[cbo_and21]

A mouse has decided to move into my engine bay. He originally built a nest right over the intake manifold, but I scared him outta there.

Now he has decided to take shelter under the front right windshield cowl. I got the left cowl off yesterday (used the instructions for the cabin air filter installation)...but I can't get the right cowl off to remove his nest and hopefully grab the little bugger.

I searched for like 3 hours yesterday on these forums and on the net for a way to remove the windshield wiper arms so I can get the right cowl off (see pic).

The wiper arms HAVE to be removed in order to remove the cowl. So, could comebody help me out here? Maybe the Haynes/Chiltons book could help...I don't have one.

Also, anybody have any tips for catching the little guy? I have a live-trap set out with some peanut butter...but no luck so far.

Here's a pic of the right cowl and how it doesn't come off w/o removing the wiper arms.

Thanks for any help!!

 

[focusonthefocus]

Haha! What a brave little booger. Why don't you give him a hellva ride through some twistys and see if he likes his home? You might be able to shake him out or at least scare him.

However, I have no idea what it takes to get those wipers off.

 

[cbo_and21]

Haha! What a brave little booger. Why don't you give him a hellva ride through some twistys and see if he likes his home? You might be able to shake him out or at least scare him.

However, I have no idea what it takes to get those wipers off.

I tried! I went to town to fill-er-up and let the thing idle to get real hot (SVT engine bay is not a fun place to be when @ normal temp)...little guy didn't leave. Even if the mouse leaves on his own, I still need to get in there and clean out his nest...else it will burn and smell like crap.

 

[awnuts]

Throw a couple of stinky moth balls in there with him or a garden hose and drown his butt. We get the same prob here in NM but the mice like chewing up the wiring.

 

[BlacKnight]

LOL. When I first read this, I thought you were having engine problems. Another thing you can try ----but try it sparingly------- is a little bit of fox pee. It will send that little bugger running!

 

[cbo_and21]

LOL. When I first read this, I thought you were having engine problems. Another thing you can try ----but try it sparingly------- is a little bit of fox pee. It will send that little bugger running!

Hahahhaha fox pee! We only have cayotes around here...hrmm that might work too! []

 

[BlacKnight]

The reason I say go sparingly is if it gets in your HVAC case, your car will STINK! And it ain't pretty.

 

[Obocecha]

At the bottom of the wiper arm is a cover that is covering the bolt. Undo the bolt and the arm will just pop right off. Then you can pull off the cowl. I recently had a new windshield put in and I watched the guys take this stuff apart. They had it off in about 2 minutes.

 

[cbo_and21]

At the bottom of the wiper arm is a cover that is covering the bolt. Undo the bolt and the arm will just pop right off. Then you can pull off the cowl. I recently had a new windshield put in and I watched the guys take this stuff apart. They had it off in about 2 minutes.

Could you elaborate on this cover? I fiddled around yesterday for a while pulling on the metal piece at the very bottom of the wiper...but couldn't find anything. I will go look again right now.

 

[cbo_and21]

Here are pics of my wipers. I pulled like mad on the bottom black metal piece...no luck. I'd be very surprised if we had different a different setup.

By the way...are these pics too big (at 1024x768 now) for people? Could make them smaller...

 

[Obocecha]

That's the bottom piece in the first pic. You have to pop that up away from the cowl and it sort of swivels up away from the bolt. Then you can undo it. You might have to take a flathead screwdriver wrap something over the end so you don't scratch anything and use that to sort of pry the cover up.

 

[cbo_and21]

That's the bottom piece in the first pic. You have to pop that up away from the cowl and it sort of swivels up away from the bolt. Then you can undo it. You might have to take a flathead screwdriver wrap something over the end so you don't scratch anything and use that to sort of pry the cover up.

THANK YOU Obocecha!

The black piece in the first pic of my previous post flips up when you pry the very edge up w/ a flathead covered in cloth. Worked like a charm....doh...why didn't I see that.

My camera's batteries died...but I will post a pic of what this looks like for future reference for FF members.

I'll let you guys know how the mouse hunt turns out, also.

Thanks!

 

[Duffman355]

wow, what a funy story, and hope you get him.

 

[Obocecha]

You're welcome!

 

[cbo_and21]

D'oh...still need help!

Okay - I feel like an idiot. I STILL can't pull the freaking wiper off - it is stick on there really well. My dad tried as well...hrmmm.

Should I blast it with some WD40, pull harder, or am I missing something huge?

Here's a pic of what the cover arm looks like flipped up. Be careful not the break the little plastic cover - it will look funky.

Thanks for the (additional) help everybody!

 

[Obocecha]

This part is sort of tricky, you have to push down on the part where the 2 pieces pivot, while pulling up on the bottom part that is over the bolt. I hope that made sense. If you simply try to pull the arm off, the tension sort of binds the arm on the threaded part. So basically try to flatten the arm out while pulling up on the very bottom part.

 

[cbo_and21]

Thanks again Obocecha! Your instructions worked...I must say, however, WHAT IN THE WORLD were Bosch (their name is stamped everywhere on these parts) engineers thinking when they designed this???

A lot of force and some serious pulling was required...but the pieces did pop off.

Warning to those who follow: know where your wiper blades were before you popped them off. There is nothing preventing you from putting them back in the WRONG place and totally messing up the position and hence the motor.

OK - the trap is set right next to where his nest was...hopefully in the morning I got me a rat fer dinner!

BTW - this is a pack rat...not a mouse. Pack rats are much more intelligent...hopefully not more intelligent than me.

 

[COSVT03]

Just a little FYI. A dab of White Out will make a great marker for when you want to line everything right back up where it was. It also scrapes off without a trace with a little light fingernail scratching.

 

[cbo_and21]

^Great idea...I'll probably go do that now. I was just going to line everything back up in the imprint of the dust (stupid rural Colorado is dusty as hell...I'm not in Boulder for the summer).

 

[Scott_SVT]

they make a 'puller' that pops those right off, like a tie rod removal tool, but you can also carefully get them off by loosely installing the nut back on the top of the stud, then tapping on it with a small hammer while prying up in the wiper arm. You just need to be careful and not miss!

Anyway, I see you got it now, so good luck with your new pet!