2010 F150 Mouse nest on cabin air screen
 

My 2010 F150 doesn't have a cabin air filter, but it does have a horizontal screen (much like on a screen door) directly above the blower motor. The screen is protected by a plastic cage with about 1/2" square holes. I suppose it was designed for the plastic cage to keep out leaves and the screen to keep out bugs. But mice crawled through the holes in the plastic cage, built a nest on the screen, and then died there. Having removed the blower motor and fan, I can see the dead mice from below. I can also see them from above using a bore came poked through the plastic cage. I have vacuumed out the plastic cage while blowing compressed air from below. This removed most of the nest, but the dead mice are too big to be vacuumed through the plastic cage.

I'm considering two options: (1) pay a dealer to tear it apart and get better access to the screen or (2) clip off enough of the cage for the mouse to get vacuumed out. I know (1) will be expensive but (2) feels pretty permanent. Then again, what is the worst that could happen without the cage, mice get in there? Any thoughts would be most appreciated!

Myself, I would do option 2. Problem is next time the mice will get in further and you might have to eventually do option 1. Option 3 is to get a cat.

Hey Guys, Quite a few years back mice got inside my wife's car, had babys and all of them died in there. The only way I found this was because of the smell and no matter what I did to get rid of that smell I wound up trading the car for a newer one. I hope you don't come up with a similar problem.

Thank you for the replies! (2) worked like a charm. I only had to clip the cage in two places to allow room to get a vacuum attachment in. Then using a blow gun from below while the vacuum was running allowed me to get both mice and all nest material out quickly. Couldn't have done this job without a bore cam. Picked up a great one for around $30 on Amazon and it paid for itself many times over. Again, thank you Raski for the encouragement. Now all I need is a good name for my new cat!!!

Some things just can't be improved upon and since option 2 did such a good job, thanks for the info. Anybody that lives outside of the city in the country always has to be aware of rodent damage. It is more common than we think. Especially if it is cold out and the vehicle gets parked outside,the critters will always be looking for a nice warm home . They get into the inside of vehicles, chew on the wiring and drive techs nuts. They always seem to find someplace difficult to check like under fuse panels , inside lawn mowers, Even had them build a home in the relay panel of a backhoe.

How about calling your cat, "Tom" ?