[janos_z]

My 400E was making a scraping sound yesterday as I drove off -- looking underneath, I saw that a metal sleeve around the front part of the exhaust (shortly behind the engine) was half fallen/rusted off. I poked and prodded until the whole thing came off -- it's a piece of thin-walled tubular metal that bends easily. The car's sound hasn't changed now that it's off. What is this piece, and should I care?

 

[menaceboy]

some kind of heat shield?
take a picture
no hot rodding till we figure it out lol

 

[Professor Booty]

Sounds like a cat (or other exhaust related) heat shield to me.

 

[Storm]

must be the heat shield

 

[janos_z]

wish i could take a picture, but since it fell off, i no longer have it.... but it sounds like the consensus is that it was probably the heat shield. so now to the second part of my question: should i care? will my car get hurt if i drive around without a heat shield?

 

[Tubs300E]

Sure as heck sounds like a cat heat shield to me.

-Tubs

 

[Yal]

Just be glad it fell off instead of hanging around and causing horrible rattling noises[] Just don't go parking in high grass now[]

 

[osdesierto]

Sure sounds like a heat shield to me.