Heat shield repair

#1
My 2009 Corolla just started rattling upon start up. and the rattle comes and goes. Especially noticeable on start up but hear it from time to time.I started car and isolated the rattle to be coming from underneath the car. When I viewed underneath the vehicle, I observed a heat shield laying on the exhaust pipe (I think exhaust pipe - I had no jack to get under for a better view). I dont think it is on the drive shaft but it is in the middle of the under belly.

Does anyone know if this is an easy repair? Easy to have someone weld? Ideas on how to repair appreciated.
 
#2
Your Corolla is front wheel drive, so there is no driveshaft. The heatshield is attached between the exhaust and the cabin floor. It may be loose or simply bent from some debris in the road. Mine was bent by some cardboard I ran over. I simply bent it back a bit so ut did not contact anything and csuse a rattle. Conversely one of the attachment points may have come loose. I dont remember how it is attached, but I do remember it being pretty simple and straight forward.
 
#3
Mine came loose when it rusted by the retaining bolts. I didn't feel like working underneath to fix it so I took it to an exhaust shop. They replaced the bolts and used oversize washers. $20 out the door.
 
#4
Sorry for the driveshaft mention. I know better than that. I just took a quick look underneath with no jacking or even a light as I saw aluminum heat shield hanging in a metal something. Your right, it was the exhaust. I was just able to jack my car up just enough to slide underneath and basically work with one hand. Unfortunately my floor jack would never reach rear cross beam to jack on so I jacked up car using shock absorber struts. That is why I was just able to slide under. Very surprised nuts came off easily. Bought nylon 10mm nuts and 10mm large washers and bolted back on. Glad nuts were just offset from exhaust and could easily remove. Saw some other nuts right over exhaust pipe. Just like new now!
 

fishycomics

Super Moderator
#5
You can use jack points to safely get under , and use jack stands for those points. When you do correctly get under, you then can figure out how you'll repair? Yeah I called my drums, disks and rotors, we all make mistakes. We knew what you meant and just be careful how you repair. I repaired one of another car if clamping or finding a better bolt etc...
 
#6
This seems to be a rather common issue in this model years. Mine rusted around the 4 retaining bolts. I removed it and found one in amazon for $25. I just never bought it.
 
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