Hot transmission tunnel

[SteveCo]

Update - no issues with heat whatsoever after making that temp dial change - charging bay is cool to the touch, with no A/C required.

 

[Clearly Canadian]

Update - no issues with heat whatsoever after making that temp dial change - charging bay is cool to the touch, with no A/C required.

I’ve had some weird heat issues when the climate control is completely off, the rear temp at cold, and the phone plugged in but already at 100% charge. It’s like the connection is not smart enough to stop charging or something.

 

[Ozstung]

I'd just take the new one and be happy
The thing with cars is you will hear of problems with every brand regardless of how much it costs. Every car I researched had horror stories.
If you didn't buy a car because someone had a bad experience you wouldn't be able to buy any car!
I have had zero problems with my Stinger and love driving it.

Have you ever driven the car without the A/c on? From day one the transmission tunnel area is like a furnace the only solution is to run the A/C on continuously otherwise its undriveable. That being my only issue. Others have said make sure the rear vents are open, that makes no difference to mine.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Have you ever driven the car without the A/c on? From day one the transmission tunnel area is like a furnace the only solution is to run the A/C on continuously otherwise its undriveable. That being my only issue. Others have said make sure the rear vents are open, that makes no difference to mine.

This is a first mention of this for me. I have felt zero heat presence from the trans tunnel, summer or winter.

 

[Ozstung]

This is a first mention of this for me. I have felt zero heat presence from the trans tunnel, summer or winter.

Well Merlin it was one of my first posts and it got a lot of airplay. I was a bit nervous about whining about it again. Bottom line poorly insulated and that was from a Kia mechanic. But as others have pointed out in the general scheme of things it's not a big issue to just run the A/c . Apparently I've been told it's good to run the climate control A/c continuously and these new cars consume no greater fuel consumption with it on???

 

[Fboost]

Have you ever driven the car without the A/c on? From day one the transmission tunnel area is like a furnace the only solution is to run the A/C on continuously otherwise its undriveable. That being my only issue. Others have said make sure the rear vents are open, that makes no difference to mine.

I haven't really noticed excessive heat inside, I have noticed when I. Step out of the car there seems to be a reasonable amount of heat coming from underneath but nothing alarming to me, I have had cars that gave off a lot more heat. Maybe your tranny tunnel somehow missed getting insulated?

 

[Ozstung]

I haven't really noticed excessive heat inside, I have noticed when I. Step out of the car there seems to be a reasonable amount of heat coming from underneath but nothing alarming to me, I have had cars that gave off a lot more heat. Maybe your tranny tunnel somehow missed getting insulated?

Do you run the car ever without the climate control or Ac off? I cannot run it without the Ac off. Apparently told to me the Ac when on closes a flap or something that allows heat into the transmission tunnel. Peoples fixes were to make sure the cold button was dialed on in the back seat vents. That didn't work for me. Ac HAS to be on 24/7. Having the sunroof open negates the Ac so that's now a winter thing.

 

[Fboost]

Do you run the car ever without the climate control or Ac off? I cannot run it without the Ac off. Apparently told to me the Ac when on closes a flap or something that allows heat into the transmission tunnel. Peoples fixes were to make sure the cold button was dialed on in the back seat vents. That didn't work for me. Ac HAS to be on 24/7. Having the sunroof open negates the Ac so that's now a winter thing.

Yes I often run without Ac as I'm a shift worker and normally go to work around 2am
To be fare though the ac does turn on automatically when humidity reaches a certain point so the windows don't fog, but it usually takes around 20mins before I feel the ac come on, no excessive heat felt up to or after that point.

 

[SteveCo]

This is a first mention of this for me. I have felt zero heat presence from the trans tunnel, summer or winter.

I think the Aussies are at a bit of a disadvantage on this one, as I believe the heat passage to the rear seats runs on the right side of the transmission tunnel - just beside the driver's leg.

I only noticed the problem when my Google Maps/Android Auto froze on me while taking a nice country drive on a hot summer day, with the windows down and no A/C running. When I opened the sliding cover and recovered my phone from the wireless charging bay on the right side, I had to hold it by the edges because of the heat. The phone was displaying a message to the effect 'On vacation until I cool off' - the only time I've ever seen that.

A couple of days later I tried the same thing after rotating the back seat temp controls to full cold - they were previously set midway. That solved the problem for me, but unfortunately didn't work for @Ozstung.

 

[GRStinger]

I've never had this problem. Just one more advantage of not having to live and drive in that hot summery weather!

