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How hot should the transmission tunnel get while just driving normally (maybe with a few squirts here and there ) ?
After driving for a little while the transmission tunnel gets quite hot to touch on the inside of the car, is this normal?
What do you think could be causing this?

mine's very hot too touch as well. i guess it's just the heat coming off the exhaust , and gearbox.

Please give us some more details on your particular MX-5?

Based on what you have told us it sounds like one or both of rubber boots around the gear stick have broken. This is fairly common, especially in older cars.

Here is a link to the miata.net garage with replacement instructions;

http://www.miata.net/garage/shiftboot.html

Here is upper boot, it seals the gear shift hole in the car body and keep the heat and dust/dirt out.



Here is the lower boot, it keeps the dust/dirt out of the gearbox turret and if you have a NA (1989-1997) model, it also keeps the turret oil in.



J

Juffa wrote:Please give us some more details on your particular MX-5?

Ah, crap sorry man. My original draft had some info but must have been lost when when my browser decided to log me out.

I've got a 1989 NA that's pretty much stock. The gear stick itself isn't hot at all, just around the lower half of the centre console in the foot well up to the gear stick surround and a bit towards the ash tray area.

I'll pull the centre console out this afternoon and see what condition the gear boots are in.

xatz wrote:The gear stick itself isn't hot at all, just around the lower half of the centre console in the foot well up to the gear stick surround and a bit towards the ash tray area.

I'll pull the centre console out this afternoon and see what condition the gear boots are in.

A broken upper boot will do that.

J

my upper (and lower) boot is only a few months old and my tunnel still gets very hot.

Juffa wrote:A broken upper boot will do that.

How about a nearly non-existent upper boot

Fatty wrote:my upper (and lower) boot is only a few months old and my tunnel still gets very hot.

That's good to know if new ones don't solve it for me. Where did you get your boots from?

philz wrote:http://www.mx5plus.com.au

Thanks Philz That's another mx5something.com.au to add to the list

And thanks Juffa and Fatty for your help. When I get new boots I'll let you know if the heat goes down.

Those seals will stop the air coming up into the cabin but the tunnel itself will still get quite hot. Especially on the freeway.... I had no carpet and the centre console removed once and the metal itself gets baking hot.

try better insulation also. just get the ladder, go up to the man hole in ur house, and get some from there. jks.

Wow! They're well and truely gone! You'll be very pleased with the difference the new boots will make, I was very much so.

They were the first things I checked and replaced, made a huge difference to heat and noise, I used the how-to guides referred to above and also added the remnants of an old foam and fur push bike seat cover immediately under the leather? boot that the lever pokes through.

Quick and easy stuff like this I enjoy and it puts a bit of you into the car.

Wouldn't Mazda spares be the cheapest place to get em?

bruce wrote:Wouldn't Mazda spares be the cheapest place to get em?

noooooooooooooooo.

i think i got mine from mx5parts.co.uk