Scorched carpet on second row passenger-side floor board

[Backstrom19]

Hi folks! I was hoping to get some troubleshooting advice. I recently moved from CO to Salt Lake City, UT traveling 600 miles on the Interstate while pulling a 6 x 12' trailer with my 2004 LC (110 K miles). While unpacking the vehicle at destination, I noticed that some of the larger zip-lok totes we were using to store linens had melted to the WeatherTech floor liner covering the second row passenger-side floor board. There is an approximately 12 x 12' area of singed carpet under the WeatherTech floor mat. The WeatherTech floor mat itself did not melt.

The vehicle drove fine during the trip. We are driving the LC sparingly until we can take it for service and a few days ago the VSC TRAC, VSC OFF, and CEL came on during an engine start one morning and these lights spontaneously disappeared after about 25 miles of highway driving. My wife swears that the engine sounds labored now a bit different after the CO-UT trip. Other than perhaps a "labored" sound of the engine, the vehicle seems to drive normally.

Any thoughts before I take it in for evaluation?

Also, does anyone have a recommendation where to take the LC in for service in Salt Lake CIty? We live within the city limits.

Thank you very much.

 

[Dog]

Can't help with your problem or a recommendation on a shop, sorry. But if it were me, I would stop driving it and put it on a flatbed to the shop you find. Sounds like a bonfire waiting to happen.

 

[jcrandall]

Can't help with your problem or a recommendation on a shop, sorry. But if it were me, I would stop driving it and put it on a flatbed to the shop you find. Sounds like a bonfire waiting to happen.

Second this. Although I would take a look at the amp under the passenger seat, and pull some radio fuses. I don't know what would go wrong enough to cause that but it is concerning to say the least.
Time to invest in a fire extinguisher?

 

[Bomar]

Is the CAT on that side?

 

[crimsonaudio]

There's a cat under each side, right about where the passenger floorboard is - bank 1 is DS, bank 2 is PS. They can generate a lot of heat, I'd look there first.

 

[Backstrom19]

Thanks for all the responses so far. I forgot to mention that the air conditioner no longer blows cold air. Coincidence?

I will be taking the vehicle in for service at a Larry H. Miller dealership this afternoon.

 

[TXLX100]

It sounds like a clogged cat converter, but seems like you'd have some misfiring or codes if it were that bad. Good luck getting it fixed.

 

[nnnnnate]

A lot of the local cruiser heads take their rigs to Will C. who is a Toyota master cert tech. I think he does the side work out of his house, I haven't had him work on any of my stuff but I have only just bought my 100. I plan to get ahold of him though about my 90k service.

Check out the local club (Wasatch Cruisers) when you get a chance. Great group of guys with tons of info and experience.

 

[pavieSD]

Check your catalytic shields. Maybe one of them fell off? Easy enough to crawl under and take a look. Might be as simple as ordering a new one. I'd do that before I took it in to the dealer

 

[Sandroad]

If it's the second row seats, the problem is the muffler, not the cats. The muffler is directly under the second row seat floor and if the heat shield rusted off, the floor will be very hot. And if you were towing, the muffler probably got the floorboards hot enough to scorch the carpet. For normal driving around town and to get it to a service place, I think you'll be fine, but get the heat shields replaced if that's the problem. Shortly after my muffler heat shields rusted off, the muffler itself rusted out, so I had to do all new. I don't know what caused the lights or the "labored" engine sound, but a bad cat usually just trips the CEL with an 02 sensor code, not all the lights. And check the gas cap.

 

[marshotel]

Sounds like your exhaust is clogged somewhere, either the cats or the muffler. Its probably okay to drive for a couple miles because it will take the exhaust a while to heat up.... it could heat up a lot over a 600 mile trip, and a clogged cat would not necessarily trigger any lights or warnings.

It is certainly worth some effort to resolve the issue though. I once had a 1990 montero burn to the ground due to a clogged catalytic converter, which created backpressure and engine misfiring, and it just kept dumping more and unburned fuel onto the catalytic converter until the engine stalled and the truck caught on fire. Happened about 4 hours into a long trip, luckily we had time to get out and run away from the truck before the fire hit the fuel tank. I have not heard of any 2006 LCs catching on fire in this way. But do be careful and resolve the problem before taking any more long trips !!

 

[SmoothLC]

Or try Divinity - they specialize in Toyota and do good work at good prices.

 

[PDPerry]

Same thing happened to mine after a long period of idling on a hot day. Heat shields were gone and the muffler heat got fairly intense.

Never did anything and the vehicle runs fine. Don't sit at idle for long anymore tho!