One Muffler, Two Acorns and a Mouse

thumper_svx · #1 04-20-2007, 08:30 AM

LOL... last night was funny... in a way it was tragic, but amusing.

OK, went to replace my muffler last night. I had hoped to replace my O2 sensors as well, but they didn't ship on-time so I guess I'll be doing them later. Grrr. Anyway, took her to a muffler shop to replace the muffler and get a state inspection. For history; my muffler started to exhibit a rattle like a collapsed baffle shortly before I stored it, and since I broke her out of storage two weeks ago every time I've driven her I've had the intense smell of burning popcorn or burned coffee beans coming out of the exhaust (depending on how hard I'd driven her). I got a salvage muffler for free from a member of this group some time back, but never installed it as things went from bad to worse with the car and I thought it best to store her until I could fix her.

ANYWAY, the exhaust guys noted the smell, too and wondered what the hell it was. I just shrugged and told them I had no idea, but we all agree the baffles were toast and the replacement muffler was required.

Skip forward about an hour (and FYI, she got a clean bill of health on the state safety inspection... emissions still to go) and they tell me she's all ready. I ask the guy if they're busy and he looks out in the shop. Nope, looks like a quiet afternoon. I ask if we can cut the old muffler open just to diagnose the problem with the baffles and maybe see if what caused the smell was in there. He just grinned and said sure.

So we go out to the shop and one of the techs uses a cutting torch to cut the top of the muffler open and we peel it back. Immediately, three guys take a half step backward and go "Eww!"

There, near the collapsed baffles (yeah, plural) were a pair of acorns. At least, they used to be acorns. Now they looked something akin to popcorn only bigger... and definitely extra crispy around the edges. Not far from that was the mummified corpse of a mouse lying on its back. One of the techs grabbed a pair of tongs and pulled at the mouse which came free from the wall of the muffler with the sound of tearing fur and flesh... eliciting still more "Eww!"s from the assembled audience.

So now I have some answers. I know that a mouse was apparently trying to make a home in my car: It had stored some food in the muffler and was probably the same mouse that built a nest under my intake manifold that I found earlier this week. The nest had been built, but didn't look like it had been used (only a couple of mouse droppings in the fluff or on the engine, not a full season's worth). Looking at the muffler, it seems the mouse had tried to explore deeper inside the recesses of the muffler and had possibly become trapped and eventually died of dehydration or hunger. Maybe it found some water back there... who knows? Either way, it had been there a while when we found it, so it doesn't seem likely it died from exhaust fumes!

So back to my car... and start her up. Ahhhhh... no more rattling baffles! The exhaust now sounds like it should, and I've noticed throttle response around the 2000rpm mark is a little better (the collapsed baffles were slightly blocking the exhaust). And best of all, I don't have to hit the "CIRC" button every time I'm sitting at a set of lights... and no more burned popcorn smells when I step out of the car. Ahhhhhhhh....

OK... so a slight smell of solder... but hey, that'll dissipate in time!

Next up, replace my wiring harness and probably clean out my throttle body and intake plenum... hope it fixes those damned Check Engine lights. If I don't fix that, it won't pass emissions.

Scott · #2 04-20-2007, 10:08 AM

Haha, that's gross and kinda funny at the same time.

I still recall hitting an alligator with my S2000 last summer, then finding a chunk of skin and flesh stuck in one of the hollow suspension braces in the winter.

SVeXy96 · #3 04-20-2007, 10:21 AM

LOL Thats hilarious! I'm glad you got everything worked out...poor lil mouse though!

demonsvx · #4 04-20-2007, 06:40 PM

I had a similar experience with my YZ400 years ago. Some mice took some feeder corn and thought the exhaust on the bike was a good place to stash their loot. Come spring Im kicking away on my bike warming it up and friggin popcorn

comes flying out the pipes-along with bits of fur,bone, meat,etc

Learned to cap my exhaust and every other hole after that

Dominus · #5 04-21-2007, 04:29 AM

I found a cheeseburger under the hood one time. It was quite nasty. I must have run over someones lunch or something.

ensteele · #6 04-22-2007, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dominus

I found a cheeseburger under the hood one time. It was quite nasty. I must have run over someones lunch or something.

Or had a friend that was getting back at you.

thumper_svx · #7 04-22-2007, 08:46 PM

Maybe he had been working on the car and forgot where he put it?

I can just see it now... he stands there wondering where the hell his cheeseburger went, then just shrugs and closes the hood thinking that he'd eaten it.

The smell must've been wonderful

Crazy_pilot · #8 04-23-2007, 02:31 AM

Sounds like that trucker's cookbook, wrap meal in tin foil, place on manifold, drive 50 miles, unwrap, eat.

What's that book called again?

Tiamat-red · #9 04-23-2007, 05:37 AM

I use to work in a garage mainly changing oil.

At least once a month mice would come dropping/shooting/flying out of the engine, chassis, or suspension. Normally when I had my arm stuck up in there pretty good.
This was of course after they drove for however many miles to the shop.

One guy came in with fur, and bits of skin stuck to everything under his truck.
I asked him about it and he said "Oh ya...ran over a dead deer a couple of months ago..."

Tiamat-red · #10 04-23-2007, 05:39 AM

Scott, I find your avatar INCONCEIVABLE!!!!!

davew833 · #11 04-23-2007, 12:39 PM

I lifted the hood on my sister's Honda Accord one day to check the oil and was surprised to see a live mouse scurry across the intake. It was winter- I guess it was attracted to the heat. I was more surprised that it was alive after she'd driven to my house.

JaySVX · #12 04-23-2007, 01:06 PM

I always have a bucket of anti-freeze/oil mix type from draining in my garage, it's closed so no wandering animals, but mice would periodically get into it, and i'd have to scoop them out. Not quite as bad as roast mouse on the exhaust though.

demonsvx · #13 04-23-2007, 04:08 PM

About the worse thing Ive seen is on a older car with a flex-fan setup and a cat decided it was a good idea to sleep in the fan shroud

I kept revving the engine until the knocking noise went away with this confused look on my face like "what the hell is that noise". About then fur started coming through the vents and from under the hood and Im thinking "uh oh I hope thats the neighbors cat"

Tiamat-red · #14 04-23-2007, 07:48 PM

PETA has been informed!

svxxx26 · #15 04-25-2007, 07:30 AM

Getting ready for Reading, I was looking in the spare tire compartment - I keep a small towel and a pair of gloves in there. A mouse had made a comfy little nest out of it all!

PLUS a few "deposits".
Keep in mind that the car is always garaged and kept shut up nice and tight, never left with the window left open. I'm just glad it was the towel and gloves the mouse shredded up for its nest and not the carpet!
Also - I had nut shells rolling around in the cavity between the hood and the support structure. Very annoying.