Exhaust rattle

[m4rkw]

I noticed my exhaust rattling today. At a stop with the car in gear I hear it, goes away when moving. I got out and moved the exhaust a bit and it rattles more, sounds like maybe a tiny stone went inside it. Other than accelerating hard up a steep hill does anyone have any ideas?

[Jaystar77]

If it's a tinny rattle noise it could just be a heat shield has moved a bit and is touching the exhaust.  It's happened on my RX300 and I just dealt with the same thing on a Rav4 this morning.

 

[m4rkw]

14 minutes ago, Jaystar77 said:

If it's a tinny rattle noise it could just be a heat shield has moved a bit and is touching the exhaust.  It's happened on my RX300 and I just dealt with the same thing on a Rav4 this morning.

Not sure why I didn't think to look underneath it since we got home but you're bang on. The heat shield has a hole in it where it was mounted to the frame and is hanging down on the exhaust. Can I just get some metal epoxy from Halfords to stick it back where it was or should i take it into the garage and have the shield replaced?

[m4rkw]

[m4rkw]

The other side of it looks like it's attached with a rivet of some kind, not sure if epoxy will hold it or if I should get the garage to rivet it back on properly.

[stringbender]

Have you ever used Milliput mark ?  Since I was told about it I've mended so much stuff with it. You'd need to hold it in place for at least 2 hours. After that it's like steel. Easy to sand, easy to drill and it bonds to practically everything. I remember using it to fix some damage to the old RX rear bumper ( thanks to my dear wife ! ). I didn't go mad cleaning it but it bonded it and was there for over 12 years. Once it was sprayed matte black you just couldn't see the mend at all. I am reminded of it every day as I used it to mend my Sensor razor - still going strong which is good because Gillette don't make the razor anymore but you can get hold of blades off the web.

Alan

[m4rkw]

Just now, stringbender said:

Have you ever used Milliput mark ?  Since I was told about it I've mended so much stuff with it. You'd need to hold it in place for at least 2 hours. After that it's like steel. Easy to sand, easy to drill and it bonds to practically everything. I remember using it to fix some damage to the old RX rear bumper ( thanks to my dear wife ! ). I didn't go mad cleaning it but it bonded it and was there for over 12 years. Once it was sprayed matte black you just couldn't see the mend at all. I am reminded of it every day as I used it to mend my Sensor razor - still going strong which is good because Gillette don't make the razor anymore but you can get hold of blades off the web.

Alan

I've cable-tied it up for now, I think I'll let the garage spot-weld it back on, can't see it costing much. Good tip though I'll check that stuff out.

[Jaystar77]

In the past I've been guilty of ripping them off completely (for example handbrake cables on a Glanza are hidden by them) but the proper thing to do is secure it back up.  In all honesty I don't think they have to handle much heat on older vehicles.  Basically just a sheet of pressed aluminum to deflect exhaust heat downwards.

[Gliderpilot]

Both mine came loos, sounded like a tin of nuts and bolts rattling round the car. Took them off, cleaned them and refitted them with some penny washers. Been OK for the last two years.

[Morkunas]

Just use a big washer and screw it back.make sure washer is bigger then the hole:)

[Barry14UK]

4 hours ago, Morkunas said:

Just use a big washer and screw it back.make sure washer is bigger then the hole:)

Heat shields are invariably made of aluminium and fixed by steel to steel. Over time it is quite usual for this to cause the aluminium around the point of contact to be lost so the shield is not secured. I used the large washer idea successfully on my BMW. In some situations if a flat steel washer is not a suitable shape one can be made from malleable  aluminium suitably shaped to act the same way before securing with screw.