Did a search - skimmed the first few pages and didn't see a question / answer. Simple question. The heat shield on my cat is rattling. The seam down the middle is rotted out and split. Two questions:

1) Is it actually needed?
2) Is there a way I can clamp it together somehow, or should I cut it off? Cat's fine - just tired of the rattle.

Thanks!

 

years back on my GTA the bottom half of mine partially fell off and was rattling, I just removed it, no adverse affects that I could tell... just don't touch it when its hot lol

 

When They Can Get To Temps Like This ,You Need It.

 

Yes; it's there to keep your car's carpet from possibly catching fire and also to avoid setting fire to grass underneath the car if parked off-pavement.



Depends on how bad it has deteriorated. If it's only one of the mounting points that rusted, you might be able to secure it with a couple of large worm clamps (such as used on hoses/ductwork) hooked in series and placed around the cat con and shield and snugged up.

 

Crawled under the car just now - a few points to clarify:

1) It's not the heat shield bolted to the floor pan above the cat, it's the one wrapped around it w/holes punched in the bottom and crimped on the sides.
2) It's rotted through on one side. I peeled some back - looked like potentially asbestos under the top? If so I dont wanna mess with it.
3) What could be leaking in that neck of the woods - drive shaft seal? Kinda a blackish grease near the tunnel on both floor pans..looks like it's been a slow leak for a while.

As always- thanks again.

 

The heat shield is there to keep the cat from setting either the car, or whatever it's parked on top of such as grass, on fire.

You need it.

If the cat is old enough to where that piece is rotting and falling off, then it's probably not much better off inside. As cheeeeeep as new ones are, and might very well improve how your car runs, might as well just change it out.

 

Not asbestos; that nasty stuff was banned back in the early '70s.

Just replace the cat con and be done with it.

Your leak could be the transmission tail shaft seal.

 

Thanks for the replies. How hard is it to diy? Looks like one end slips on, other is a flange w/bolts. The air tube though I couldn't get a feel for how to disconnect/reconnect. Something y'all would pay someone to deal with, or is a driveway task? I've never done one before.

 

It's SOOOOOOPER EEEEEEEEZY if you have the right tools. A wizz wheel gets the slip-on RIGHT off. The bolts are just, … old rusty nasty bolts. Sometimes they come right off, other times they need a wizz wheel too. The AIR tube is similar; no problem except for rust.

Getting it apart is the hard part. Putting it back together is cake. If you have a jack AND STANDS, you can probably tackle it. I would NEVER pay anybody to do that unless I had to, like if I was out of town and my wife's died or something.