Either a rat or mouse crawled into my vent system then died. The more I look into this, I think it's a mouse. I've pulled most of the dash apart and can't find him. I know he's in the vents somewhere because when I turn on the vent or AC, you can smell him. My mechanic said he could have crawled into the heater core or evaporator box. To get to the heater core, you have to drain the coolant, clip off AC lines and I'm looking at some hourly mechanic rates. Any tips or advice? I've got tomorrow to do this because right now, the truck is scheduled for Wednesday to go to the shop. It's over 100 degrees here and I can't use my AC.
Thanks.

 

You don't have to recover the refrigerant or disconnect any coolant lines to gain access to the heater/evaporator box, the box can be split in half by removing a bunch of 8mm bolts and taking the lid off. Figure 8-10 hours worth of labor at a dealer; it might be a bit less at an independent store.