How to get rid of Rat Stank Smell

[j3pup]

Well my 170B project is coming time for annual soon, and I need to address the mysterious rat stank smell coming from the fuselage etc... The aircraft sat in a garage for the last 8 years or so, and although I haven't found any nests or direct poo, I have found some cracked corn kernals etc... All the interior but the side panels and headliner are out of the aircraft, and even the fuselage smells like rat stank. We used a mild detergent and sponge on the whole fuselage and yet the stank came back. Does anybody know what combination of chemicals can kill the stank? I don't want my plane to smell like BO!

Help!

[canav8]

I am assuming you have already opened all the floor panels to, but incase you havent, get at all of them. You can use acetone to clean the hard grease glue and any old oil deposits you have inside then use WD-40 as a rinse. It is an excellent oder killer and also great with aluminum. It will usually get all old grease and will clean up easily also. While your at it, make sure all of your drain holes are unclogged. There should be at least one possibly two in front of each bulkhead. This will aid in future drainage. Good luck but Mice are notorious for nesting in small dark corners. Have a look at your cables carefully also. I have seen pictures of cables fraid by teeth marks from mice. It is serious stuff. Mice hungry enough will eat anything. We had a Boeing 777 on its way to Narita divert into ANC because a rat ate the wiring in the overhead panel in the cockpit. Unbelievable. Crew said things just stopped working. Maintenance called out found the rat and it was exterminated. Aircraft sat for a few months up there. By the way a dog can do it to. Have a look at these. This was a Rotweiler angry about being in the front Cargo Hold of an AA 757 from DFW to JFK. He got out of his kennel and had a first class meal. Dog wanted a little attention...LOL

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[Jimmy M.]

I had an aircraft seat that had sat for 20 years and stank pretty bad............
I gave it a good spray with Febreeze unscented..........made it a lot better.
I'd check first to see what's in it before I'd use it on aluminum but on fabric and upholstery it
should work OK
Good luck.

[j3pup]

I didn't know about acetone and wd40, but I will try that. Those pictures are insane! I also didn't know about the drain holes in each bulkhead, I will be looking for them. When I flew the J-41 for Atlantic Coast Airlines we wrote up an airplane for a rat under the rudder pedals. My captain (a female) was screaming with her feet up on the seat, we wrote the ac up and the mechanics came out and returned the ac to service with "No rodent found". She refused to fly the airplane until it was found, so we were given another airplane and I never did find out if they exterminated the bugger.

[SteveF]

I would check above the head liner also. Before I bought my plane it had sat for five years and there were a few mouse nests and droppings above the liner against both wing roots. They liked the fiberglass insulation and seat stuffing as nesting material.

[c170b53]

Second that last reply and check to two shelves (LH/R/H) above the cabin doors.

[j3pup]

I checked the fuel tanks and didn't find too much crap in there just an old bees nest. Going to try to figure out how to pull out the vinyl headliner tonight. I am really worried I am going to screw it up or something, not really sure how its secured.

[canav8]

Do not plan on reusing the headliner. Airtex makes a great replacement. Important to protect the steel boughs though. People have used welding rod to replace the broken boughs. The boughs in my opinion are valuable. Make sure you undo all the little pk screws holding the boughs. Each bough will probably have three or four pk screws holding the bough to the ceiling. Doug

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

If you are careful you could reuse the headliner BUT there is plenty of opportunity to ruin it as you remove it specially since you haven't done it before.

You start at the front ot the cockpit and remove the trim piece in front of the windshield. The headliner will be glued underneath it. Over the doors the headliner is held in by sharp teeth that are pointing up. Think if a hack saw blade with about 6 teeth per inch and sharp piercing the headliner material and it is spring loaded tight.

Using a tool or several tools like a putty knife you can reach up and release the headliner from the teeth and at the same time hold the teeth back to allow the headliner material to come out. It takes time. Once you have the edges of the headliner from the front and over the doors released you will be able to see how the bows are held in place.

If you remove the bows mark them as to where they came out as they are all different lengths or simply do as I did and don't remove the bows from the material.

[ginbug92b]

You better check out the WHOLE plane very thoughly, it is unbelievable what places mice can get into. A fellow by me has a 170B that he bought in 1968, he never flew it much and he hasn't flown it in the last 20 years. I wanted to buy the plane 20 yrs ago but he would never sell it. Whenever I saw him I would tell him to make sure the mice weren't getting in it. 2 years ago he decided that he would part with it. When I went to see it I got sick to my stomach. The plane is JUNK. The mice got in the wings and fuselage, the spars and the bottom skins under the fuel tanks have holes rotted through from the acid mice urine. The through spar and the upper door posts are rotted badly also. What a shame, the plane was 100% original, the interior was perfect original when I saw it 20 yrs ago, now it was all eaten up by the mice. The plane only had 1200 hours total time, the engne had never been touched either. I ended up going to Oregon and bringing home a 55 B with zero corrosion.

[j3pup]

That is horrible! I did pull the covers off the fuel tanks and make sure they weren't in there. I didn't even think about pulling the tanks and looking underneath.

[j3pup]

Well here is the answer to my question! First take the cover off the top rotating beacon, and then notice the nasty rat smell coming from it... Next realize that you can look into the area above the headliner from the back of the plane.... Finally realize there are several dead rats and piles of crap everywhere. 4 hours later and two garbage cans filled with insulation dead mice, urine and poo you are almost there. Now I just need to scrub the sides of the plane and I am not sure what to scrub with because the airplane has some kind of anti corrosion stuff back there almost like the spray in bedliner stuff. So ....

1. What can I use to clean over the anti corrosion stuff?
2. What kind of insulation am I allowed to put back in?

Oh I showered and washed myself 4 times, and I can still smell rat urine, and I think I need more showers. I never seen so much rat poo in my life. I quit counting at 5 dead mice, mostly small babies and one large one! It was amazing how I could see the tunnels after removing the side panels.

[canav8]

Can you take any pictures of it? We need to acertain what type of corrosion proofing it is. If you cant take a picture, please tell us what color the stuff is. Doug

[c170b53]

Sounds like you've found a rat's nest x 2. The black stuff on the skin is original Cessna install, it provides some protection to the skin from moisture exposure and you'll probably find the skin underneath it in good condition. Leave it in place, its unsightly but I don't see a downside to it. Dirt and debris may be imbedded into it, vacuum and clean up as best you can, (I'd use mild soap detergent and water). If there's corrosion around the edges then MEK will remove it readily, but don't lose your head, ensure no ignition sources in the shop, lots of ventilation and use proper PPE (a real mask with the appropriate filters). I would remove just enough to assess the corrosion and to enable clean-up and treatment. That last statement entails a few things and depending on the severity and location you may need professional assistance. As the fuselage at rest is at an angle to the surface, you may have found the interior frames have acted as dams with rat debris preventing fluid drainage. Its likely the frames and skin in these areas may have suffered the greatest damage and may need replacement. The top portion of the frame in the cabin that is aft of the rear windows is a trouble spot and may have suffered from the infestation as it forms a small mice cabin in conjunction with the headliner. There's tons of good info on cleaning skin and prepping for protection in our website, use the search. Know what you're doing as mistakes can be expensive to rectify. Lots of patience and time will be required from the sounds of things. Resist the urge to get " Tone" and be methodical in your approach to fixing the situation. You've taken the right step by asking first, sounds like the journey may not be a short one. Hopefully I'll be wrong again.

[cmsusllc]

If you remove the headliner check in front of the rear door post where the top door frame fastens to it - a great place for all that crap to settle.
Scott --- 53B