GRRR!...Insect flew in dash

**bardo_state** · 09-01-2003, 01:33 AM

Help! Tonight at a toll booth, a 1" long, moth-like bug flew into my 2003 Passat wagon, and in my annoyed attempts to get it out of the car, the insect retreated to the very edge where my dash and windshield come together (left side, near instrument console). Then it disappeared altogether!

There seems to be a vent there (recirc. intake?) that I can kind of feel, but I can`t get a good look at it from the inside or the outside. I tried blasting the front defroster to see if I could blow it out. No luck. Tried a vacuum with a crevice attachment to suck it out. No luck. Can anybody tell me what that slot is and whether there is anything I can really do about getting it out of there? Where the heck did that bug go?!?!!!

:angry

**Iconoclast** · 09-01-2003, 09:43 AM

Originally posted by ejant

There is a myraid of duct work behind your dash.It probably followed a tube far or deep for you to reach.

Hopefully it will not lay eggs. [/B]

Way to ease his mind ejant

I know your considering ripping apart the dash just to find the thing, I would think about it too. Those kind of things drive me crazy.

Just be patient, hopefully it finds its way out.

**johnnygee3** · 09-01-2003, 11:29 AM

Spray some raid down there I`m serious!!

**bardo_state** · 09-01-2003, 12:21 PM

The idea of eggs being laid inside my car is a lovely thought, thanks. Knowing my own tendancy to make a bad situation worse, I`m trying hard to be patient and not do anything that would wreck my dash. Blasting that opening with Raid sounds tempting, but without having a good idea how all the ducts are connected and where that opening leads to, I get a little worried that the next time I turn on the air conditioning, I`ll send Raid residue flying into my pregnant wife`s lungs.

I think this is the universe getting back at me for being so compulsive about keeping the outside of the car clean of every bug or bird residue!

**Nebraska99** · 09-01-2003, 12:41 PM

It probably will just die in there and turn to dust. Nothing to worry about. DO NOT put insecticide in your ventilation system for goodness sakes.!

Although I heard about a similar situation where three months later a thousand bugs came flying out when the defroster was turned on and all that was found in the car was skeletons and some White Castle burgers. Apparently even bugs dont eat them.

:scared

**imported_Dave Holmes** · 09-02-2003, 01:50 AM

You`ve tried a vacuum with a crevice tool, but what about a can of compressed air with the red tube attached. This could either dislodge it, or blow its little body in to a bunch of little pieces. It could also possibly destroy any eggs that may have been laid.

Just thought of another idea. If you turn the can of compressed air upside down, it blows freezing cold liquid/vapor, which would definitely freeze the little sucker, and any eggs (don`t know how this freezing liquid affects dash surfaces or windshields, though).

I wouldn`t worry about eggs. Next time you keep your car all shut up in the sun, the moth and anything else will be baked. You`ll find it a few years from now when you pull the dash to swap radios or something. But rest assured, its dead the first time your interior hits 120*+.

Dave

**bardo_state** · 09-02-2003, 12:04 PM

That`s an interesting idea Dave! I`ll give it a shot. The only hitch I can think of is I might not be able to get the red tube (and the can) close enough to the slot. The tip of the crevice tool on the vacuum hit the inside of the windshield and dash about 1" from where the opening actually was. The angle of the windshield relative to the dash and where this slot is is ridiculous.

:grrr

Anyways, in my distress, I sent a message to a University bug expert that had a website devoted to moths. His comment was...

"Do nothing. If it is a moth, it will soon be dead, if not already dead. It will dry completely, disintegrate, and that`s it. In other words, it is a totally harmless event."

That helped calm my brain a tad bit, but doesn`t help with my obsessive/compulsive desire to keep my car immaculate. The most annoying thing about this whole event was the fact that this bug was visible at one point and I had a good shot at getting it out of the car, but instead of going out the window, the bug went exactly where I didn`t want it to!

**Spilchy** · 09-02-2003, 01:20 PM

I had a buddy of mine go to replace his air filter and found a family of mice happily nesting in the air cleaner housing!!!!

No joke! There were babies and everything all nesting on straw.

They must have climbed in while parked in the garage!

**paco** · 09-02-2003, 02:42 PM

I`d just turn on the vehicle, crank up the heat full blast and let it run for a bit. That`s surely kill any moth like bug.

Don`t spray an insecticide as most of them are harmful to humans! Oh dear god.

You can try some Lysol for disinfectation but anything other than that, I`d definitely pass on.

Seriously though, don`t fret too much. It`s probably no big deal.

**Spilchy** · 09-02-2003, 03:56 PM

I`d be scared. Those suckers carry the West Nile virus and other mysterious African derived sickness.

It`ll lay eggs and breed little poison hatchlings that`ll crawl into your ear, latch on and burrow like in the Star Trek movie.

I`d quarintine the car and fumigate the sucker.

**bardo_state** · 09-02-2003, 04:21 PM

O.K., that`s it. I`m going out to the car and activating the auto-destruct sequence!

**bardo_state** · 09-03-2003, 11:42 AM

WOOHOO! :spot

I`m pleased to report that the aforementioned culprit came out from it`s inscrutable hiding place last night and stayed in one spot long enough for me to grab my vacuum and remove it from my car once and for all!

Whew!

(..especially since auto-destruct was down to 1 second)

Thanks for all the advice everyone!

I`ll let you all know if a swarm of baby catepillars and moths emerge in a couple weeks or so.

**andriver** · 09-03-2003, 11:50 AM

Funny story Bardo; with a happy ending! LOL

**imported_fethead** · 09-04-2003, 07:21 AM

Wow, You guys were really playing him. I thought for sure he was going to offer up his car on E-Bay. The moth probably came out of the duct work only after depositing her brude of eggs.