 

[SteveCo]

I've never had this problem. Just one more advantage of not having to live and drive in that hot weather summery weather!
View attachment 18790

Looks like somebody's been out enjoying their car in the white stuff - with the right shoes, she's a pleasure to drive in the wintertime, that's for sure ...

 

[ShannonC]

I've never had this problem. Just one more advantage of not having to live and drive in that hot summery weather!
View attachment 18790

Yesterday Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, set a world record for being the hottest capital on earth. Temperature reached 46.6°C (116°F).

 

[OliverNuther]

Yesterday Adelaide, the capital of South Australia, set a world record for being the hottest capital on earth. Temperature reached 46.6°C (116°F).

Rather ironic; the City of Churches being as hot as hell

 

[Doel]

Have you ever driven the car without the A/c on? From day one the transmission tunnel area is like a furnace the only solution is to run the A/C on continuously otherwise its undriveable. That being my only issue. Others have said make sure the rear vents are open, that makes no difference to mine.

I've definitely never experienced that and I'm the kind of person that runs without the AC whenever possible.

 

[Kazz]

And I keep checking from time to time. No extraordinary heat, even in the base of the cupholders. Thinking this is related to those models with the wireless chargers. Just a guess.

UPDATE: rear passengers turned the heat on and I'd not realized it. A few days later my iced drink in the cupholder was warm with no ice left. LOL Changed the rear temp control to cooler and all's well again. Who's had the console off? Can we insulate??

 

[eflyguy]

I have a thought on this..

Looking at pics from the wireless charge pad swap, the "tunnel" in question doesn't appear to have much room for any kind of insulation around it.

I don't have this problem as I don't carry passengers, but I'm interested in a solution for those that do. Would it be possible to craft and install some kind of insulation on the *inside* of the tunnel, from the back where the vents are?

You'd only need to get as far forwards as the shifter/cup holders.

Again, just throwing out ideas. Perhaps there's more room under there than I think..

 

[Kazz]

I have a thought on this..

Looking at pics from the wireless charge pad swap, the "tunnel" in question doesn't appear to have much room for any kind of insulation around it.

I don't have this problem as I don't carry passengers, but I'm interested in a solution for those that do. Would it be possible to craft and install some kind of insulation on the *inside* of the tunnel, from the back where the vents are?

You'd only need to get as far forwards as the shifter/cup holders.

Again, just throwing out ideas. Perhaps there's more room under there than I think..

There are tape-like insulation products that may work. And insulating the cup holders themselves makes sense.

Also, I'd want to get all the exposed pipe I could find since it would warm up the air under there.

 

[Ozstung]

Originally I took my car back for an inspection, the heat was acknowledged by Kia and logged. But unless there were more offending vehicles it was viewed as normal.

 

[Maddog2873]

Figured I'd throw my hat in on this, if only to help prove that it is still occurring. I have noticed this for a while now but have just sort of dealt with it as I have gone. Phone will get so hot that you can't touch it, even if it's not charging. Drinks will not be cold for long, and be careful what you put in the armrest storage. This is my first time reading this thread so I am going to try the trick of the rear vents and see if it makes a difference. Car stats below for logging purposes if useful:

2019 GT1 AWD
8500 miles
Excessive heat can usually be noticed after about 45 minutes of regular driving, either city or highway.
Phone heats up with wireless charging, usb charging, or just sitting in the compartment while the phone is off.
Chocolate in the armrest was thankfully in a wrapper and did not leak all over.... though the wife was sad she didn't get to eat it.

 

[Ozstung]

Figured I'd throw my hat in on this, if only to help prove that it is still occurring. I have noticed this for a while now but have just sort of dealt with it as I have gone. Phone will get so hot that you can't touch it, even if it's not charging. Drinks will not be cold for long, and be careful what you put in the armrest storage. This is my first time reading this thread so I am going to try the trick of the rear vents and see if it makes a difference. Car stats below for logging purposes if useful:

2019 GT1 AWD
8500 miles
Excessive heat can usually be noticed after about 45 minutes of regular driving, either city or highway.
Phone heats up with wireless charging, usb charging, or just sitting in the compartment while the phone is off.
Chocolate in the armrest was thankfully in a wrapper and did not leak all over.... though the wife was sad she didn't get to eat it.

Good luck, fix is to have the climate control on permantely apparently this closes off some vent that allows heat up the tunnel through the heater core pipe. My back vents were never on so the fix you mentioned didn't apply. If I forget the climate control/A.c. then if the outside temps get above 25c I soon now about it.