Heat shields on late models

I'll start with a bleat here: our '93 Camry went 105K miles before we sold
it and the exhaust had never been touched and did not leak - the original
heat sheilds were intact and did not rattle. It kinda annoys me that the
Honda catalytic converter heatshields start to disintegrate around the
fasteners at ~45K miles

Though it is clearly shown in the service manual I got a surprise recently
when I went to take of a rattling top heatshield on my '99 Integra. The
secondary O2 sensor goes through a hole in the heatshield and I ended up
cutting the heatshield with a Dremel cutting disk to get it off. What a
PITA.

Now I'm wondering how to go about putting a new top heatshield in - there
seem to be two options: 1) remove the O2 sensor, install heatshield and
reinstall O2 sensor; 2) wait till the B-pipe needs replaced so the cat can
be dropped far enough to get the clearance to install the new heatshield
over the sensor, which also involves pulling the wire from inside the car
of course... which I've found is relatively easy.

Given that O2 sensor removal poses certain potential difficulties/pitfalls,
I'm wondering what others have done here. Either way, it seems like quite
a rigmarole compared with older models... which could be avoided if Honda
would make heatshields with just a bit more corrosion resistance.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

 

Same situation with my sister's 99 CRV. Not a big deal though. Followed
the 02 sensor wire and removed the rubber grommet. Pulled the wires three
or four inches and the connector was right there. Disconnected and pulled
through the top shield hole. Piece of cake. The shields were about $42.00
each and included replacement bolts...I'm sure you don't need to removed
the 02 sensor. Try to find the connector behind the rubber grommet... It's
in there...

 

Apparently not the "same situation" as a CR-V or you did not follow my
reasoning. There is insufficient clearance between the catalytic converter
and body to get the heatshield over the stem of the O2 sensor... thus the
need to drop the converter. As also mentioned, pulling the wiring is easy.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

 

Duly noted. I thought you could lift, then kind of rotate the top shield
and remove. Apparently not. I guess a partial disassembly of the exhaust
system or 02 sensor removal is in order unfortunately...The shop manual
was not much help either, I suppose...There was no problem doing the CR-V.
Didn't even have to jack up since it sits up high ...You might call a
dealer and pick someone's brain about any helpful tips...You never
know...Good Luck

 

why not just undo the exhaust hangers, and the 2 spring bolts from the
exhaust manifold, that should give you enough clearance to get the
heat sheild in.

 

Have you done this? I suppose that would work but it's an operation which
is fraught with potential failure. With the corrosion and extreme heat
there, you may find that the spring bolts and nuts are frozen and need
cutting/replacing. IOW fine if you have a parts dept. at hand.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

 

I have a 1992 Acoord EX Sedan, When I took my car to my local Meinke shop for a
muffler- and I really do trust this guy- he noticed that the heat sheild was
rattling. He offered to remove for free at the time, claiming that there was a
redundency and the car would run fine without the shield.

Is there any truth in this or should I have it replaced?

TIA,

Jim


JIMBO

 

On 10/19/03 9:06 AM, in article

He is right. The car will run fine without it. It has nothing to do with
operation of the car. It is on there primarily to prevent grass fires if
you ever drive off road.

If you haven't noticed the rattling and/or it doesn't bother you, there is
no reason to take it off or fix it until it does bother you. It won't hurt
anything by rattling.