# What is this metal thing hanging under my car?

**URL:** <https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-is-this-metal-thing-hanging-under-my-car/103823>\
**Category:** Maintenance/Repairs\
**Tags:** protege, mazda\
**Created:** [May 11, 2017, 11:31pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-is-this-metal-thing-hanging-under-my-car/103823 "2017-05-11T23:31:28Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Tester](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/tester/32/15976_2.png) [@Tester](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Tester)\
**Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 10:50pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-is-this-metal-thing-hanging-under-my-car/103823/21 "2017-05-13T22:50:33Z")

</div>

Heat shields are made of aluminized sheet metal.

So they rust.

> **[Car Talk: Don't exhaust yourself replacing heat shields](https://www.seattlepi.com/news/article/Car-Talk-Don-t-exhaust-yourself-replacing-heat-1182441.php)**
>
> (1) Why does Honda (or any manufacturer) install the dang things if all they do is rattle and fall off? (2) After the heat shield had been gone for nearly a year, my exhaust manifold cracked. The bottom shields are there so that if you park on tall,...

Tester

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![bing](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/bing/32/4619_2.png) [@bing](https://community.cartalk.com/u/bing)\
**Post date:** [May 13, 2017, 11:20pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-is-this-metal-thing-hanging-under-my-car/103823/22 "2017-05-13T23:20:23Z")

</div>

Whatever it’s made of, put it back on.

[Previous page](https://community.cartalk.com/t/what-is-this-metal-thing-hanging-under-my-car/103823.md?page=1)