Heat Shield Advice

[SC986]

I had the Boxster in the shop today (not a dealer but Porsche only shop) getting the CV Boots replaced. I mentioned that when backing the car up I hear a rattling .

The culprit as many has said, heat shield bracket. This was the heat shield on top of the cat, drivers side. The bracket that the bolts go into had rusted out on one side and the bolt had nothing to attach to. He said the only choices:

1. Get a new cat $$

2. Fab a new bracket, just as costly

3. Let it rattle

The mechanic removed the heat shield saying there was nothing vital there and would not cause any issue.

Now part of me says there is a need since Porsche bothered to put it there. Part of me says they are reputable, they would not do anything to cause damage to my car.

Thoughts, advice?

[stumpjumper]

I had the Boxster in the shop today (not a dealer but Porsche only shop) getting the CV Boots replaced. I mentioned that when backing the car up I hear a rattling .

The culprit as many has said, heat shield bracket. This was the heat shield on top of the cat, drivers side. The bracket that the bolts go into had rusted out on one side and the bolt had nothing to attach to. He said the only choices:

1. Get a new cat $$

2. Fab a new bracket, just as costly

3. Let it rattle

The mechanic removed the heat shield saying there was nothing vital there and would not cause any issue.

Now part of me says there is a need since Porsche bothered to put it there. Part of me says they are reputable, they would not do anything to cause damage to my car.

Thoughts, advice?

take the shield off and then cut the rattling bracket off the cat, you should be fine without the shield

[Chris_in_NH]

i've been driving without my rattling cat heat shields for years. no problems... i think you'll be fine without them.

you could try to make it into a Emissions Warranty claim. i don't know how successful you would be, though. the cats are warrantied for 10 years or something like that, so if your cat's heat shield bracket has rusted to the point that the cat's *required* heat shield can't be mounted, maybe the cat can be considered defective. i don't know... just thinking out loud.

or you could try to move the mount point over an inch or two by drilling a hole where there is solid metal support and buy the necessary parts (25, 26, 27 (i think) in this picture). you could also size a metal clamp to fit around the cat pipe and mount the heat shield to that.

but i would just leave them off and not worry about it. ;)

Edited May 25, 2007 by Chris_in_NH

[SC986]

Thanks guys!