Hi there:

I'm driving a 2003 Accord EX and today I noticed a hunk of metal had broken loose from my exhaust system and it is hanging down precariously close to the pavement.

It is in the center of the car, approx as far back as the driver's seat. It is like a rounded or curved metal cage. It is like 5 degrees outsite here and I didn't have the right clothes to crawl under and look.

Is this my manifold??? Convertor? Ugh.

Thanks for any advice . . .

sounds like your catalytic converter, it could be just a hanger got old but if that happened I'm pretty sure your entire exhaust would be dragging.

I'm guessing just a heat shield, you would hear very loud exhaust if it was a manifold or catalytic converter.

I would guess it's the heat shield. Not a critical part unless your parked over dry leaves.

not sure what you mean by rounded metal cage. To me that sounds like a heat-shield if anything, though your cat is also in approx the same place that you are describing. It kind of looks like a cylinder with two flanges on each end connecting it to the exhaust pipes. I don't see how you could have a manifold of any kind hanging down at that location. Is your exhaust sound louder than before?

Exhaust sounds basically the same . . . I am guessing it is the heat shield (which I didn't even know I had.) At the front end of it is is rounded where the pipe must travel through, and I could see corrosion where it must have broken off.

So if it is a heat shield, expensive repair or no?

Thanks!

Just rip it off, no real need to have it unless you drive long and then park over dry grass on a regular basis.

probably heat shield, I'm surprised you don't hear it rattling if it is hanging down. On my old truck the heat shield has almost rusted off and I thought my cat was going because it rattled extremely loud. I went in with a flat head and hammer and busted the heat shield off and what do you know the rattle went away.

Just rip it off, no real need to have it unless you drive long and then park over dry grass on a regular basis.

Hmmmm. Both my Mom and my sister live 2 and 5 hours away respectively on rural property, so I'd say once a month on average I'm driving long and then parking over (potentially) dry grass. Of course the last thing I would want to do is set their property ablaze because I didn't fix my heat shield. :)

Is it hard/expensive to replace?

the "curved metal" description you gave tell me it's the heat shield that curves around your exhaust pipe

Hmmmm. Both my Mom and my sister live 2 and 5 hours away respectively on rural property, so I'd say once a month on average I'm driving long and then parking over (potentially) dry grass. Of course the last thing I would want to do is set their property ablaze because I didn't fix my heat shield. :)

Is it hard/expensive to replace?

Their property wont be the only thing ablaze. Your Accord will also be toast if the grass under starts burning :D

I remember years ago they had a festival at a place called Arcosante north of Phoenix and the parking was on dry grass. Someone's cat caught the grass on fire and quite a few cars were torched.

If I recall correctly, the heat shield protects the floorboard and not the pavement :scratch:

The heat shield on my old Integra was on top and bottm of the cat. converter.

Don't know what it's like on the Accord, I don't particularly feel like kneeling on the cold concrete with the snow/ice and cold temperature to have a look. :)

There's probably two shields, one around the cat and one above it on the floorboard. I see one around the cat on my Ody but don't recall seeing it on the Accord :dunno:

Thought Honda's stock cat conv's had a two-piece cage around 'em that acted more like a heat exchanger? I remember that thing coming loose on wife's old '94 Civic. It rattled a bit, so I had a Mieneke tech weld it on securely. Had no problems since.

my heat shield on my vw fell half way off, and started rattling really bad, so i just got under it with a angle grinder, and cut it off, i never park on dry leaves or grass, so i did not care.
if you take it to an muffler shop, then you can probably just have them weld it back on for no more than $20 i would guess.:yes:

Heat exchanger? I don't believe so, the heat shield is exactly that, a shield to prevent the hot cat. converter (or part of the exhaust pipe) from coming to direct contact with something combustible.

Just had my '04 with 70k miles in for what I described to the service writer as a "tinny sound" coming from under the car...his initial reaction was that it sounded like the heat shield and - much to my surprise - he said they'd look at it and if it was the heat shield, they'd just rip it off for no charge.

Well 2 hours later, he calls back to tell me that it was the heat shield (rusted out) but that it's located in a position near electrical wires and that it would need to be replaced or else I'd risk melting wires, etc. So instead of a "freebie", I got hit for $300 ($55 parts and $245 labor), but after reading this thread, I'm wondering if aside from my heat shield being ripped off, was I ripped off???????:dunno:

I have the same "tinny sound" from under my car (04' accord 62000 miles) and its due for service. I really don't want to add $300 to a service that is already going to be about $300.