Mice or dry rotting foam insulation ?

[V10 PWRD]

This past weekend the temp was 75 degrees in the afternoon but when I left the house at 6:00 AM it was 30 degrees. Had the top and windows off because I didn't want to take the top apart so I put gloves and a hooded sweatshirt on, turned the heater to Hi fan and took off. Had to go about 50 miles at highway speed so it was a little nipply. I did have the cockpit cover on over the passenger side for added warmth. After a few miles I noticed stuff starting to fly around and out of the car. Thought it may have been buds off of trees and thought no more about it until I got to Fredericksburg. There were little pieces of yellowish foam rubber on the floor. Since the heat was blowing full blast and hotter than heck for about an hour did I bake some foam insulation and cause it to flake off or is this an unwanted predator living under the dash? There has never been any thing on the floor mats before. What is covered or insulated with yellow thin foam sponge like material? I am placing a mouse trap in the car tonite but there are no traces of mice. Should I worry about this? Car has 16000 miles on it.
Thanks for any suggestions.

 

[Martin]

You might take a look in the HVAC air box on the passenger side of the engine compartment - if you leave your hood open (even slightly) when storing the car, mice seem to love to build nests in there. They'll get nesting material from all over the place and carry it in there. It's possible that they also could have built the nest in the ducting and used the foam from under your seats as bedding. If you left your windows open, that's a distinct possibility.

I have a detached garage, and a definite mouse problem, too. The other day, I was just about to head out of my driveway when I figured I should check the engine compartment for new nests. If they decide to build one around the exhaust manifold, things get stinky fast - and a fire isn't too far behind. When I opened the hood, the biggest, fattest deer mouse popped it's head out of one of the holes in the hood and looked pretty terrified... I tried to grab it, but it kept popping back into it's hiding spot. I stepped a few feet back, and it just bolted out and ran for cover in the garden.

 

[ViperTony]

My neighbor had an interesting experience last summer...took his Viper out of storage for a cruise. When he hit WOT, corn kernels dropped out from under the dash and on to his feet, carpet area, a LOT of corn kernels. He found that the mice built a nest in the HVAC ducts under the dash (he relocated the crotch duct when Venzano did his interior) and stored food in there.

 

[Martin]

At least they don't chew on wires like rats do... Before carpet bombing my garage with rat bait, I found a 'nest' in the engine compartment of my old '71 Firebird (455 SD) that was made up mostly of the car's wiring harness. The damn thing even dragged a big turn signal relay into the nest. I haven't even started thinking about how I'm going to unscrew that mess.

 

[uvbnbit]

Seems like I've heard/read somewhere about using dryer sheets to repel the rodents??

 

[Martin]

Seems like I've heard/read somewhere about using dryer sheets to repel the rodents??

That definitely does work for rats - but not mice unfortunately. Keeps the car smelling fresh like a summer day, too

 

[dave6666]

Just move to a warmer climate where the car really never has a chance to cool off.