Steve in New Hampshire

I noticed something curious of late. When I drive to work in the morning (long highway trip) my ashtray stays cool to the touch. But on the last few trips home by time I get close to home I could cook eggs in the ashtray!! Catalytic convertor? Torque Tube? What could be causing this?

Steve

Crackhead944S

Mine's the same way. In going through the archives, I read that it can be an indication of a dead catalytic converter. Not that we would know living in NH with no emissions testing.

Tony K

I get it to, especially when I had my 83. Have noticed it less-frequently with the 85.5, and not as hot.

Funny thing is that sometimes I would take a long trip with the 83 and it would not get hot at all, often in the same conditions in which it would get very hot. Other times, it appears to get hot more easily in hot weather and not during cold weather. I haven't paid much attention to it overall; never really worried. I stick gas pump receipts in the ash tray, and they all turn black!

My first guess is something with the catalytic convertor. The heat shielding on my car appears to be intact, so I don't think that has to do with it.

If anyone thinks it is the torque tube, let me know asap!!! I'm about to do a clutch! (but I'm leaning to cat convertor. Nothing else is going to spread that much heat.

Cheers,

Dave951M

Most likely it's the catalytic as the bearings in the torque tube rarely seize. There is a foam piece that insulates the console area from the converter. In some cases, that can be deteriorated to the point of allowing quite a bit of heat to get through.

theedge

My whole center console area can get hot... The pocket under the radio, ashtray I think, and the tape tray thing. Takes a while to get hot though. Altho, given a while, my shifter **** gets warm to the touch, and not from my hand.

Dead kitty?

Mighty Shilling

My shift boot has reached 120 degrees F while driving for long distances...

I love laser thermometers..

KuHL 951

Cover the tunnel area with Polyken 'Peel N' Stick' foil backed butyl rubber tape (35mil) sold for commercial roof repair. The Home Depot clone tape is way too thin to work well.The foil reflects most of the radiant heat away from the tunnel area and also seriously deadens road noise. I've used this stuff for years in place of the higher priced DynaMat type products. Be sure you know where the piece of tape is going before you pull the release liner, this stuff bonds tenaciously. Being butyl rubber it doesn't smell like tar on a hot day like some other products.

Zero10

^^^
2Tight, do you know how that stuff compares in sound-deadening ability to Dynamat, or Brown Bread?

I noticed my shift boot gets very very hot on long road trips, and there are times I can't even hold the shift **** it gets so hot.
I don't have a catalytic converter (although I have 3 short-haired cats at home I could use....).

Robert D

Hmmm, you know...I had the console area getting hot when I had an exhaust leak. I'd check the joint between the catalytic and the muffler....also right in front of the cat it usually rusts through (I think due to how the A/C drain drips on the pipe). It's most likely between the cat and muffler....you should be able to feel heat on the sides of the hump between the footwells of the rear seat. As for the heat shielding...mine doesn't heat the console anymore with a gutted cat and no heat shield....but the gutted cat might be why.
Hope you guys figure it out.

The_Phantom

Does your ashtray have a light in it like mine does? If so, the light may be staying on and warming the ashtray. It happened to me. Try and take the bulb out if this is the case.

KuHL 951

Zero
I've done 4 Miata cockpits with the stuff for club members...personally I think the stuff is amazing. Dynamat and Brown Bread have no heat reflective properties at all and smell pretty bad IMHO. I've never had any complaints about the stuff. Be sure and get the 35mil Polyken butyl rubber version, there are other thinner foil backed products out there. I usually have to buy it at a commercial roofing supply. McMaster-Carr also has some foil lined elastomerics sheeting on their website. The tape comes in 2",4", 6", 12" wide rolls. Most sheet products are nowhere near as conformable to irregular shapes like the tape. One warning...allow cutouts for access to bolts, etc BEFORE you remove the release liner...consider it pretty much a permanent addition to your car. If it can quiet down a Miata it would do wonders on a Porsche coupe.

Do you have the foam rubber still in the shifter area and is the rubber boot under your leather boot in good shape? Either of these missing will really heat up the shifter area.

Zero10

I would bet all of the foam rubber is long gone. The interior has been removed a couple times by some very un-skilled people in this car's past. I think you're right about that contributing to the heat.

