My 2004 Roadtrek gets very hot on the floor right behind front seats where floor drops down. I took it to repair shop anout a year ago and they said heat shield was missing. Had a new one put on but it still gets hot. I have had the exhaust checked and it was fine. Yesterday' I drove it for only about 50 miles and the floor got very hot to the touch. I'm leaving next week for Moab and I'm concerned about safety. Any suggestions on what could be causing this. Thank you Nancy
2004 Roadtrek floor gets hot
- Thread starter Nancyj345
- Start date
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Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
Seems odd it gets that hot with the shield in place and I wonder if you have an exhaust leak at that point? You could add insulation between the shield and the floor, but that might be covering up the real problem.
Consider contacting Roadtrek to ask about heat problems - maybe it was a design shortcoming they already know about it. They have online chat, email and phone support.
http://www.roadtrek.com/support-contact#section-content-links
Consider contacting Roadtrek to ask about heat problems - maybe it was a design shortcoming they already know about it. They have online chat, email and phone support.
http://www.roadtrek.com/support-contact#section-content-links
Alfa38User
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 4, 2007
- Posts
- 6,678
Check that heat shield again!!! It may have fallen off or moved since it was "fixed", maybe very poorly or improperly.
This is the reply I got from Roadtrek:
It is impossible for me to give a definitive answer, but I do know that over time, as the vehicles age the engines may not burn the gas as cleanly as they once did and this can cause the catalytic converter to generate more heat than it originally might have. It may be a good idea to get a professional tune up to make sure the vehicle is running in optimum condition.
It is also important to use only fuel that has low levels of Ethanol in it. The engines from that time were not designed to operate on Ethanol type fuels.
The catalytic converter is roughly below the area of the floor that you had mentioned. We have never had a report of heat from the exhaust damaging the floor although we have had reports of heat in this area.
Hope this helps,
Peter Lange
Service and Warranty Specialist
Roadtrek Motorhomes Inc.
It is impossible for me to give a definitive answer, but I do know that over time, as the vehicles age the engines may not burn the gas as cleanly as they once did and this can cause the catalytic converter to generate more heat than it originally might have. It may be a good idea to get a professional tune up to make sure the vehicle is running in optimum condition.
It is also important to use only fuel that has low levels of Ethanol in it. The engines from that time were not designed to operate on Ethanol type fuels.
The catalytic converter is roughly below the area of the floor that you had mentioned. We have never had a report of heat from the exhaust damaging the floor although we have had reports of heat in this area.
Hope this helps,
Peter Lange
Service and Warranty Specialist
Roadtrek Motorhomes Inc.
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
Well, a catalytic converter generates a lot of heat, so maybe they have a point. But It would be surprising if a 2004 needs a new catalytic converter already. They should be good for 100k miles,.
I asked Roadtrek to explain what they meant when they said they had other reports of floor getting hot. Here is their response.
The catalytic converter and output is directly below that area. The cat does get hot under normal use as its job is to burn any unburned fuel in the exhaust fumes by getting even hotter than the exhaust. When poor quality gas is used or a vehicle is out of tune or burning oil, the cat has more fuel to burn and so gets even more hot than normal. These devices can reach temperatures of 600 degrees to 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit. When the vehicle is moving, a lot of that heat is "scrubbed" away by the moving air under the vehicle, but when stopped after driving it has nowhere to go and so will soak upward into everything.
This is not anything that was caused by anything Roadtrek did. The floor in that area in a standard unmodified van will still get warm or hot depending on the operation of the vehicle. Normally people would not be walking around in bare or stocking feet in a cargo van though and so it would not be something reported.
Hope this helps,
Peter Lange
Service and Warranty Specialist
Roadtrek Motorhomes Inc.
1-888-ROADTREK (762-3873)
The catalytic converter and output is directly below that area. The cat does get hot under normal use as its job is to burn any unburned fuel in the exhaust fumes by getting even hotter than the exhaust. When poor quality gas is used or a vehicle is out of tune or burning oil, the cat has more fuel to burn and so gets even more hot than normal. These devices can reach temperatures of 600 degrees to 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit. When the vehicle is moving, a lot of that heat is "scrubbed" away by the moving air under the vehicle, but when stopped after driving it has nowhere to go and so will soak upward into everything.
This is not anything that was caused by anything Roadtrek did. The floor in that area in a standard unmodified van will still get warm or hot depending on the operation of the vehicle. Normally people would not be walking around in bare or stocking feet in a cargo van though and so it would not be something reported.
Hope this helps,
Peter Lange
Service and Warranty Specialist
Roadtrek Motorhomes Inc.
1-888-ROADTREK (762-3873)
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
That's a technically accurate response that is still totally unresponsive to customer needs and concerns. Roadtrek chose the van body and modified it for people to use rather than cargo, so they should have addressed a floor heat problem once they became aware of it. But that's philosophy rather than practical application, so I guess you are stuck with the problem. You may be able to add a fireproof insulation between the heat deflector and the floor - the stuff sold for the undersides of an automobile hood may be safe enough for a high heat area. Or add an additional shield/reflector, such as this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Thermo-Tec-16500-Muffler-Catalytic-Converter/dp/B000TXSER4
Here's a bunch of heat shield products that might be usable:
http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/KeywordSearchCmd?storeId=10001&catalogId=10002&langId=-1&Ntk=all&Jnar=0&itemPerPage=60&Ne=1%2B2%2B3%2B13%2B1147708&searchTerm=heat+shield+
http://www.amazon.com/Thermo-Tec-16500-Muffler-Catalytic-Converter/dp/B000TXSER4
Here's a bunch of heat shield products that might be usable:
http://www.jegs.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/KeywordSearchCmd?storeId=10001&catalogId=10002&langId=-1&Ntk=all&Jnar=0&itemPerPage=60&Ne=1%2B2%2B3%2B13%2B1147708&searchTerm=heat+shield+
economydogs
New member
NancyJ345, I am curious if you were able to resolve this issue. I have a 2005 Roadtrek 170 with the same problem. The floor has bowed up a bit and makes it difficult to open the drawer under the 3rd passenger seat.
Thanks, Shelly
Thanks, Shelly
Rene T
Site Team
economydogs said:
If they don't respond, you might want to send them a PM.
