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Weird "fuzzy" stuff inside the rear axle housing of my '62 Cub. Should this be there? What is it?

Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2020 1:20 pm
by sgraber
Hello! I have some further questions about my '62 cub. I successfully removed the right seat bolt (see viewtopic.php?p=852751), however I have a new question. I looked down the bolt holes where my seat bolts to the axle housing and saw something that looked like fuzz. I grabbed a large tweezers and pulled out a huge chunk of what looks like hair mixed with cellulose fibers:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/PrTmYfxpLT7Cp3Ky6

There's a lot more in there. I haven't pulled it out because I'm uncertain if it should be in there or not. Does anyone have any ideas??? Here's a photo album of a lot more pictures of what I'm seeing:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/sbu4VqxoWQ6XF41N7

Thanks in advance,

Shane

Re: Weird "fuzzy" stuff inside the rear axle housing of my '62 Cub. Should this be there? What is it?

Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2020 1:43 pm
by tmays
Looks like you’ve had a stowaway. Looks like probably a mouse has made a nest at some point. Nope, doesn’t belong there. But don’t think I’d go to the trouble to get it all out. But that’s your call.

Re: Weird "fuzzy" stuff inside the rear axle housing of my '62 Cub. Should this be there? What is it?

Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2020 2:33 pm
by sgraber
I wonder how he got in there! I don't see any obvious points of entry unless I'm missing a decent sized hole somewhere...

tmays wrote:Looks like you’ve had a stowaway. Looks like probably a mouse has made a nest at some point. Nope, doesn’t belong there. But don’t think I’d go to the trouble to get it all out. But that’s your call.

Re: Weird "fuzzy" stuff inside the rear axle housing of my '62 Cub. Should this be there? What is it?

Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2020 2:36 pm
by Don McCombs
The likelihood that the nesting material is soaked with mouse urine is very high. I wouldn’t disassemble the axle for just that reason. But, if you need to go in there for another reason, clean it thoroughly and spray with a baking soda solution. It is very acidic.

Re: Weird "fuzzy" stuff inside the rear axle housing of my '62 Cub. Should this be there? What is it?

Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2020 2:38 pm
by sgraber
Maybe I'll attempt to snake some of that out with a wire or something to at least get some of it out. Thanks for clearing this one up! :)

Don McCombs wrote:The likelihood that the nesting material is soaked with mouse urine is very high. I wouldn’t disassemble the axle for just that reason. But, if you need to go in there for another reason, clean it thoroughly and spray with a baking soda solution. It is very acidic.

Re: Weird "fuzzy" stuff inside the rear axle housing of my '62 Cub. Should this be there? What is it?

Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2020 2:40 pm
by Don McCombs
sgraber wrote:I wonder how he got in there! I don't see any obvious points of entry ...

Through the brake rod port.

Re: Weird "fuzzy" stuff inside the rear axle housing of my '62 Cub. Should this be there? What is it?

Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2020 3:13 pm
by inairam
I went in to do a clutch and had a nest from the throwout bearing to the transmission. Packed.

Re: Weird "fuzzy" stuff inside the rear axle housing of my '62 Cub. Should this be there? What is it?

Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2020 5:31 pm
by JimCub48
Use a shop vac reduced down to a small plastic hose and try to pull it out . Use a wire to loosen it up ,that should help.

Re: Weird "fuzzy" stuff inside the rear axle housing of my '62 Cub. Should this be there? What is it?

Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2020 7:28 pm
by Jim Becker
Trying to clean that mess out through that bolt hole is about like trying to empty the ocean with a bucket milk bottle. The only reasonable way to get most of it out is by removing the final drive. You could remove/replace the final in less time than it would take to clean it out through the bolt hole. And I probably would not remove the final just to clean it out.

Re: Weird "fuzzy" stuff inside the rear axle housing of my '62 Cub. Should this be there? What is it?

Posted: Thu Jun 04, 2020 9:05 pm
by Lt.Mike
There seems to be more fur than grass, fabric, or other material. I think your disassembling not so much a mouse nest but a dead dried up mouse.
Every nest I’ve ever seen was mostly something else, what you’ve got, that’s all hair. I don’t think you’ll get his little carcass out that tiny hole.

Re: Weird "fuzzy" stuff inside the rear axle housing of my '62 Cub. Should this be there? What is it?

Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2020 9:36 am
by tst
if you can remove a bolt from the battery box where it bolts to the tube I stick an bent air blower down the hole and blast it, crap all comes out toward the brake band

Re: Weird "fuzzy" stuff inside the rear axle housing of my '62 Cub. Should this be there? What is it?

Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2020 10:38 am
by Jim Becker
Wear a mask if you use an air hose on a mouse nest. They can be full of nasty diseases.

Re: Weird "fuzzy" stuff inside the rear axle housing of my '62 Cub. Should this be there? What is it?

Posted: Fri Jun 05, 2020 3:34 pm
by Dale Finch
I was going to suggest using a hose with an attachment like above, turning it all to "mush" and letting it come out the brake slots! :|