i sort of have the same thing...but to a much lesser extent. and ive replaced my evaporator, heater core, have a different blower motor. and my ACC works great - except for a slightly fishy smell that comes about when the heat is first turned on.

ive stuck my nose up in and around the blower motor area and i can smell the smell, but i cant tell where its coming from.

so my point is troubleshoot carefully before proceeding - i don't know what my smell is from but i know what it isn't from - all the usual suspects.

i dont know how to troubleshoot any further...i dont know whats left in my system to be making fishy smells

where does the venturi that goes into passenger side panel go? i havent stuck my nose in there yet.

and on the topic of rodents - how could one get into the evap box other than through the AC condensate drip hole? and only the smallest little field mouse could fit thought there, but it would be tough. plus the critter would just hit the evaporator and couldn't go any further.

dd

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'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car

If you did have a dead rodent trapped in the blower fan, it might have slowed the fan enough to blow the fuse. (the blower fan is also coincidently call a squirrel cage blower due to it's drum shape) I just spoke to Tom. I told him to hold the sheet metal parts for you.
Check the fuses. Under the drivers side windshield area, in the engine compartment. A rectangular lid with two thumb screws that take forever to unscrew. Under the lid is a list of which fuses control what. There also are blank spaces for 4 spare fuses but they point at you not laying flat like the fuses in use.
After you replace the fuse, see if the fan motor goes on. If it sounds like it's straining, call me and I'll walk you through opening up the blower motor housing. 3 or 4 screws, I think 10mm.

well, heres the update, the fuse was blown, changed the fuse, now it blows like a porn star and the smell is gone. hmm..
lesson for the day, blown fuse #8= rotting fish odors??

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1985 300D - "Desi"
1981 300D - "Pepi"
1984 240D - "Sticky"
1985 300TD - "Flitstone"
1984 300TD - "Frenchie"
1987 300TD - "4481"

well im checkin fuse #8 right now....

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'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car

...annnnd YES my fuse #8, while not blown, was burnt a bit. Before I put in a new blower motor, my old one was on its way out and probably caused this.

But, the fish smell - take a torch to one of the old fuses. Thats the fish smell. Now how that gets into the ducts im not sure, but thats it. lll see tomorrow if the smell is 100% gone.

hope this helps someone in the future as its helped me...

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'85 300D, 'Lance',250k, ... winter beater (100k on franken-Frybrid 3 Valve Kit)
'82 300D, 'Tex', 228k body / 170k engine ... summer car
'83 300TD Cali Wagon 210k, wife's car

i believe #8 should be a red fuse...i put in one with a little more amps, maybe it will prevent it from blowing again...blowing the fuse that is

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1985 300D - "Desi"
1981 300D - "Pepi"
1984 240D - "Sticky"
1985 300TD - "Flitstone"
1984 300TD - "Frenchie"
1987 300TD - "4481"

sigh...... us people with the fish smell get no respect. I must change clothes in the garage before i can come into the house

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commercial fisherman diesel in my blood in my boats trucks and Dear old Dad has had me drivin them since i got my first license in 1968
1986 300 SDL 427654
1999 Chevy Crew Cab Dually 225423
1986 300 SDL 287000 Dad's
1987 190 Turbo 158000 Mom's (my inheritance)

diesel fisherman?? now THAT rotting fish smell is sexy, i could learn to live with that..

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1985 300D - "Desi"
1981 300D - "Pepi"
1984 240D - "Sticky"
1985 300TD - "Flitstone"
1984 300TD - "Frenchie"
1987 300TD - "4481"

Rotting fish is burning insulation. You have an electrical fault.