2012 Ford F-150 - Do I need a heat shield?

Heat sheld around manifold on passenger side corroded around bolts,falling off,is it necessary?

Yes they are there for a reason.

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Don’t worry about.

I’ve ripped off so many heat shields over the years because of rust, I’ve lost count.

But have never installed a replacement. Because most times they’re not available.

Tester

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Bender shop welded mine back on for $10

Carefully tease the bolts (screws) out, put a fender washer under them and put back in.

Did they weld in a patch on to the shield so it could be bolted on or did they weld the shield to the exhaust manifold? Welding the shield to the manifold will complicate future repairs.

I’m sure they’d weld a patch in, if there’s enough material to weld to.

Have you looked at new? I don’t like eBay, but they do have shields (new) between $20 and $60, depending on side and engine. Usually other part stores online have similar pricing.

On the neighbor’s old truck, we simply wrapped the shield in exhaust manifold material. (It looked like asbestos, but was probably fiberglass.) It was designed to come in contact with exhaust manifolds. In his case, the shield had cracked… probably not your problem.