There's a terrible smell like a dead mouse, inside my car.

Basically i have seen mice and rats around the car.



I located the smell coming inside the car from the left ventilation duct.

None of the other ventilation ducts are effected, it only stinks like dead mouse on the far right one drivers side one.

Additionally, when I open the engine bay, I get the occasional powerful waft of stink coming from that area, and only that area, of the engine.

However I can't see anything.

Does anyone have any suggestions?
I've already pulled up the grill near the windscreen, they are clear underneath.

Does anyone know of any cavities it could have crawled through and died in?

Could if access the interior or under the dash of the car, from the outside?

I opened the bonnet and saw those black foam rubber parts (you know the ones on the upper right and upper left side of the engine bay , they are like 2 "stoppers" that kinda are shoved in there and can be pulled out.
On the right hand side the foam rubber stopper had a hole chewed through it!

This is horrible the smell is getting worse, it's now kinda overpowering and the car is hard to get into and i'm driving with my windows down.

Also who could I take it to? Mechanic or panel beaters to locate a damned dead mouse?

Is there a space underneath the dash that it could have died in?

I got a 2003 mini (not the S)

How dreadful. I can't suggest anything just didn't want to read and run. Good luck on finding it.

:( If it's any encouragement, a dead mouse should stop smelling in a few days...

How about getting some compressed air - small can of it etc, to blast around in the areas that you can't see / reach. Hopefully it should blow it off the perch where it's died, or at least blast a whiff so you know you're close.

I'm sure I read of something which mice and rats hate - something like lemon juice etc - I'll try and dig out where I read it, as it might be useful to you, to stop future rodent going near your car.

where is it that you see mice and rats around the car ? at home ?

where are they coming from ? and why are they interested in chewing there way into your car ?

are there scraps of food lying about ? maybe left over KFC, etc

I had the same problem and posted in this thread

http://www.mini2.com/forum/maintenance-mini-care/167714-allan-key-lost-between-glass-dash-any-tips.html?highlight=allan+key

I am glad to say that after about 5 weeks the smell disappeared but the thread is full of helpful suggestions.

I had the same problem and posted in this thread

http://www.mini2.com/forum/maintenance-mini-care/167714-allan-key-lost-between-glass-dash-any-tips.html?highlight=allan+key

I am glad to say that after about 5 weeks the smell disappeared but the thread is full of helpful suggestions.

See, however obscure the problem seems to be, there's always an expert on M2 ;) Martin F is your man for this one!
Hope it goes soon.

Well I'm going downstairs now to try again.
If I can't find it I guess I'll take it to a panel beater to find Mini Mouse.

THERE, I made the joke, please don't make it again, thankyou.

Can anyone advise me, how to remove the dashboard?
Is it easy to do?
Do i need special tools?
I might remove it myself and have a look.

MOUSE FOUND!

Just so everyone knows all minis' are at risk for this.

It was actually a small RAT.

It crawed inside the side bar, which is located underneath the door underneath that silver metal strip with mini written on it.

It wasn't in the air con vent, that circulate was sucking in the odour and wafting it through the car.

Once that's stipped down, and the plastic exterior cover removed, inside is the bare metal frame with several holes in it..

The rat crawled inside one of those holes and couldn't get out again.
They had to cut a hole in part of the metal remove the stinking rat with forceps then fix it up again with aluminum.

The rat was stinking so bad that the entire workshop guys wore masks and a guy had a handkerchief around his head coz it was making him sick.

The lovely warm Sydney summer had fermented the mouse into a lovely festering lump.
They showed me it's body in the bin, and it's face kinda looked like it was really angry.

So beware!
Mice can get into mini frames through the holes and give you a damage bill of $600

you need a good Jack russell terrier to keep your rodents in check

I have a tonkinese cat.
But he was more interested in lying on his back on a sheepskin rug that day rather than chasing a mouse.
He made it up to me though, he bought a mouse and thoughtfully placed it underneath my bed the other day.
I smelt something rotten before going to bed last night and found it festering into the carpet.
Flushed it and bleached the area.
Bloody cat.

this thread has the answer
http://www.mini2.com/forum/maintenance-mini-care/25264-mouse-calls-cooper-s-engine-bay-home.html