Pulled console, expected torn boot, but it's in perfect shape.
I don't see any obvious places for the heat to come in.
What am I missing?
Pulled console, expected torn boot, but it's in perfect shape.
I don't see any obvious places for the heat to come in.
What am I missing?
Mine would cpok you through the tunnel. Added insulation and solved it.
I can feel heat around the shift boot and ebrake lever
The best I can figure, the slot the cable goes through is/was letting in heat.
Threw some foam down there, we'll see if it makes a difference...
I get super hot air coming through, but not all that consistently.
sounds like my old fiats.. they would always cook you through the tunnel
Eliminating the excess heat is probably the easiest way to solve the issue.
When I first got mine, the heat from the transmission tunnel was intense, I changed the gearbox oil to Royal Purple 75W-90 Synthetic Oil . Not sure if brand makes a difference or if just having clean oil is enough.
The difference was incredible, there was no noticeable heat coming thru, and it shifted smoother. All in all it took me about half an hour to do the job and cost around 40$ part of the cost was for a pump to get the oil up and into the filler.
Probably too obvious, but you don't have any exhaust leaks right? Cat isn't clogged? Both would dump a bunch of extra heat in the trans tunnel.
In reply to drsmooth :
It's got MTL in it now, but I do wonder that it's thick enough for SoAZ summer temps; especially when it's been "Phoenix hot" in Tucson this summer (Tucson is typically 5-10 degrees cooler in the summer...) - it was 108 yesterday, or some such thing ("fortunately" I was in Sierra Vista for an auto-x - hotter than usual there yesterday, too...).
In reply to morello159 :
No exhaust leaks, but I wonder about the cat; there's a clanking sound that I'm pretty sure is the cat internals let loose - I've chased that annoying clank forever, and each time I find something, the car is a little quieter over bumps and such, but it's always there, and there's nothing left to chase down.
About half the time, the car is a little sluggish (not horrible, or even bad, but "off" a little), other times the motor seems bright and willing to pull to the 7200rpm cut-off.
Throwing some foam down there has helped, but it feels like a band-aid for a larger issue.
The car didn't always throw off heat through the tunnel there, it's been a more recent phenomena - maybe the last 6-8 months, year max (had it for 3 or 4 years now).
Ok, so getting some extreme heat from the tunnel, but not consistently.
Seems to occur if I do a few WOT runs, but not always.
Best guess is that cat is getting hot.
It appears that over rich or over lean will cause that, but no CEL or anything (So I assume both O2 sensors are fine).
I think the cat internals are loose, I have a clank that is fairly constant and I've tightened down everything that could be lose.
Typical with this car, never a CEL, problem never consistent!
What sez Miata gurus?
Bad cat, fuel system, o2s? What's causing a hot cat?
In reply to OldGray320i :
It's not the catalyst- it's the rest of the exhaust. The outside skin on a catalyst tends to be lower temp than the exhaust going in and out.
BTW, going over rich is bad for the cat ONLY if you are misfiring. If that's not happening, the extra fuel cools the catalyst down considerably. Same goes for going lean- but nobody does that, as it costs power.
In reply to alfadriver :
Not misfiring that i can perceive, car runs well.
Do rattling internals cause issues?
94% sure it's internal, has to be cat, (noise about the middle of the car) EVERTHING else has been tightened and clearanced.
It's just not a consistent occurrence, which is what's maddening, but when it does, man, that heat just floods the cabin.
In reply to OldGray320i :
Theoretically, the internals can be broken, but you'd see that in other symptoms- like lack of power. If you destroyed the cat- it would no longer make heat. So if the exhaust it warming up, it's working properly.
And, since you are not so rich to be causing misfires, then however rich you are going will cool the catalyst down.
So I'm still thinking that you are missing some heat shields and the heat source is the exhaust and not the catalyst, specifically.
In reply to alfadriver :
Heat shields in place, with the exception of the NB2 exhaust mani, - I had that on initially, but I noticed a bit more heat in the cabin from that, so I wrapped it - and it reduced the heat better than the shield. The rest are all in place (including the bottom piece that bolts on the underside of the car).
Next stupid question(s) - can exhaust gas temps change (I wouldn't think so?) and what would cause it?
My pea brain can't get past that for large swaths of time cabin temperature is consistent with ambient (I don't use AC very much), but on occasion I get these massive infusions of heat; I can feel the difference even around 95-97 degrees, like last night - with the car moving and windows down, not just stationary.
Maybe that's just life, but it seems all things being equal, I should get it all the time, or at least under the same driving conditions (i.e. after WOT use - and while I get it more then, I do not get it consistently).
Appreciate the replies/education.
In reply to OldGray320i :
Yea, the temp varies all the time. Peak is at WOT, cruise will drop that temp ~500F gas temp- or at WOT, the cat inlet temp is typically around 1600F, cat temp no more than 1700F (in older cars), and take off 500F at normal 50mph cruise. Maybe higher, a little at 70.
Basically, higher load = higher gas temps- and that's largely what you observe.
In reply to alfadriver :
Okay, so just the way things work, and I'll feel the heat from time to time.
Again, thanks for the education.
Oh man, if y'all havent driven miatas with no carpet (and shorts on, mind you) and felt that tunnel burn... If you haven't driven a Miata with the shifter boot and console off, and felt that particular elbow burn from the nutserts that hold the console down, and the blast furnace that keeps you from resting your hand on the shifter.
I mean i guess a major part of miata appeal is that they dont constantly break, so maybe the fact that not all miata owners have felt these things just makes sense?
In reply to OldGray320i :
no problem. I also don't like the heat. Well, except when it was below 0 outside, then the extra heat was kind of nice.
I'll probably look into some of the mitigation ideas that others posted- like some heat tape or something like that. I think when I'm done refreshening mine, it will be more of a summer car, so dealing with the heat will be important, too.
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