On my way to work last week I heard a rattling coming from underneath the car. When I got to work, I looked underneath the car and noticed the heat shield had dropped - it's this one. The car had to go to the local indie for a coolant leak check anyway and they just pulled the heat shield out and threw it away. When I asked if I need to replace it they said not to bother and they pull loads of heat shields off cars all the time.

My question is, do I need to get it replaced? The car is an 08 Fiesta Mk6.5.

Don't know about on a Fiesta but certainly on a diesel Mondeo it's needed.

I know it's not regarding a fiesta but my Ford Focus they were rattling around as they had corroded through and was told they needed to be fixed by the garage when they serviced it.

I asked if they were needed and the answer was, "if they wasn't needed, they wouldn't be there".

I refixed them to the corroded studs studs with smaller stainless nuts and washers, it worked till i got rid of the car.

Mine did the same on my old fiesta, made my car sound like a tractor as it was rubbing against the exhaust. I lifted my car up and got some big washers and fixed it through the holes that were already there. I'd say its important, as said above if its not needed it wouldn't be there

is it 'needed' or not. depends on what 'needed' means. It might only be 'needed' to stop heat being transferred through the floor of the car that makes the hot hotter inside in the middle of summer in South of Spain (bearing in mind the cars are made for use in many different climates). 

So if it is only 'needed' to keep the inside of the car cooler in very hot climates then it may not be 'needed' in the UK.

I don't know the answer. But just because Ford fit it does not necessarily mean we need it.

Catalytic converters get very hot. I do not know what this heat shield shields. If it is not shielding a catalytic converter I would not worry about it myself unless there is electric wiring or fuel or brake pipes now left unshielded above the exhaust at that point in case they are affected by the riding heat when stuck in traffic in summer etc.

On my Mazda2 it came off due to corrosion of the heatshield around the washers holding it on. I inspected the area where it came from and decided I did not need it based on what I said above.

I guess if it was not "needed" then Ford wouldn't design them, pay for the materials, manufacture them, fit them and then charge the customer for them.

I guess they are to stop the heat transfer from the exhaust system, whether in Spain or Siberia....

If they are on when I bought a car, they would stay on until the car was no longer mine... either by salvaging the old ones or buying and fitting new ones. 

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I guess if it was not "needed" then Ford wouldn't design them, pay for the materials, manufacture them, fit them and then charge the customer for them.

They are a legal requirement in a number of countries but as far as I am aware not the UK, but what would happen if you removed them and then travel to the countries where they are required I don,t know.

 

It won't be 'needed' in that the car will still work without it.  But it may protect something from the heat over longer term so you'd have to check what's above it.  

I've removed them on other cars without a problem.  Had one slip down, catch a speed bump and then make a horrific scraping noise along the road...needless to say that came off pretty quickly and went in the bin. Though on the same car the whole exhaust fell off a few weeks  later after snapping at the cat.  I just left it in the boot for a weeks with no issues.  Just had to be gentle with the throttle near police cars as it sounded like a lorry under load...

 

re my comment above about my Mazda2. I could have fitted it back on if I added larger washers which were wider then the holes that had corroded around the original washers. Perhaps that could have been done with lloydyyy's if it hadn't been thrown away

Thanks for all the replies, guys. The indie threw the heat shield away but as far as I know the original bolts and washers are still in place. A brand new replacement heat shield is only about £12 on eBay. If the original bolts and washers are too corroded to re-use, can anyone point me in the direction of a replacement set?

On 05/04/2018 at 3:57 PM, lloydyyy said:

Thanks for all the replies, guys. The indie threw the heat shield away but as far as I know the original bolts and washers are still in place. A brand new replacement heat shield is only about £12 on eBay. If the original bolts and washers are too corroded to re-use, can anyone point me in the direction of a replacement set?

I just bought a pack of jumbo assortment washers from ebay, the nuts came off ok with a bit of plusgas help or similar.  Mine fell off a year ago, put it back on with the said jumbo washers and it's still as snug as a bug in a rug to this day 

The heat shield on our MK1 focus dropped due to corrosion around the big washers, l stopped ours rattling around with a really long piece of copper wire zig zagging now it's never rattled since that was 3-4yrs ago 😀

I ran my old focus for about 4 or 5 yrs without it after it dropped before getting the fiesta, the lack of it never gave any problems and never affected MOT's either. Can't say what effect it would have on Fiesta, unless it was shielding brake/fuel pipes or setting interior carpets on fire I'd say just leave it off.