Trans hump heat mediation

The heat from my trans hump has been an annoyance for years. Early on I flooded the carpets a few times. When I took them out to clean I cut them so they are easily removable in sections. In not much time I was tired of taking them out before wheeling trips and they have been left out for years. With the Husky mats I don't mind the look of them out.

As many of you know without the carpet the trans hump heat can get extreme. Over the years we have had a backpack, and a cell phone melt against the trans hump during a few all day runs. One time a female friend wearing sandals burnt her foot on it and cried.

This last trip out I decided to put in the front pieces to cover the trans hump up front where it is the worst. It worked great but I did end up getting those carpets wet again. Also underneath the front passenger seat (no carpet there) we had a bottle of lotion melt and make a mess.

After returning home from this latest trip I took some temp measurements for reference. Btw I have a trans cooler and upgraded cooling system that does a good job of keeping my engine and trans in good operating temps. I do not think the heat is abnormal just annoying. I do have the original exhaust (2001) but the numbers I got didn't make me think the exhaust is abnormally hot either.

Here's what I came up with , Highest exhaust component temp 350, Inside floor/trans hump 150-170. The trans temp gauge was reading at 160. If the trans temp is 160 It would make sense that over a long drive that trans hump being so close would equalize in temps. So I don't think anything is wrong.

Now to the Solution I was looking at using either Lizard Skin http://www.lizardskin.com/car-ceramic-insulation.html Or Metal Shield http://www.metalshield.com/buyrustproofing.html
They seem to be pretty similar with the "lizard skin costing marginally more. Between the two I am leaning toward the Lizard skin.

I would pull the front seats and rear seat bottom to do the interior floors and trans hump. I need to crawl under and take a look at what I could actually get at but I want to clean and spray what I can reach from the bottom without pulling the trans. I have seen others reporting about 30 degrees difference. For a little extra I may use DEI floor and tunnel shield 2 on the underside of the trans hump.

Any opinions or other recommendations you guys have would be appreciated!

Subscribing

I wish I had a solution, but I can tell you what I've done and what I think. Hopefully this is useful.

98 XJ/AX15/241OR, no carpet.

Floor temps hit 160 in the summer. I lined the interior tunnel with a heavy layer of Thermo-Tec Cool-It adhesive backed heat barrier. Although it delays the heat from reaching the interior, everything eventually still cooks inside. Just my opinion, but I wouldn't waste my time lining the interior floor again, I would do the underside of the floor to reflect as much as possible before heating the floor. That is my next step.

I've heard folks use the ez bake air pans on the underside to reflect the heat.

Yea I have heard the Cookie sheets work pretty well. It seems like nothing works as well as one would like all by itself though. I will probably do a combination of these things and check temps each step of the way. I am thinking reflection from underneath will have the most Impact.

I still have a cage to design and build before I get to this though. I think I want all of the welding done first. That's what I like about the forum format, this information will be easy to find for me and for others. Hopefully we get some more input from others. If not I will report back when I get to the next stage of my build and tackle this!

Subscribed. I actually have the interior of my '99 stripped/cleaned/patched up & am getting ready to LizardSkin/Monstaliner in the next few days. I'm going to use a multi-layered insulation under the console but not sure about the sides of the hump yet. I've been pondering the cookie sheet idea for a few months now. I think we need to stop the heat prior to hitting the tranny hump.

Pics of the crying "female friend"? :looney:

If I ever get around to upgrading my exhaust, the new downpipe will be ceramic coated since that's where I believe the head it coming from anyway. Cat could be clogged too.
You could fix your water leaks so you can put the carpet back in too.

Look under a ZJ in a junk yard. The have plenty of heat shields that can be cannibalized. I'm sure there are plenty of other vehicles that have shields that could be made to work.

dan1977p said:

If I ever get around to upgrading my exhaust, the new downpipe will be ceramic coated since that's where I believe the head it coming from anyway. Cat could be clogged too.
You could fix your water leaks so you can put the carpet back in too.

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I was wondering about the cat but so many people report basically the same temps I figure it's normal. redoing the exhaust is on the " someday list" i'll have to look into ceramic coated setups.

The water comes in at the bottom of the doors when I do water crossings. I don't look to do them but they end up in my way sometimes . Maybe I could tighten the fitment and get a better seal. I like the Idea of not having to worry about it and just pulling the floor drain plugs if I get water in. I'll use just the front carpets if I need them before I get this cured, it works good really for now.

When the welding is done I have a buddy that wants to throw down on the Lizard skin to do his. 1/2 gal is plenty for what I'm thinking. I will likely do that from underneath and use shields underneath later.

Bent said:

Look under a ZJ in a junk yard. The have plenty of heat shields that can be cannibalized. I'm sure there are plenty of other vehicles that have shields that could be made to work.

Click to expand...

I like this idea for the short term, I am going to the junkyard on Mon to look for some random parts. I'll Take some heat measurements after.

Exhaust leak was the source of my major heat problems. O2 read lean from the air getting sucked in, and made the mixture really rich, which resulted in post-combustion burnoff in the exhaust. Floor was too hot to touch sometimes. With the exhaust leak mostly repaired its warm but not hot

A while ago I grabbed a bunch of ZJ heat shielding from a local yard but haven't ever installed it. I'm afraid that mud will get trapped between it and the body and rust the floorpan. Lizard skin or something similar might work, dunno.

Drainage is the answer to your moisture problem. I'm planning to install vinyl flooring with some quick-release drain plugs so its easy to empty out, then I can keep the flooring installed year round.