cccscotland

I'm in the midst of putting my 2002 996TT back together after major work. I see my exhaust (not turbo) heat shields are rotten. Dealer wants $600 for parts to fix. My question is - do I need them?

Other cars I've had with rattling heat shields I've just taken them off and carried on - NSX and a boxster. Any good reason for keeping them on a 996?

Cheers for any answers,
Matt

Kevinmacd

So you re saying the car is non turbo, if that is the case thecats are right up against the rear bumper, if it is a turbo, the muffler gets pretty hot, and the bumper is plastic, still an exposure.

cccscotland

Sorry, you misunderstand me. The car is a turbo, and there are two different types of heatshields - one for the exhaust and one for the turbo. What I meant was can I leave the exhaust heatshields off and that I'm re installing the turbocharger heatshields.

Macster

Replace them. Perhaps you can source used but still servicable ones from a wrecking yard in your area? Or even contact one of the Porsche wrecking businesses here in the USA (Parts Heaven or Oklahoma Foreign to name two) for the heat shields.

With the heat shields removed the heat from the exhaust will cause the plastic bumper to over time deform. The additional heat that makes its way into the engine compartment, rear body area, wiring, lights, etc., can't be good for those components either.

Price a new rear bumper cover, prepped, painted (and include the necessary adjacent panel paint blending too), and installed to make that $600 heat shield replacement bill seem tiny in comparison.

Sincerely,

Macster.

Kevin

As Macster has mentioned the heat will destroy your rear bumper AND you rear tail lights.

The turbochargers can see over 1400 F , the turbo heat shields are NOT enough to keep the heat from rising and cooking the plastic.

jimq

should be cheaper than $600 to have someone cut and bend a new set.

Macster

I don't think so. A good sheet metal/fab shop is going to charge big bucks to fab something up. And even then the shop will be hard pressed to fab something up as nice as the factory shields.

The factory shields are nicely formed, with stiffening ribs, and other surface features to keep their buzzing down, have IIRC some insulating properties to resist transferring the heat, and have very complex contours/shapes to fit alongside/against the body panels to protect them yet not catch air.

For $600 the OEM shields are cheap and do the job.

Sincerely,

Macster.

cccscotland

OK, if some heat dissipation is needed, would an exhaust wrap do the job? Still very wary of paying $600+ for something that shouldn't cost a fifth of that!

Kevin

CCC, how are you going to hand wrap the CAT's and the transition to the muffler?

I think that you need to buy yourself a Honda. Drive it for 200K. Just add oil.

The heat shields are hydroformed with multple layers to absorb the heat. Find a picture of the Carrera GT heat shields around the headers.

You are driving a car in a climate that requires expensive parts to be replaced. It is very common that the wastegate arms and linkages on your turbochargers corrode. That's going to be a $2000 repair.

Again the cost of ownership on a 8 to 10 year old car requires a cash reserve for maintenance.

Macster

Best pic I have but I think it clearly shows the heat shields are quite substantial and while $600 is a lot of money it is not like these need replacing on a yearly basis. Many owners will never even need to replace them.

$600 for a properly formed/fitted heat shield is not bad imho.



Sincerely,

Macster.

jimq

I didnt know they were that extensive.I was thinking along the lines of the ones on my 964 that are just curved metal and cost about the same.

kkswow12

jimq...that is the coolest little puppybird EVER ...cheers!

jimq

Its a "bird dog"

Hoosier_Daddy

Hi Matt -

I don't know how you intend on using your Turbo, but to give you some idea of how hot the entire exhaust can actually get, I had a friend video tape my car just after sunset one evening at a track event here in the states. He was amazed that each of my exhaust tips at the end of a long straight would be glowing a bright, bright orange. I can only imagine how hot the pipes coming out of the cats must get.

Gotta figure Porsche put them there for a good reason, right?

If it were me I would be sourcing "new" new shields.

Good Luck!

H_D

dixie

Sended you a pm,you can get them for free