Hot seat - operator and navigator

kmessinger

Active member
Well, not actually the seat but the seat base. I noticed on the latest excursion that my seat base got almost too hot to touch down towards the bottom on the inside. Same with the metal arm where the emergency brake attaches. My DW's seat was the same but not as hot.

The heat radiation was noticeable while driving - at first I thought the heater was on - even with the a/c on high.

Anyone else notice this?

Thanks,
Keith
 

Mrdi

Active member
I noticed the other day the rubber flooring seemed to be bulging between the seats, but didn't pay attention to heat, though I will.
How long had you been running?
Check the heat shields for looseness; must get very hot under there if there are heat shields even around the gas tank on the opposite side of the muffler.
 
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kmessinger

Active member
Probably 4-6 hours with short stops for fuel with speeds in the 70-75mph range. I will check it today on a short run to San Jose.

I am pretty sure it is normal but I carry spare parts including oil and rubber products under the navigator's seat and don't want anything to melt.

Regards,

Keith
 

220629

Well-known member
I can't speak for an NCV3, but on my T1N I notice heat on the back of my foot while driving in summer. I thought it was from the ECM, but I was reminded that it is mounted under the hood. On the NAFTA T1N I believe the TCM transmission control module and some other controls are under the driver seat.

Does the NCV3 have modules mounted under the seats? They can put out a bit of heat even with the vented covers helping them to cool. Have fun. vic
 

piper1

Resident Oil Nerd.
I'm kind of amazed at how much heat comes up through the floor some days (and into the seat). The floor mats look like they have excellent insulation on them and I don't see any signs of excessive heat underneath. Maybe I need to get out the thermometer and actually measure it?
 

kmessinger

Active member
I have been unable to duplicate this with local around the bay driving. I am going to blame it on high ambient temps (triple digit) and long driving periods (4-7 hours) with only quick stops for more fuel.

Guess I will have to wait until next summer to check it again.

Regards,

Keith
 

Mrdi

Active member
How about a trip to Sportsmobile in mid-September?
That should do it.
A few days in Yosemite to close out the season would then be in order.
 

kmessinger

Active member
How about a trip to Sportsmobile in mid-September?
That should do it.
A few days in Yosemite to close out the season would then be in order.
Actually we are trying to get to the north rim of the Grand Canyon with some SMBer's in September.

And we never close the season :bounce:

No, it is the ambient temp that effects it most I think and hopefully those triple digit days are over with until next summer.

Regards,

Keith
 

72chevy4x4

Well-known member
I'll throw in my two cents....from my experience the engine mounted fan only comes on at higher highway speeds on hot days. I believe, with no supporting evidence, that the air flow characteristics of the van creates a bubble at the front of the van at higher speeds (>68mph) which does not allow sufficent air flow across the radiator assembly (and into the engine bay and DOWN through the back of the engine/tranny assembly). Since the airflow is not carrying away the heat as much, it is able to radiate and heat soak the floor.


I'm going to submit an answer for why some vans have to condensor fans and some have one...the rigs destined to be driven on the highway (delivery, rv's, etc) were given the second electric cooling fan. So, it may have nothing to do with where the van was shipped to-rather its intended purpose. Now how would they decode this using the build sheet?
 

Mrdi

Active member
72,

I'd like to hear this postulation.
I have an 08 144 Cargo 2500 and 2 fans.
Need any other details, let me know.

Mrdi
 

KMDE

Animal Transportation
We got back from doing our first almost 5000 mile trip.
Through the southwest to central California, from Missouri.

The heat coming from the driver seat base in incredible to say the least.
Unbearable to say a little more.

I only noticed the seat whenever I tried to roll down the window for some fresh air; as I almost always would prefer window to ac (within reason).

Now it was only a couple weeks ago so temps were high, even so I think in the winter I will be ok not running heat and just rolling down my window.

Trip speed stuck between 75-82 with quick stops. 7 day trip with a day of rest.

To me this is a huge flaw, and something no one should be stuck with in a new vehicle.
It is actually the reason I joined this forum, but got amused with all the crazy sprinter pics and never posted about it.

Thank you for reminding me what I have in store this coming week.

I have the feeling this is something the dealer would just roll their eyes at..
 

Mrdi

Active member
Insulation around the base?, over the foam rubber covering the underneath seat opening?
That would also mean additional heat to the wiring under the seat.
 

kmessinger

Active member
KMDE, what were the ambient temperatures?

BTW, my Sprinter started life as a cargo model and only has one fan. I can't find anything on the build sheet to indicate fans.

