[slyfink]

Hi all,

I brought my car into the garage this morning to have the tires swapped. I asked them to look into a rattle coming from under the car, maybe a heat shield or the muffler.

Sure enough, the heat shield was loose due to it being damaged. They said they took it off, and that I'd need to order the part from Mazda, but that it's not urgent or important.

From what I gather, the heat shield protects a part of the exhaust. and it being winter here, with slush and salt abundant on the roads, this seems like something I should look into asap no?

any thoughts from the monkey gallery?

 

[6thElement]

Isn't the heat shield to stop the heat from the exhaust going up into the car?

In the winter, bonus extra heat!

 

[kazlx]

If it's not a turbo car, I wouldn't sweat it. They serve a few different purposes depending on where they are located, either keeping heat contained or deflecting it away, but shouldn't matter for the short term.

 

[Adventurous]

I mean, it's there for a reason, but I wouldn't be super worried about it.

 

[johnbryanpeters]

The heat shield is primarily intended to keep you from starting grass or brush fires if you park someplace susceptable.

 

[Jozz]

Just make sure you don't have any wire harness close by. A broken flex pipe on a Sprinter can melt wires and light the dash up like it's xmass time.

 

[slyfink]

Not a turbo... 2.0l manual transmission Mazda CX5.

thanks for the feedback. I'll get it replaced, but I won't bust my ass getting it done asap then... shops are super busy with tire changes these days (legal requirement in Quebec now, and well, winter came early up here this year).

@Jozz, the tech that took it off said it's not important, so I'll hope they would have known if it was close to some wiring. But I'll confirm when I pick up the car tonight. It's Canadian Tire, but I'm going to hope they're not dangerously incompetent...

 

[johnbryanpeters]

Just make sure you don't have any wire harness close by. A broken flex pipe on a Sprinter can melt wires and light the dash up like it's xmass time.

Where's the flex pipe located?

 

[Jozz]

The heat shield is primarily intended to keep you from starting grass or brush fires if you park someplace susceptable.

Where's the flex pipe located?

On the V6, after the turbo, part of the DPF filter assy. Also, the bend on the tailpipe that goes above rear axle often rust, another harness there for rear ABS and speed sensors. German enginerding.

 

[jdcamb]

You may need to work on your Jumping technique.

I have found the Dukes Jumping vids to be very helpful developing my technique. Good luck...

 

[canadmos]

The Mazda 3 I had had some small little heat shields that rattled loose. Tossed them and didn't replace. I ripped a shield off on the Toyota Matrix over the summer.

As others said, as long as there are no wires or brake/fuel lines next to the exhaust, it should be fine. You might have a little more radiant heat hit the floor pan, but I haven't noticed anything different with the Toyota.

 

[Pesqueeb]

What year CX5?

Ours has a different drivetrain, but unless your driving a different generation completely, I doubt it's much different. Where exactly was the heat shield located? When the wife gets home I can go peek at ours and tell you if it would concern me.

 

[slyfink]

2013. first gen.