Seats belts and console very hot...cats gone? (1 Viewer)

[cool breeze]

Noticed on a long drive today that the front seat belt mounts were very hot. Lots of heat emanating from the area.
Checked the temps with a gun when home.
cats were anywhere from 500-700 degrees when trying to gun the actual cat, not heat sheild.
IIRC before cats was around 350

truck is 2001 with 210k miles. very well maintained and no codes.
Thinking ill gut the cats until i can get on a DT deal. Whats the trick for these to not throw a code, spark plug non-fouler trick work on the downstream o2's?

 

[suprarx7nut]

I wouldn't guess failing cats. It's normal for that area to get hot on long drives.

If power is a concern, have a hi flow cat made up. Pretty cheap and virtually non existent when it comes to restriction, but keeps the exhaust from reeking. I have one on my Supra in my non-test system and love it. Way better than just a test pipe or gutted cat because it smells normal, but bumps power pretty good over a normal cat.

 

[cool breeze]

Arent the temps supposed to be higher exiting the cats?
Did little more temp checking yesterday only after a quick drive and the inlets are 100-150 degrees higher than exiting.

Think im going to have my muffler guy start with replacing the stock muffler with something like a high flow y-pipe or a magnaflow. Id love to not have to mess with the cats, just not sure if they are bad yet. May have him replace those with some magnaflows also.
Whats the factory pipe size and what are the biggest restrictions in these systems?

 

[Skidoo]

The insulation under the truck can come loose and heat will get around it.
Also if you are running aftermarket skidplates that can raise temperatures.
If you are running heaters and floor mats have blocked the floor vents on back of center console things will get hot around center console.

 

[cool breeze]

Adding this for future info even though it strongly affects my ego.
So the Rear fan button only turns on the rear climate control. The rear was set to high heat i guess at one point in the winter and was blasting away. Silly design if you ask me but at least it was a free fix.

 

[AlpineAccess]

500 to 700 seems too hot for the cats. Have you spoken with an exhaust shop?

The irony of your screen name in relation to this issue though.

 

[DFXR]

Adding this for future info even though it strongly affects my ego.
So the Rear fan button only turns on the rear climate control. The rear was set to high heat i guess at one point in the winter and was blasting away. Silly design if you ask me but at least it was a free fix.

Did the exact same thing years ago (but managed to figure it out right before posting here).

Think of it as performing a public service...

 

[suprarx7nut]

Adding this for future info even though it strongly affects my ego.
So the Rear fan button only turns on the rear climate control. The rear was set to high heat i guess at one point in the winter and was blasting away. Silly design if you ask me but at least it was a free fix.

Haha, that happened to me too! A few years back I thought something was wrong with the drivetrain because the center console area was burning hot and smelled like burnt plastic. I finally figured out the rear heat was on and there was stuff blocking the vents. The stuff included some plastic that apparently got hot enough to start outgassing.

Since then I've kept the rear HVAC controls set to full cold all the time.

I suspect a lot of 100 owners have experienced this at some point.

 

[cool breeze]

Im just glad it was an easy fix but man did i feel dumb lol.
But in the mean time i added more insulation to the shifter area and redid my amp so win win!

 

[ClassyJalopy]

The insulation under the center console leaves a lot to be desired IMO. Here is frigid white north, the whole area is freezing cold until the rear heater started blowing hot - even then it takes a few minutes.
In summer time, that area gets hot - up to the point where it can spoil your drink. Especially worse when you aren't moving at any appreciable speed (like slow crawling or idling).
I have been thinking about pulling the center console off and adding some additional padding down there to see if that helps.

 

[merbesfield]

My 2005 100 center console is also very hot. Makes the bottoms of our drinks really hot and melts ice super fast. I had another 100 and several LX’s but don’t remember this.

 

[merbesfield]

PS How hard is it to get console out to add insulation?

 

[ClassyJalopy]

my center console is warm but not hot. The front passenger floor on the other hand is unbearable.

Pulling the center console is easy. Unscrew the transfer case knob and pull up the gear shifter indicater. Then the whole center price pulls straight up and out including the cup holders.

The armrest and center storage area is held in by 3 screws on each side and 4 bolts at the very bottom inside the storage cubby.

 

[wsudu]

On long drives this happens to us too, usually when the kids' stuff (backpacks, blankets, etc....) gets crammed back there around the back of center console. That area get very hot and I thought I had something to do with restricting airflow or something hvac getting blocked or when the rear AC air is on, I never thought about temps coming up from the cats.

 

[Ninja Cruiser100]

Check the rear heat setting.

 

[merbesfield]

[/QUOTE]
Check the rear heat setting.
[/QUOTE]
Def not this. So I guess I will figure out how to pull center console and add some Insullation.

 

[ClassyJalopy]

I am chasing my tail on this. The cats are right under front seats, the foot well area is affected too in my truck.
I have added insulation under the cup holder and it did help some. I will try to get some pics

 

[merbesfield]

This truck is new to me, but I have had numerous 100’s over the years. I do t remember ever having hot cups etc. I also feel a good amount of heat from the sides of the transmission tunnel so wondering if trans is running hot or something. So far only issue I have noticed is the typical driveline clunk at start, other than that drives perfectly.

 

[chukstel]

Just sa

500 to 700 seems too hot for the cats. Have you spoken with an exhaust shop?

The irony of your screen name in relation to this issue though.

I got this same issue when the cats are glowing red and nearly got the truck burnt as those mats underneath near the cats cut fire and I was very lucky to have detected the fire on time and saved the truch from burning.

The cats are clogged and no air passage so I have to cut remove them from the exhaust system for now.

 

[chukstel]

Just sa

I got this same issue when the cats are glowing red and nearly got the truck burnt as those mats underneath near the cats cut fire and I was very lucky to have detected the fire on time and saved the truch from burning.

The cats are clogged and no air passage so I have to cut remove them from the exhaust system for now.