 8 hour job.
Good luck!
Chris

 

Thanks for all the replies thus far. You guys are depressing me with suggestions of dash removal and how much fun that will be. LOL

If anyone has any pictures or instructions on dash removal then that would be greatly appreciated also.

Thanks

Ray

 

I made a few corrections and have yet to test these instructions. I have a longer set of instructions in pdf file format and if I knew how to post them, they'd be here.

I'm not sure if fordracing19 first discharged the system and disconnected both battery cables and how carefully he handled his air bags.

fordracing19
Junior Member
Join Date: Feb 2002
Posts: 27

Y’all are crazy. Why do you take all that stuff off? Here is what you need to do.

1) 2 screws at very top of dash
2) remove trim on pass side top of dash
3) open glove box and remove 2 screws for the air bag
4) under the cover from the top of the dash remove other air bag screw and the 3 or so screws that hold the dash to the support running across the dash.
5) behind the pass air bag remove 2 screws
6) behind the right kick panel disconnect the harness connectors, ground wires and antenna wire clips that secure it to the dash.
7) remove 10mm nut that holds dash to body
8) at the bottom center of dash take right side bracket off and remove 8mm screw next to it.
9) remove left side bracket in center
10) remove lower trim und driver side
11) remove safety cage under steering column and take PRND21 wire off selector.
12) remove connectors on right side of column.
13) remove 4 - 13mm nuts under column
14) just let the column lay down in the seat, as there is one screw above the column
15) remover left kick panel and remove the 10mm nut
16) at this point there might be a couple of other screws, but you can take the dash and lay it back onto the seat on the passenger side

You can now access the top of the HVAC case.

Y’all are taking the whole freaking dash apart and it doesn’t have to come apart. The first one I did took 2:15 and the second 1:30 I wish I would have taken photos.

 

globay 3: Thanks for posting those instructions. Appreciate it.

If you can, could you e-mail me the longer set of instructions in pdf file format that you have?

clark1ra@gmail.com

Thanks

Ray

 

Had this happen to a friends F150. We decided to take a more fun approach. We removed the air vents on each side of the dash, then duct taped up the two middle vents and put a leaf blower up to the pass side vent hole. didn't get all of it but got a sizable chunk out.

 

Sometimes insurance policies will cover damage like that....my nieghbor had a rat start a nest in their soft top Mustang and by the time they found it it had done a heck of a lot of damage to the wiring...I believe that their insurance covered the damage and they only had to pay their deductible. It was a much worse situation...but then again they got a whole new vent system and a newly re wired car and didnt have to do it themselves...so I dont know. Personally.... if I had to choose between buying and replacing all the duct work myself...or having insurance cover the cost of...Id look into the insurance...just a thought.
-Chris