I had no idea Dynamat and Brown Bread actually smelled. I just presumed they didn't. That would be a rude surprise.

The reason I ask is, I am building some fiberglass boxes for 2 MTX 15's, and a big amp rack, needless to say, I am going to have a very loud system. My intent is to eliminate all possible road noise, and also try to keep my stereo noise from escaping. If this stuff is better than Dynamat/Brown Bread, and less smelly, I'm sold on it, provided it's not too much more expensive.

KuHL 951

Don't get me wrong, DynaMat is a good product, Brown Bread is so-so. For pure road sound attenutation purposes stick with the DynaMat($$$$) or elastomerics from McMaster-Carr($$), at least in the door area and near speakers. The Polyken($$) stuff is best for the areas where heat soak is a problem such as tunnel, foot wells, and floor. Don't get me wrong, the tape product will make a Yugo door sound like a Jag but it won't impress a purist. My 83 came with DynaMat on both doors, everytime I've pulled a door panel it starts to unstick at the corners, it's like it never really bonds well. That can't be the best thing for quieting a buzzy metal panel. Lay DynaMat or Brown Bread out in the sun for 5 minutes, give it a whiff and tell me you want to smell that everytime your car is closed up and hot. Maybe DynaMat has changed the formula since the earlier products, I'm not sure.

Here's an old thread from Miata.net and no I'm not Gay

I use http://www.mcmaster.com/. A superb company to do business with. Also, you can do a keyword search on this forum for mcmaster.

1) dampening: Polymeric mastic, part number 9709T19. Indistinguishable from the higher priced spread. Two or three layers everywhere. Self adhesive but need lots of heat to adhere really well. As mentioned earlier clean the surfaces well. Next time I mayl use the viscoelastic, part number 9709T26...more expensive, but lighter and has better DLF. McMaster also has a vibration damping compound part #9545T1 that looks like a good substitute for Cascade's V-Block for the outer door skins.

Work in the sun and a use heat gun. A roller and spoon also help. Gloves too. If it's bare metal cover it and cover it again. Maybe even again. Both sides. For the doors it's easy to pull the window regulator and glass to get inside. Don't cover the water drain holes inside the door cavity. I didn't take the carpet completely out under the dash...just worked under it...a pain. No asphalt smell past the first couple of weeks.

2) barrier: Vinyl sheeting loaded with lead-free barium metal powder, part # 54665T32. Use 1/8" neoprene sponge rubber to decouple the barrier from the body, part # 8647K71. Do the floor pan, parcel shelf and wall behind seats. I used a spray adhesive that I got at the upholstery shop to adhere the rubber to the vinyl barrier. The rubber backed vinyl sheet doesn't have to adhere to the body...use duct tape to keep it in place.

3) absorption: a) between the barrier and carpet, use the generic gray padding sold at upholstery shops. I used a reinforced type almost 1/2" thick. Hard to cut and made for pouffy carpets, use a thinner version b) fill all the voids in the tunnels between the trunk and pax compartment and in front of the gas tank...Flat Sound Absorbing Foam, part number 5692T49. 1" thick, adhesive back, skinned surface.

Total cost about $250 (doesn't include the trunk) but I have some left over. If you think that's expensive, price Dynamat or Cascade. I don't have all my receipts but I used about 4 or 5 sheets of the dampener, 6 or 7 linear feet of the barrier, 3 sheets of the neoprene and 1 or 2 linear feet of the acoustical foam.

Obviously you don't have to do all this, anything you do will help. I'm veryhappy with the result, but I don't know if I'd do it again. It's a royal pain and takes a long time not to mention the minor cuts and burns. It adds a lotof weight. The dampener isn't 100% reversible if put down right. Did I mention it's a royal pain to do?

theedge

Yes its still there. It takes a good amount of real driving to get the shifter warm, but itll get warm. And it gets warm all the way to the ****... I dunno if this is normal or maybe I have a dying cat...

Don 944 LA

Man that site http://www.mcmaster.com/ has TONS of good stuff !!!!

I found quite a few products that I have been looking for.

You can even get Leather there by the sheet..

It's more than worth a look !!!!!

Thanks again 2Tight