legacycentral bbs

Starting to really piss me off, and Im having a hard time tracking down exactly which one is doing it.

If I gut the cats, is it safe to remove the sheilds completely?

edit by jason for damn puntuation and capatalization.

I've got a bit of rattle too. It decreases after a while.

Mine happen between 3-4K

Ive checked the crosspipe, doesnt seem to be that.... I cant track the damn thing down though

cut em off. I used a 4" angle grinder with a cutoff wheel.

X2 on cutting em off...I don't think I have ever owned a car that had em on for very long. I cut em all off.

Even without gutting the cats?

Yeah. Just don't park over tall dry grass.

Score.

I live in BC, the only tall dry stuff there is around here is Cedar trees.

+1 to rattle

+1 to wanting to cut them off.

If you have any doubts there is a long way around to finding out which one is rattling (I did this on my girl friends car) I took a couple metal shimms and shoved them between the exhaust pipe and the heat shield. I did this one at a time until I found the one that made the rattle stop. Then I tacked the shileds to the pipe. That worked...I just think being destructive with a grinder is a lot more fun than being constructive with a welder.


Sorry...I'm a power tool engineer. I like to break stuff.

My heat shield rattle is pretty bad. Do I have to cut it off or are there bolts I can undo?

There are bolts that can be taken off but they were always in such bad (rusted) shape on mine I just cut em off. Depending on where you are in the country you might be able to turn them. NY isn't nice on the undersides of cars. If you can't get it off with a wrench get a grinding tool and grind em down. If you can get a socket on there I would hit it with an impact wrench, set to a low impact (if you start wrenching on the exhaust you can start to loosen other things up, which is never good).

the heat shields around the turbo should be left on. They protect the wiring from getting too hot and brittle, and there is a shield that protects the heat from the speedometer cable, and plastic gear in the tranny. The other heat sheilds can be removed, but I wouldnt mess with the ones near the turbo.
The ones who have taken them off, well, you are just decreasing the life of underhood components greatly. It is fairly easy to fix rattles without removal. either drill and add new bolts and nuts, make sure all the brackets are mounted, etc...

Bheinen74 wrote:The ones who have taken them off, well, you are just decreasing the life of underhood components greatly.

What makes you say that? You think the overall underhood temperatures get really warmer without the shielding?

on turbo models, there are heat deflectors around the turbo, on the under side, that deflect the heat away from the transmission, and SPEEDO cable. And of course the chminey. If you remove the one on the underside, the one that protects the speedo cable, then YES. They have a purpose.No wonder so many people have to replace the bottom end of the speedo cable, cause they got too hot without the shield.

HAHA I GOT IT

It was the bottom cover of the head sheild where the headers collect for the uppipe, front passenger side.

Okay, I used an angle-grinder to get the really rusty part of the heatshield off. Except, I can't get the top part of the heatshield out! It's on the right-angle pipe going from the driver-side cylinders to the cat. The front sway bar and about four other things are blocking it from coming out. Any suggestions?

Rattle seems to be gone though... weird. The top part is even looser than before.

I didnt take the top part off, since it wasnt rattling.

Usually taking a rubber mallet (or a hammer wrapped generously in cloth) and pounding on your exhaust at each location will usually show you where the rattle is.

If it's a cat that rattles, a ghetto fix is just to beat the crap out of it until it dents and usually pinches up that loose honeycomb stuff inside. On my legacy, I found a really loose heat shield and fixed a rattling cat temporarily (until the honeycomb fell apart more) with those two methods.

(I know the thread is old, but I figure someone could use the help)

One of the techs at Smart Service in Seattle spent about 15 minutes on mine with wire and metal screws. Helps to have a lift...It worked great though. He just drilled screws in at odd angles to take up the slack and wire tied stuff down...

No rattles when the engine starts and the one nasty rattle when the engine turns off are gone.

Lately though I've noticed a rattle when I close the left rear passinger door. Can you believe it? When I load my son in his car seat!

Heatshiels are coming off soon as is my stock muffler setup...

As part of the vf 34 upgrade, a bigger diameter divorced down pipe was fabricated. The waste gate dump valve is bigger than the vf11's.

Next, removed the cat(no rattles now) and put in a Vibrant ultra resonator. The Vibrant silencer is 2.5 inches in and two 2 inch pipes out.

This is likely constrictive to the higher out put, but I have yet to instal the 2.25 inch electric exhaust cut out.

Maybe I should use it to by pass the silencer

Just think---three pipes out the back --- definately not a fart can

Sounds real good as it is now

I cut off the bottom part of the cat heatshield last night. The whole dang thing was loose. Is there a trick to getting the top piece off? Lots of stuff in the way. thanks

You'll probably have to remove the exhaust to get the top piece off.

Heres the answer: I tood a dremel and slit the top down the center about 6 inches, that took a sawzall and cut from the one side to the slit...bent it easily at that point and out she came!