This will solve the buttons being hot. Exhaust makes the central tunnel hot. The buttons you are referring to get hot because there is a light bulb burning right behind them.
Hot To The Touch!?
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Joined: Apr 2008
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From: Charlotte NC
Hot To The Touch!?
We were crusing around to day and I noticed that all the buttons on the car were hot to the touch (ie a/c fan, window, traction, and several other buttons/switches were hot to the touch. I am a new C5 owner and would like to know if this is NORMAL?
Melting Slicks
Joined: Aug 2007
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From: Elizabethtown
Do you have after market exhaust? It's most likely heat from the exhaust system. The tunnel is right by your legs. Put any chocolate in the center console and it will melt. My whole center gets hot. If it bothers you, you should get a insulated tunnel plate and insulate the car.
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From: Charlotte NC
not sure if i have after market exhaust or not, it looks to stock (stock tips). Pipes come straight back from the cats, appears to be an "H" design or a bridge between the pipe about half the way back to the tips.
Racer
Joined: Mar 2008
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From: Warren Michigan
Do you have after market exhaust? It's most likely heat from the exhaust system. The tunnel is right by your legs. Put any chocolate in the center console and it will melt. My whole center gets hot. If it bothers you, you should get a insulated tunnel plate and insulate the car.
but not the case for the buttons getting warm.
The bottons on my 1995 camaro, 1998 camaro, 2001 grand prix, and 2007 silverado and now my 1997 Corvette ALL get warm to the touch. I would compare the heat to that of a laptop running all day and feeling the bottom case... especially close to the battery location on the LT.
Going back to why I think the chocolate bar melts in the center console is the same reason the buttons all get warm but with a different heat source...energy from the lightbulb causes heat which is then trapped by the buttons. Read on...
Ever grab a light bulb after its been on after a quick moment, and then a minute or longer? Notice a difference? Its much hotter the longer it is on. Although these light bulbs are designed to produce less heat then a conventional bulb, they do create heat. Any when trapped by the button the temp rises.
You will notice over different times of the year this differs and that is due to different HVAC operations and obviously ambient temperatures (outside).
Hope this helps. sorry for the novel.
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