Can I take the heat shield above the muffler off my car? I’ve had it pinned back up multiple times and it still keeps rattling.
Best for the heat shield to remain. Otherwise you run the risk of something located above the heat shield getting too hot from the exhaust temperatures and burning. Carpet burns, etc. Even more so for the heat shield above the cat.
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You did not say who did the work ? This is something a good muffler shop should be able to fix properly. And if the heat shield is actually on the Catalytic Converter it needs to be there.
If it were on the bottom of the muffler I’d say sure.
But above?
That’s the one that prevents the carpet from melting.
Not a good idea.
Tester
For some shield rattles I got really long clamps that looked like radiator hose worm-screw clamps. Sometimes you have to run two together to reach all the way around.
The muffler heat shield attaches to the trunk floor, hose clamps will not work. Nissan replacement heat shield is $100 (number 16 below).
Someone told us that we don’t need heat shields, seems sometimes we do.
I wonder why OP isn’t able to get the muffler heat shield to stop rattling? OP, aren’t you able to access the fasteners that attach it firmly to the trunk floor? Have some of the fasteners fallen out? It seems like, if no other way, it would be quite easy to blind-rivet the heat shield to the trunk floor. You’d have to be careful to not inadvertently create paths that might allow exhaust gasses into the cabin or trunk though.
Screw, pop rivet, weld, etc. to permanently affix. A muffler shop has the equipment and talent.
When cats first came out ther was a problem starting fires if cars were parked on grass, leaves, etc. so they added the heat shields. Fix the rattle but leave them on.
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It might be worth replacing the entire muffler. Just a suggestion.
Once I had a rattle that was tied to RPMs. I thought it was the heat shield on the muffler. Turns out it was something loose inside the muffler. Replacing the muffler fixed the problem.
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That’s a good idea. The problem might not even be the heat shield, damaged muffler, or could be the gadgets that attach the exhaust system to the car’s body (exhaust hangers) have failed or some have fallen off. Replacing exhaust hangers was common occurrence on my late 70’s VW Rabbit. I don’t recall many complaints here about problematic Nissan exhaust hangers, but you could double check using the forum search feature, link upper right this page. My Corolla’s exhaust hangers seem very robust, never had to replace a single one of them in 30 years.
On old clunkers, to quiet heat shields above the muffler, I’ve had good luck using a 3-4’ length of 12-gauge house wire.
I drape the wire under the length of the shield, and then tie the ends of the wire on anything available, (like openings in the sub-frame). Then a few twists of one of the wire ends to make it taut, results in the shield being pretty well secured.
You mean Romex wire?
I started with a length of Romex (with the three wires inside of it), and then stripped the sheathing to use just one of the wires.
I suppose you could use the whole Romex bundle (of 3 wires). Though it may be tougher to wrap that like a twist-tie on the ends to make it taut.
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You can buy Romex or single wire in a variety of gauges. Used for greenfield or conduit.
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