Keep in mind too, that the inside of the van isn't the only place mice like.
I had to totally dismantle my intake system this spring. A mouse (or
chipmunk, squirrel, pick your favorite small rodent) had crawled into the
air intake, chewed through the air filter and dragged food and nesting
materials through the afm, throttle, and all four air pipes. All the way to
the valves. Good thing he couldn't fit through them. I would strongly
recommend some mothballs or something in the air filter.

John Flaherty
Standish, ME
'84 GL
'84 Rabbit
-----Original Message-----
From: Chuck Hill <hilltech@NETINS.NET>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Date: Sunday, October 31, 1999 5:37 AM
Subject: MOUSE ALERT!!

>It's time for the yearly mouse prevention tips, as noted in a recent
>post by Daryl Jorud.  Yes, they can really spoil our beloved Vanagons.
>Until you get rid of the smell, you just don't like it any more.
>
>They can enter  in two places.  The first and probably most common
>problem area is around the air intake at the front.  The plastic grille
>piece doesn't cover the sides.  Take off the grille and cut a piece of
>metal door screen to size, jam it in place, and secure it with silicon
>adhesive.  The second place they get in is through the battery
>compartment vent openings on later (86 and up) Vanagons.  There is one
>of these on both the regular starting battery box, and the accessory
>battery box (under the driver's seat) on my '86 Westy.  The fix is the
>same.
>
>If you have mice in the vehicle, trap them, don't poison them.  They can
>and will travel through the fresh air ductwork,  and die there.  Peanut
>butter on a mouse trap works best for the mice in my neighborhood.
>
>Don't use mothballs to keep mice away from your vehicle.  It just
>doesn't work, and the smell is nearly as bad.
>
>En Gard!!
>
>Chuck Hill
>