noisy heat shields

I think this is a common Subaru complaint, as I've seen in in my old DL and my daughter's Impreza. I used a hose clamp to tighten it all together.

Hope this helps. REmco

I had mine into the dealer last July and had the same problem upon driving home -- not to mention the fact that they left air in the brake lines, it was Friday at 5 pm, and I had business that weekend in which I needed the car and didn't quite feel safe double braking. I ended up having to take it to have the brakes bled the next morning at a local service shop. The dealer paid for that, and they fixed the heat shield so it didn't rattle, but that meant I had to take the car back 35 miles to have this done. :(

June

"buzzing" sound

wrench to

warranty? Does

Mine were making a terrible racket. (1998 Forester) I took my car to the dealer for an oil change anf had them fix the problem. They charged me a half hour's labor, but that was close to a year ago, and the noise hasn't come back.

George Adams

"All good fishermen stay young until they die, for fishing is the only dream of youth that doth not grow stale with age." ---- J.W Muller

1995 Legacy - I had the same problem and the dealer mechanic just removed the offending heatshield, saying that they were required when my soob was built but since then the certification rules for Canada have changed and that particular heat sheild is not required.

As others have mentioned, this is common. Tightening the shields and using more clamps doesn't always help because many times the problem is caused by the internal support brackets of the shields breaking off. The shield then rattles around the pipe and can't be tightened any further. This can be solved by packing the shields with stainless steel "steel wool" like one would use to clean pots and pans. Works great, doesn't rust, lasts a long time!

I bought my 2003 Baja exactly one year ago. And with nearly 18,000 miles on it, I too have this noisy heat shield problem. My question is: where exactly is this thing located so I can try to stop it from rattling?

(Please don't advise me to take it back to the dealer.)

Hillsboro, VA

Why not? If I paid that kind of money for a new car and I had a problem after only 18K, I'd be damned if I'd work on it myself.

George Adams

"All good fishermen stay young until they die, for fishing is the only dream of youth that doth not grow stale with age." ---- J.W Muller

I tried all sorts of things with mixed results. Last time I think I nailed it. In fact I screwed it. I drilled holes everywhere the vibration was occuring and screwed in metal screws of the right size (mainly 1/2 and 3/4 of an inch until they exerted a pressure on the inside pipe. I dulled the points on my bench grinder first to protect the pipes. It's been close to three months now and they are still silent. At last I can hear the true sound of my boxer engine when I rev pas 4000.

It can be anywhere from the exhaust collector to the second cat. You have to get under the car and hit the shields everywhere with a small mallet and listen. As for the cure, have a look at my other post on the same subject. Take care.

I guess I'm "old school". By this I mean that I practice the rule "if you want something done right, do it yourself". This noise, to me, is a minor problem, not worth the time & trouble to take it to the dealer and have them fix it. Plus, I like working on my cars.

This is exactly what I resorted to doing. I put screws in four places, who's specific location was based on listening for the noises while thumping my palm on the exhaust system.

They've been in for the better part of a year now successfully eliminating the noise. I've had to snug 'em up a bit a couple times tho. -Danny

You can glue a heat blanket to the shield.

This is common on all cars, I doubt that an extended warranty will cover heat shields since they tend to rust off in short order. Worm clamp usually takes care of it.