A couple of years ago, I moved to a rural area with lots of forest around our home.
Not long after, I started getting mice inside the cruiser. They would come in, chew up things and then die inside the cabin, apparently unable to get out. Yuck. Disgusting.
I searched a lot for how they were getting in, and then they started chewing parts of the air vents on the dash off and I realized how they were getting in, and why they could not get out. They were coming in the air duct at the base of the windshield, through the fan and out through the air vents into the cabin. They were unable to climb back out through the air cabin air intake, so they would end up dead in the cruiser eventually. This had to stop.
To mouse proof your 80, first remove the windshield wipers, cowling (trim piece at the base of the windshield) and the front fenders. I removed the hood to make this all easier as well. I've circled the entry point for the mice. This is the drain for the cowling area, it allows water that enters this area to drain out, otherwise it is a sealed box with grilled/vent entries at the base of the windshield. There is a snorkel style air intake in there that is where the air comes in for the HVAC system. The mice climb through the drains, up onto the snorkel, fall in and then they can't get out any way except to chew their way out through your HVAC system. There is a drain on both driver and passenger side.
The fix is to apply hardware cloth (1/4" galvanized steel mesh) to the two drains so water can get out, but mice can't get in.
Problem solved, no more mice in the cruiser. You also should make sure all of the plastic caps are in place in the body floor pan and the steering shaft boot is in tact, as those are additional places they could potentially get in.
Not long after, I started getting mice inside the cruiser. They would come in, chew up things and then die inside the cabin, apparently unable to get out. Yuck. Disgusting.
I searched a lot for how they were getting in, and then they started chewing parts of the air vents on the dash off and I realized how they were getting in, and why they could not get out. They were coming in the air duct at the base of the windshield, through the fan and out through the air vents into the cabin. They were unable to climb back out through the air cabin air intake, so they would end up dead in the cruiser eventually. This had to stop.
To mouse proof your 80, first remove the windshield wipers, cowling (trim piece at the base of the windshield) and the front fenders. I removed the hood to make this all easier as well. I've circled the entry point for the mice. This is the drain for the cowling area, it allows water that enters this area to drain out, otherwise it is a sealed box with grilled/vent entries at the base of the windshield. There is a snorkel style air intake in there that is where the air comes in for the HVAC system. The mice climb through the drains, up onto the snorkel, fall in and then they can't get out any way except to chew their way out through your HVAC system. There is a drain on both driver and passenger side.
The fix is to apply hardware cloth (1/4" galvanized steel mesh) to the two drains so water can get out, but mice can't get in.
Problem solved, no more mice in the cruiser. You also should make sure all of the plastic caps are in place in the body floor pan and the steering shaft boot is in tact, as those are additional places they could potentially get in.