Regards,

Keith
 

Krenovian

Member
Keith and piper1,

Under the driver's seat in my 2008 NCV3 144wb van there is a rubber sleeve through which a wiring loom passes from the outside to the fuse panel and other electrical boxes located in the space enclosed by the seat base. Recently I ran the factory wiring harness for trailer lights up through this sleeve to make the connection to the battery. To do this I had to cut a zip tie which wraps the sleeve about the wires. Replacing this zip tie was on my mental list of things to get done before leaving on a two week road trip through Nevada and Oregon. I forgot. Second day out, on a hot afternoon, outside of Battle Mountain, Nevada I noticed that the air conditioning wasn't doing a great job of keeping the interior cool. I also felt heat around my feet. I reached down and touched the seat base and found that it was alarmingly hot. That's when I remebered that I hadn't replaced the zip tie on the sleeve. I pulled off of I-80 in Battle Mountain and wrapped a small bungie cord about the sleeve to seal up the opening. It made a huge difference. The seat base went from being hot to barely warm. I didn't check the paasenger side seat base, but I can see how it could heat up as well as the air coming up the sleeve could be channeled over to that side through the space beneath the floor that communicates between the seat bases.

You might check to see if this sleeve is wrapped tight enough about the wires to prevent air flow into the seat base. Maybe consider replacing the zip tie or adding a second below the one that is already there. What impressed me was how much heat was coming up into the van through a relatively small opening between the wires and the sleeve. I had been driving around the Salt Lake and Park City area without the zip tie on for a week or so. It wasn't until I was driving at highway speeds for an extended period on a warm day that I noticed the problem. If you haven't already seen this sleeve, it is ahead of the fuel tank on the driver's side. It is easily visible by crawlng under the van.

Curt
 

Johan Turbo

New member
Is your Sprinter equiped with noise reduction pannels under the engine and gearbox?
I knew a 416CDI with those pannels with te same problem. Simply removing those solved it.
All the heat from the radiator is forced under the cabin floor. Heat wants to move upwards.
The side pannels being lower than the cabin and cargo floor prevents the hot air from moving there. It is litteraly stuck there.
Without the noise pannels the hot air can partially escape by the front wheel arches.
 

Krenovian

Member
I was cleaning out my van last night after our trip, looking for a place to store road maps we had acumulated. I removed the access panel on the passenger's seat base and saw an opening through the floor about the size of a quarter. There were two other openings of a similar size which had rubber seals in them. I guess this one got missed at the factory. Hot air could also enter here so I'll be plugging it up.

Curt
 

me2tryke

New member
I am not sure if this post/issue is still open for comments etc.. I have a 2008 Dodge Sprinter,(Sprinter has 21,000 miles on it), Cargo version. Last week on a 2.5 hour night time trip home- windows open, outside temps were in the 90's- I was driving 75 mph for 1.5 hours straight when it started to feel, (or I just then noticed), like the heater was on. I felt around trying to locate the source of the heat and realized the seat bases were super hot. I pulled over and looked underneath and didn't see any glaring issues that could be causing the heat so I continued home. I drove around 60 mph the rest of the way- between that and going over a 1000 foot pass which then put me on the ocean side of the mountain where the ambient temp dropped into the low 70's the seat bases started to cool off. Yesterday I drove 20 miles- outside temp was 103 and the seat bases got hot again. I am not sure if this has always happened or it is something new. The Diesel Particulate Filer is right under the passenger seat and it gets hot as heck and the Transmission and Catalytic Converter are a little forward but might be part of the issue as well. All heat shields are in place and look to be in excellent shape. The next day I started vehicle and felt for exhaust leaks until I could no longer take the heat and I did not feel any leaks. I called the dealer and they said they have never heard of such a problem. Did anyone ever come up with an answer as to why this is happening? Is it normal? Thank you, Jim
 

kmessinger

Active member
Did you see what Krenovian said above? That's all I can think of. The seats should not get hot.
21,000 miles? Did this only get driven on Sundays? My 2008 has 110,000 miles.
 

me2tryke

New member
Thank you for the quick response. Yes, I read all the related posts have confirmed that the wire bundle sleeve is tightly secured and there are no other open orifices leading up from the undercarriage. What seems to be happening with my vehicle is the Catalytic Converter, Diesel Particulate filter and exhaust tubing are heating up to the point that the little metal heat shields eventually get just as hot as the exhaust system parts which in turn heats the metal floor/deck which is directly connected to the seat bases. I have what looks like spray foam type of insulation, (heat/noise?) on the undercarriage of the van except where these metal heat shields are installed- in these areas the underside decking is just a plain painted surface. It seems like a design problem in that the heat shields do their job up to a certain point and then become overwhelmed and ineffective once ambient, road, and running temperatures reach certain temperatures. I thought heat coming from the transmission could be adding to this over-whelming heat problem and thought I should check the fluid level. But at this point I have no way to check the fluid level as there is no dipstick- per design from what I can tell from my online searches- I do not even have a cap on the dipstick portal just an open hole. I will have to take it into the dealer or buy a dipstick online. Do you have a cap on your transmission dipstick hole?

I am not a mechanic but since there are no "visible" holes for heat to get into the cab/seat areas I am "assuming" this heat is being transferred from metal to metal. I will try and contact Mercedes and see if they have any ideas but I don't expect them to admit it is a problem of theirs.

I mostly drive my Sprinter when I fly my little TrikeBuggy ultralight- it all fits in the van with room to spare. I have a 99 Dodge Ram Van as my daily driver.

Thanks for the input,
Jim
 

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