What is the purpose of Heat Shields underneath the car (1994 Nissan Altima) ?

Question

Since the heat shields started rattling and since they were about to fall off, my mechanic removed them. His explanation was that they are only needed if you are driving on grassy roads to prevent fire.
However, a column in wallstreet journal said that not having heat shields may have bad effect on functioning of other parts in the car. The column did not explain which parts. Please Help !!! Should I replace the Heat Shields ?

Answer 1

it depends on where they were located if they covered the catalytic converter the mechanic is right.stop here don't read on, if they didn't they are also used as splash protection. if you don't drive much in muddy type water when it rains you should be OK or if you do just wash under the car when you wash the car. or you u can take the wait and see what happens if you don't replace them.

Answer 2

I can understand your love for your nissan, i have had four nissans 2 primeras and 1 serena and they are great. if i were you i would go for the rebuilt engine, if you get another dog you get another set of fleas, and the devil you know is better than.... i know a chap who got a brand new merc and it was troubble from day 1. even the seatbelt was faulty. if your car is still under warranty you would not have to pay a penny for the engine replacement. Most nissans have 1 merit other cars dont... They have no timming belt they have a timing chain instead which will last the lifetime of the car almost all other cars have belts which need changing every 100,000miles at least. if you do choose to go for the rebuilt engine, you should be ok. Always warm your car up for at least 2mins to let the oil circulate and lubricate the block b4 you drive off this reduces wear friction and increases engine health. without doing this its like waking someone up from sleep and getting them to do a 100metre dash without a warm up. Perhaps this is what happened to your car. Castro magnatex oil clings to the inner parts so the oil does not drain down when the car is at rest. finally try never to push a car to its limit, but with the speed cameras and nature of our roads this may be unlikely. My first car was a vauxhaul astra, i parked on a yellow line during euro 2000 pourtugal beat england, upset i left my car on the line and went to work came back and my car was not there. The council had towed it away. now i bought it for 250 pounds and used 170 to claim it reason being i was emotionally attached as it was my first car, and i had so many happy motoring miles from it then on. i wish you the very best with your altima and i hope my advice has been helpful- Nigel U.K

Answer 3

Only if the heat shield's were between the exhaust system and the floorboard. Your mechanic did the appropriate thing. You should now by now that the Wall street Journal contains too many left wing do gooders? They may hear a tiny bit of info. from ANY car manufacturer run their uneducated slant and that's the automatic Gospel. If your tailpipe / muffler is further than one foot away from steel or neoprene fuel lines you'll be fine. If the exhaust is too close the fuel may boil in the line causing the motor to vapor lock, 99.5 % of the time this happens to under hood lines because they may get the the hottest.

Answer 4

i own a repair shop,and i,ll try and explain it,they are a good thing to have on,they do not at any time ever hurt the car or its performance,,they do help keep the heat away from the bottom of the car,which can reach some pretty high temperatures sometimes,and they are a safety feature ,which is designed to help force the heat away from the bottom of the car,if there removed you will notice the floor area of the car getting hot,as for me id prefer they was on,rather than being off ,but its really up to you on this one,if you want them or not,good luck i hope this help,s.

Answer 5

heat sheilds are used to sheild heat between the exhaust and the floor of the car and on the bottom to keep from burning or prevent fire from starting in tall grass or trash .

Answer 6

to keep the extream heat 400 degress from heating up parts that can't be exposed to that type of heat .
And to keep them from starting grass fires when parked on grass. And they will if you don't have them. Can start the car on fire if they are missing.

Answer 7

forget the shields.. they do help the exhaust system stay hot to burn moisture and gases but if u still pass inspection i would not worry except when parking in a field. if it was a shield next to starter u could have problems

Answer 8

That all depends on what heat shields were removed.
Were they protecting another component from heat damage?(could cause problems)

Were they on the botom of the car? (no-biggie)

Answer 9

the heat sheild is to keep your floorboard's from over heating and causing harmful vapor's from your car's rubber or carpet inside the car,,,,,smell anything funny??