Rusted heatshield around cat on 2002 Honda Civic

[barlowc]

My mother-in-law brought her 2002 Honda Civic EX over for an oil change today. She said that it had been "rattling like an old car" for the past week. While I had it up on the ramps I inspected things underneath and found this.

It's a heatshield that I believe wraps the catalytic converter. It appears to be constructed of two halves that clamshell and is held together by two bolts on each end. You can see one of the bolt heads in the lower right-hand portion of the heatshield.

Does anyone know if these things do indeed simply bolt together? If so, I'll find a replacment part, order it, and fix it myself. Or, if it welded in any way, I'll call a couple of local shops and send her to one of them.

 

[mechtech2]

Or, you can often use screw hose clamps daisy chained together to clamp it tight.
This can work for a pretty long time.

 

[donz26]

I had almost the exact same problem on my Frontier. One half of the shield was cracked and actually about to fall off. There was no place for hose clamps, so(don't laugh)I wrapped bailing wire around the entire shield(in a couple places) and twisted it tight.

 

[whip]

The same thing happened with my Nissan. The biggest concern for the heat shield is if you park your car over something flammable, like dry grass, the grass could catch fire. I don't park on top of combustible material that often, so I removed the cover.

 

[Towncivilian]

Nissan's "fix", at least for Pathfinders with cracked heat shields (well, actually resonators), is to apply some exhaust putty and then a couple of band clamps around the heat shield. This works for a while, but eventually fails again. The best solution is welding.

(image linked from this thread)

 

[barlowc]

Thanks guys! Love the ideas. Since I had some bailing wire and my wife and mother-in-law haven't returned yet, I put the car back up on the ramps and got under there again. On the end where the bolts have rusted (i.e. right side in the picture), I wrapped the wire tightly around it a couple of times and twisted it together. That'll at least hold it together for the time being and as long as she doesn't complain that it's rattling, I'll probably just leave it until 5K miles from now when it's back for another oil change. Then I may put a few band clamps around it.

 

[Fazzone]

I had the same issue on my BIL's Accord. Not sure if it's exactly the same, but his was bolted together. The back 2 were rusted off, but there was plenty of solid metal next to where the originals had been so I just took a visegrip, clamped it together a little further back, and used 1/4" bolts to hold it together. Might want to check the condition of the studs that tie the cat to the rest of the exhaust. His had rusted out and started to pull through-another easy fix, cut them off, drill out and replace with bolts.

 

[Hootbro]

Same issue on my 96 Accord. Just took a pair of tin snips and cut both halves off and called it a day.

 

[Samilcar]

I had two different Honda Civics that developed rattling heat shields around the 5 year mark. I just removed them (leaving in place the necessary shields protecting the gas tank and the car above). I never park in overgrown grassy fields, so I have no use for rattling heat shields that prevent grass fires.

 

[Craig in Canada]

Originally Posted By: whip
The same thing happened with my Nissan. The biggest concern for the heat shield is if you park your car over something flammable, like dry grass, the grass could catch fire. I don't park on top of combustible material that often, so I removed the cover.


The dealer took similar action when the heat shield got noisy on the 1990 Integra I used to have. It starting cooking shifter bushings every 12 months after that, requiring regular replacement. Those heat shields are supposed to be there for more than just combustible ground material - I'd try to leave them in place if possible. Once they are ripped off and discarded they are gone...

 

[mechtech2]

Originally Posted By: whip
The same thing happened with my Nissan. The biggest concern for the heat shield is if you park your car over something flammable, like dry grass, the grass could catch fire. I don't park on top of combustible material that often, so I removed the cover.


Yeah? You mean like the kid on the Sopranos did with his SUV?