Yesterday my wife mentioned something was wrong with her Subaru Forester
HVAC fan. Making noise. OK, did it start gradually and get worse, or just
start? Just started, she said.
OK, great something or some THING is in it. This morning I turned it on
and sure enough, something is in there. Hardly turns at all on low and
sort of...smells. Not a good sign.
There's a little trap door next to the fan. The cover is held on by two
metal clips. I popped them off and took a look in the hole, which lead to
the outside of the fan scroll. Nothing obvious. I bumped the fan switch,
and bits of fiberglass and foam insulation start blowing out. Lots of
bits. Ok, now we're getting somewhere. I keep blipping the switch, and
pretty soon a dead baby rodent falls out. Great. Looks like it's pretty
new dead, too- fresh blood on it.
Get the shop vac and vacuum up the mess, try not to think about Hanta
virus. I looked at the fan casing and it looks like Subaru was
anticipating having to R&R the fan motor and blower- it's held on by three
phillips screws that are only mildly difficult to get to. QD on the
wiring, too. They were really thinking ahead. I pulled the screws and the
whole motor and fan assembly dropped off, and the impeller is full of
insulation and one pretty well homogenized vole. (We live out in the
country.) Why those bastards go to all the trouble to make a nest way up
inside the car when they have the entire garage and acres of outside is a
mystery to me. Anyway, I dumped all the mess including the late mother
vole in the trash bag, spray everything down with Lysol and put it back
together. I'm a hero, again. No telling WHAT Subaru would have charged,
but it took me less than an hour.
Dave C
|