But why ONLY in that precise point, where there's that sealer smeared around?
Yes it is burned, but not only heat can burn in this way. If you put some particular types of glue on paper, clothes, foam, etc it really burns! Obviously you cannot see flames, but there's smoke and burnt smell.

Then, I think the exhaust cannot heat so much that area, there are many other points much hotter than this! And, remember, under that point there's the gas tank, not the exhaust.

I'm for some sort of chemical reaction like EricJ said; obviously it's only one possibility, I hope that we can help each other in this thread to discover the truth!!

 

See, this is exactly why I posted here in the first place. You're suggesting everybody ceramic coat their exhaust, wrap it in heat shielding, ensure the OEM heat shielding is still installed, then put another heat shield over the OEM one just to be on the safe side. When that's all done, wrap your entire seat backs and under the seat cushion with more heat shielding, making sure to double it up on the bottom.

Back to my post where I brought up Dynamat, I will see if this is merely an issue of a compound not compatible with the foam on the seat. What I don't understand is how some are able to get this area piping hot while others can't get it more than cold or luke-warm to the touch.

 

someone should go to the dealer and pop a seat up to see what it looks like on a new car with no miles on it. im pretty sure its just transfer of the tar and glue wich makes it look burnt. there is no way that a (burn) can happen if the exhaust is sitting an inch away from the shell with a heat shield on. and if it was burnt the paint under the car would be burnt off and no one has looked under the car yet.

 

You do realize different materials burn at different temperatures, right? Foam can burn/melt at much lower temperatures than automotive paint does.

edit: Some of the foams used in seats can burn or melt at just 200F degrees. On a 100F degree summer day, maybe even 120F degree on asphalt temperature, it wouldn't take much extra heat transfer from a hot exhaust directly below it that is radiating/convecting heat from a few hundred degree exhaust pipe. When I noticed mine smelling of burnt polymers, I pulled over and smelled around until I noticed it was coming from the back seat. I pulled up the seat and noticed that area, and it was so hot I could not touch it. Obviously over 200F degrees.

 

So what do you think the answer is here? Not trying to start fight, but what do you think Mitsubishi should do about this supposed seat melting issue? Additional heat shielding? If so, where exactly? Under the car or under the seat?

From all the pictures I've seen so far it looks like maybe that spot might get warm enough to slightly melt that tar like coating into the foam portion of the seat causing a chemical reaction or sorts, but it still doesn't look like a true burn condition to me.

 

My point wasn't what they should do about it.. my point was illustrating that it doesn't matter that the paint doesn't have any burns on it.

But by your theory, how do you explain the smell of burnt foam from that area that multiple people here are explaining?

 

I think people are smelling the foam of the seat being dissolved by the tar like substance soaking into it on a hot day or after a good run.

 

I'm skeptical of petroleum based or soy based foam reacting that intensely with another petroleum based product, creating a carcinogenic burning smell like when you take a flame to foam/plastic.. especially when it's so hot you can't touch it without being burned.

 

Now the smell is cancer causing too?



J/K

 

Ok so low and behold I have what all of you guys have but I'm not sure mine is fully 'burnt' . . . . go with me on this as I don't ever recall a burning smell in the car or maybe I just caught it before it did smell.

Car is completely cold to the touch and when I lifted the seat, this is what I saw. I have taken close ups to show my vague theory on this.






Things I noticed:

1) The area on both the floorboard and cushion is really sticky and a very dark brown color, almost looking like it was burnt
2) It looks like it started to adhere to the seat cushion and rip part of the cushin off and leave it stuck to the sound deadening material
3) Some of the sound deadening material was very brittle and actually broke off, see in picture
4) There seems to be a plastic plug underneath, which is not melted or deformed
5) I was able to feel the plastic plug from underneath the car, it is directly above the gas tank and pretty far away from the exhaust (Not saying the exhaust temps aren't playing a part in this but its not very close). I couldn't get my entire hand up there to feel the entire plug but was able to touch the end of it, it doesn't seemed to be attached to anything.

I'm cautious of taking anymore of the sound deadening material off as I don't have anything to replace it with at the moment. I have Wednesday off and may scrape it off and replace it with some of the temperature stuff everyone else has been discussing.

Maybe this will spark some more theories from the rest of you.

Thoughts?

Car Info - 3900 miles (Single Exhaust w/HFC)

 

You could always go on a couple high speed runs and drive your car hard to see if it gets worse, and to see if that's where the smell is coming from.

I mean, doesn't anyone find it just a little odd that in that exact location on all our cars, we have the same symptoms? There are other locations with that same sound deadening material and it doesn't have the burnt look/smell on the foam.

 

Where is there any location on the car that has a body plug with that sealant slathered on and a strip of sound deadening over it and then the foam seats directly on top of that? Find that exact combo and I'm willing to put some money down that you'll see the same "burning."

 

Maybe. But I've never noticed anywhere else that was so hot to the touch with burning smells. You're right, it's probably just a rare coincidence. =/

 

I havent read every post in this thread, so sorry if this has been mentioned - doesnt gasoline dissolve foam to create napalm? maybe(i hope not) that is what is happening here...

 

i just got one of this for my daily driving