A few days ago, I noticed a rather unpleasant smell in the cabin of my car, so I parked it in the garage with the windows down. I got in the car yesterday, didn't smell anything and so turned the car's electrical system on so I could roll up the windows. I was immediately hit with that smell as the blower fan came on in the climate control system. I suspected a mouse had gotten in and made a nest above the cabin air filter.
Today, I opened the access to the cabin air filter (behind the glove compartment - there are youtube videos that show how to do this) and, upon pulling the filter out, I discovered, yes, a mouse had built a nest on top of the filter. It had died there, and there were two babies (possibly more in all the nest material) also dead. There was a great deal of nesting material, and I found the easiest way to rimove it was to put on nitrile gloves and just pull it out by hand. What I removed completely filled the compartment, about the size of a large grapefruit.
Once I cleaned everything out, I decided to try to keep the little buggers out in the future. I'm sorry, but I didn't take any pictures so you'll just have to read the process - it was really quite simple. I put the hood to the full up position for better access, and first removed both windshield wipers, carefully noting how they were aligned with the cowling before I took them off. To remove, just pry up the rubber boots that cover the attachment bolts and nuts and then unscrew the nuts on each (use a metric socket, of course). Once the nuts are off, you can kind of "rock" wiper arms at the bolts to release them.
Next you'll have to remove 5 plastic trim clips along the front of the wiper cowl. I have a trim tool that made this easy. That frees the cowling, and with a bit of wiggling, you'll ba able to lift it off, exposing the entrance to the ventilation system as well as holes in the metal frame of the car that allow access for mice.
The intake, above the cabin air filter, is a plastic part that is held in place by two bolts and nuts. Unscrew these and you'll have easy access to the intake opening with it out of the car. I cut a rectangle of 1/8" hardware cloth (a wire screen) that I was able to easily shape over the intake opening and secure around the edges. It will not come off. I put the intake back into the car. Then, there are four openings in the sheet metal under the cowling that I think mice could use to gain access, so I blocked them with the same hardware cloth, this time held in place with silicone calk. Two of the openings are on each side and they are rather small, maybe 1.5" x 2". The one on the passenger side was kind of hidden behind a black plastic part that is easily removed, The other two are long, rectangular openings along the front of this compartment - one is about 8" long and the other is maybe 6". They are obvious though, with the cowling off. I held the hardware cloth in position with metal HVAC tape when I applied the silicone caulk and, of course, I shaped each piece to follow the contours of the metal before applying them.
Once I did this, I reinstalled the cowling, inserted the trim clips and reinstalled the windshield wipers. All done, and now NO mice can get in there!
I have a new cabin air filter on the way through Amazon, and it will arrive Monday. Hope this helps anyone with a 10th gen Accord that has a similar problem. I'm sure a dealership would charge $50+ just to replace the filter and clean out the mouse nest, and they wouldn't mouseproof it like I did.
- Jack
Today, I opened the access to the cabin air filter (behind the glove compartment - there are youtube videos that show how to do this) and, upon pulling the filter out, I discovered, yes, a mouse had built a nest on top of the filter. It had died there, and there were two babies (possibly more in all the nest material) also dead. There was a great deal of nesting material, and I found the easiest way to rimove it was to put on nitrile gloves and just pull it out by hand. What I removed completely filled the compartment, about the size of a large grapefruit.
Once I cleaned everything out, I decided to try to keep the little buggers out in the future. I'm sorry, but I didn't take any pictures so you'll just have to read the process - it was really quite simple. I put the hood to the full up position for better access, and first removed both windshield wipers, carefully noting how they were aligned with the cowling before I took them off. To remove, just pry up the rubber boots that cover the attachment bolts and nuts and then unscrew the nuts on each (use a metric socket, of course). Once the nuts are off, you can kind of "rock" wiper arms at the bolts to release them.
Next you'll have to remove 5 plastic trim clips along the front of the wiper cowl. I have a trim tool that made this easy. That frees the cowling, and with a bit of wiggling, you'll ba able to lift it off, exposing the entrance to the ventilation system as well as holes in the metal frame of the car that allow access for mice.
The intake, above the cabin air filter, is a plastic part that is held in place by two bolts and nuts. Unscrew these and you'll have easy access to the intake opening with it out of the car. I cut a rectangle of 1/8" hardware cloth (a wire screen) that I was able to easily shape over the intake opening and secure around the edges. It will not come off. I put the intake back into the car. Then, there are four openings in the sheet metal under the cowling that I think mice could use to gain access, so I blocked them with the same hardware cloth, this time held in place with silicone calk. Two of the openings are on each side and they are rather small, maybe 1.5" x 2". The one on the passenger side was kind of hidden behind a black plastic part that is easily removed, The other two are long, rectangular openings along the front of this compartment - one is about 8" long and the other is maybe 6". They are obvious though, with the cowling off. I held the hardware cloth in position with metal HVAC tape when I applied the silicone caulk and, of course, I shaped each piece to follow the contours of the metal before applying them.
Once I did this, I reinstalled the cowling, inserted the trim clips and reinstalled the windshield wipers. All done, and now NO mice can get in there!
I have a new cabin air filter on the way through Amazon, and it will arrive Monday. Hope this helps anyone with a 10th gen Accord that has a similar problem. I'm sure a dealership would charge $50+ just to replace the filter and clean out the mouse nest, and they wouldn't mouseproof it like I did.
- Jack
