The TSX having been available here in North America for five years now, I’m wondering whether any owners of older, higher-mileage TSXs have had to replace mufflers or any other pieces of the exhaust system because of corrosion. Obviously, the prime candidates would be in areas where winter brings the use of road salt, which takes a major toll, accelerating the aging process.
My ’04 has 58,000 miles on it and has just endured its fifth New England winter (a bad one). When I took the car to the stealership for an oil change a couple of weeks ago, and I asked the service adviser to have the technician look for the cause of an occasional under-car rattle I’d been hearing for a while. The report: thanks to corrosion, the catalytic converter shield is loose; replacement would cost $189. That made me wonder how long, in this climate, I can expect the pieces of the exhaust system – converter, mufflers, pipes – to last. Other TSX owners’ experiences would provide the best basis for a prediction. Anyone have a component-replacement report to offer?
By the way, when the converter shield came loose on my previous car, I had it removed and never replaced it, and I never had a problem (i.e. parking over dry grass and having the heat from the unshielded converter cause the grass to catch fire). I’m debating whether to replace the TSX’s shield. Thoughts?

 

Good question. I'm in Mass. too and have wondered how long the system on my 05 is going to last (third winter here, almost 70K miles). From my crawling around underneath (Progress RSB, Ingalls camber kit, brakes, etc) I'd say it still looks pretty good, but who knows. One thing you should check though is the radiator hoses. I noticed not too long ago that the lower hose and clamps really look like they're ready to go (the hose looks bloated and the clamps are white). I'm going to have both hoses replaced when the car is in for the 70K service (I could do all this myself, but with the miles my wife and I drive (she has a TSX too) I decided it's best to let the dealer keep an eye on the cars). Oh, and I think I've read here that most leave the shield off when it goes.

 

Mine's holding up fine with no particular issues.

I'd say though that what is critical to the longevity of an exhaust would have to do with the lengths of usage every time you start the car. Do you run it long enough for it to heat up well and evaporate all the condensation? If so, that would greatly help, whereas 5 minute runs would let the exhaust rust much quicker.

 

If the salt attacked his cat's shield, leaving the shield off would allow the salt to attack his cat directly, would it not?

 

My cat heat shield is rattling too (90K miles though). I heard you can take some big hose clamps and tighten the shield around the cat a bit to get rid of the rattle. haven't tried it yet...

 

my heat shield came loose a while ago and was sheared off when i went over a raised manhole cover. Should I get it replaced asap? Or can this wait a bit?

 

My car currently has hose clamps around the heat shield that dealer applied when I asked about a rattle (at $50 dollars for 5 minutes of work and two clamps, grrr). It now buzzes infrequently (same rattle, just a higher frequency due to the clamps). I'll probably just cut the shield off at some point. I've had 3 other cars that I've "repaired" in the same manner with out any problems.

 

lower heat shield?

it can wait for sure.
in fact I'm taking mine off on purpose, lol.

so don't worry about it.

I have a cusco type 2 underbrace coming, along with tons of
other bracing. and the lower heat shield needs to be removed for the
cusco bracing to fit correctly.

I'm not worried, you shouldn't be either.

 

I’m the OP in this thread. Here’s an update re. my converter shield. I was on the phone with my dealership’s service manager a few weeks ago when I mentioned that the shield was rattling and that one of the service advisers had told me (months ago) that replacing it would cost about $200. (I don’t remember whether the $180-something price I was given included labor.) I told the service manager that I was considering having the shield removed and just going without it, just as I did on my previous car.
Not surprisingly, he didn’t react positively to that idea. If I’m recalling correctly, one of the things he said was that just taking the shield off isn’t quite as simple as it sounds, because the O2 sensor inserts through the shield. Can anyone advise on that? (I haven’t been under the car to look.)

 

It's pretty simple. 4 bolts. I want to say all you need is a 10 mm socket. I would it when the engine is cold. He's right that the o2 sensor plugs into it, but it's only one one side, and the heatshield is is designed around it. It comes off as two separate pieces.

I had rattling issues with mine and have had it removed for awhile now. The other thing you can do is just go to a muffler shop and have them try to weld the area that has broken off.

Either solution is a lot cheaper than getting a new one.

 

My experience:

-2004 TSX with 47K miles

-Heatshield began to rattle at 43K

-One bolt out of the four was rusted through

-Jacked car up, unbolted 2, and sawed the last one out

-Ripped the cat shield out and threw it away

No problems as of yet, $190 is a JOKE for this part. I would make mine out of aluminum cans before I would pay that much.

