I have a 1988 Camaro with a 5 speed manual transmission and a V6 (I know next to nothing about mechanics, so I apologize if I am not providing enough information about the car; but if I left out anything, ask and I will find the answer).

My wife and I are having a problem where there seems to be a lot of heat coming from the center console. We've taken it to several shops in the area and each one gave us a completely different response as to what the problem was. One told us it was the heater core, and we had it replaced (the heater core was definitely bad, so no problems with that) but that didn't have any effect on how hot the center console was getting. Another told us that there is a foam bad beneath the console that is supposed to shield the inside of the car from the heat and that it was probably left out by a previous mechanic, he didn't know where to get one of these pads and said that if we found one he would put it in. A third said that the previous guy didn't know what he was talking about, there was no pad beneath the center console and that all Camaros of that year do that.

Beings I can't seem to get any two shops to agree on what the problem could be, I felt it was probably worthwhile to check with people who truly love Camaros and could probably shed some light. I'm not asking for a definitive "this is the problem", I know that you can't really provide that; but if someone could even provide a list of things it could be, that would be great as it would give me a place to start.

 

the heat comes from the clutch boot. There is a hole in your houseing there for the shifter to come through the floor. While the boot does a good job of keeping MOST of the heat and cold out, it does tend to get in still. Not a lot you can do, sept lay some insulation around it. Is it an extreme heat? or just kinda, hot.

 

I wouldn't really label it as extreme, but then again I'm not really sure what would constitute as extreme for that type of situation. It's hot enough that it becomes uncomfortable to lay your hand on the plastic console behind the shifter, but not so hot that you're afraid you will get burnt (you definitely can't drive the car in Florida at all without the windows being down or the A/C on without engaging in a strip show to stay cool). The heat seems to get bad in two places; the plastic console behind the shifter and behind the radio (The radio is toast now, I assume from the heat). The shifter itself stays relatively cool in comparison.

 

I'm going to take a couple of wild guesses at this but I'm curious if you're the original owner and when did you first notice the problem? I have the same year and trans as you and I've noticedon minethere is an exhaust hanger that connects rightat the end of the trans to the exhaust pipe. The hanger should have rubber insulators between the mounting points which space the exhaust pipe about 3" from the trans and body. I'm wondering if someone did some recent exhaust work and modified your hanger were it is to close to your tunnel? The otherquess is that the cat converter is in the same area just in front of the hanger and possibly your body heat shields aren't in place or that something is causing your cat converter to runextra hot?

 

No, I'm not the original owner. This car has had a lot of...interesting...work done to it in regards to upkeep. Some of it I knew before purchase, much of it I didn't (they didn't turn up during the initial pre-sale inspection either).

Exhaust hanger you described sounds like a possibility (I'll try to check that when it's daylight, if I can't I'll have a shopcheck). As for your other suggestion, I'lltake it to a shop to have those checked. I wouldn't know what I was looking for, and I haven't the slightest idea of how hot is too hot.

I really appreciate the help.

 

is it hot all the time, or only when the interior lights are on? my shifter area gets pretty warm, prolly about 100* or so just from the bulb on the shifter selection (auto). but i dont think you would have any lights in there? see if you can get a reading with a thermometer