Excessive Heat in Right Rear Passenger side

jperret · 11-03-2010, 06:05 PM

I have a problem my mechanic has not been able to solve.
I have a '91 C4 Cab - left hand drive
When the car is warm (Temp gauge in the middle) if I touch the passenger side support struts for the convertible top they are hot (cannot hold my hand on them for more than 10 seconds). I also note that the passenger side door sill is very warm.
I know the oil sump is located right below where the top's struts fold down.
The oil thermostat seems to work OK the car never get excessively hot.
I had a '90 C2 Cab and did not have this problem.

Any ideas what could be causing this?

jperret · 11-06-2010, 08:41 PM

FYI - I got an answer from PCA's Chris Powell that makes good sense:
Answer:

I have not experienced this problem, so we'll all learn something. I looked at the PET to see if there was anything to insulate the tank from the body, but did not see anything.

Do you know the history of the car?

I would guess that if there was body damage on the right rear, the tank may have been pushed over closer to the body (although there isn't much room to begin with). If the tank is directly touching the body, a lot more heat will be transferred, and I'm guessing that's what is happening.

I know this is a lot of work to fix, so pull the tank when you need to replace some of those oil hoses that eventually leak. Once the tank is out, I believe you will see the answer.