 

I'm in Mass also. My 2004 TSX with 90K miles just lost the catalytic converter heat shield when my wife drove over a branch in the street. The shield was dragging so I ripped it the rest of the way off. I saw on an acrua dealer website the covers cost under 30 bucks each (one top one bottom). I just wonder now how bad the winter will wear the converter and the O2 sensor.

 

serious heat shield rattle and converter both gone to crap and replaced under warranty. '04

I know I've seen a thread here about at least a few others having the same problem.

 

I had rattling for the last 9 months and it was really bugging me. I thought it was my under body panel under the engine bay, because it's loose. Over the weekend, I heard scrapping and realized my heatshield was hanging on 1 bolt. I tapped it up using foil tap, but that only lasted a day. It came off last night again so I had to life the car this morning and take off the whole shield before work.

My co-worker advised me the heat from the converter might melt parts of my underbody because the shield isn't there anymore. <- Can anyone comment on that?

Anyone that wants to remove the shield, you will need a 10mm and 12mm socket. I'm at 103k miles in Philly, so I've been through 5 winters.

 

just curious, would this problem be solved with an aftermarket exhaust like comptech?

 

No, because your exhaust is after the catalytic converter.

 

Hmm, I took mine in last week (04 with 56k miles) for the rattle and the dealer said its considered normal age/wear and so its not under warranty. He said the heat shield bolts rusted off. Do you guys know if I can challenge this? I go to Rallye Acura in New York.

 

Proud resident of sunny California

 

The casing of a catalytic converter is made of stainless steel. Also, there are air vents and drain holes in the bottom-half cover, so some road salt always gets in, but a lot less road salt splashes the converter with the covers in place.

Another problem is the possibility of thermal shock to the converter core when a hot converter gets a good drenching from water while riding over a water covered road. The covers are there for a reason, more than just keeping the grass from catching fire.

============
What rusted off was the horizontal metal plate that was welded to the forward end of the converter. The plate has a bolt hole at each end through which special heat-resistant bolts (size 6x12, cost about $3.50 wholesale from Honda) pass through and fasten the forward ends of the two converter covers together. The plate is not a purchasable item.

There is a similar (but different!) metal plate welded to the rear of the converter with openings for two additional 6x12 heat-resistant bolts. If this rear plate is still intact, soak the rusted bolts in PB Blaster for several hours and use a #10 metric wrench to get them off. Usually not a problem.

Then use the rear bolts to keep the two cover shells from rattle fore and aft, and use hose clamps to keep the two shells together.

The covers cost about $27-$28 apiece from Honda wholesale. If it were my car, I'd buy the covers and bolts and do the job right. It's not difficult.

 

Though this thread is 4 and a half years old, the converter heat shield issue is probably one that is even more pertinent now. I posted here over 5 years years ago, and the exhaust system on my 05 was in amazing condition when I sold the car in January (almost 8 years old, 178K miles, and Northeast salty, sandy winters). I did have to replace the 2 piece converter heat shield last year, as it had started to rattle at start up. I would strongly advise against running without it. I tried it, and even at highway speed, the heat that the converter generates is amazing, and though I thought the air speed would cool it, it didn't take long for me to start smelling the underside of the car heating up from the radiant heat. It's not a hard job, and I was actually able to get all of the shield bolts out without too much trouble. The price quoted above is fairly accurate; I think I paid like $46 or $48 delivered for the shield pieces and I think I was able to re-use the bolts.

 

Simba - the dealership today told us we need to replace the "exhaust shield". They didn't specify which one:

http://acurapartsworld.com/parts/200...iagram=4830160

if i got the car up on ramps, is it pretty easy to determine which one(s) on my own? I don't want to pay their quoted $300, but for < $100 as a DIY job, I'd do that just as preventitive maintenance.

 

First, why do any of the "shields" need to be replaced? Can I assume something is rattling? If so, I'll bet you it's the 2-piece catalytic converter shield (numbers 13 and 14 on the included diagram link). Since the diagram shows all of them, you could get under the car and see if any are loose or in rough shape. I didn't have any trouble with any of them but the converter shield on my 05. My guess is that any of them could be replaced without much trouble (I've had the ones over the mufflers off when I installed the trailer hitch on the 07, and though you have to drop the rear part of the exhaust system to get at them, it's only 3 rubber hangers if I remember correctly).