It’s just a splash shield under the engine, it is not a “critical” part of the car, it’s as critical as a mudflap. Pretty much every Civic of this generation on the road has it held on with just zip ties at this point, unless it has just been tossed in the trash. There is no way this affected the acceleration or speed of the vehicle. The shield gets trashed due to snow/ice damage, and the bolts all seize which rip out the nuts from the shield when you try and unscrew them.
You’re thinking of the exhaust heat shields. This is the engine skid plate. It’s there to protect the engine compartment from road debris and provide aero for better fuel economy. It’s pretty common for the screw holes in them to rust or wear around the fasteners to the point where the fastener head no longer covers the hole and they fall down.
Not really. The only part of a car that is hot enough to ignite grass is the cat converter, and this shield does not cover it. And cars before 2010 or so never had a shield like this. It is purely for fuel effiency.
OK, it’s clear this clear this thread is full of “experts” , but I actually worked in this industry.
Any exhaust piping from the engine before the cat is hot enough to ignite, and even more so if there is a turbo. It gets red hot. On teh top of the motor, at the exhaust manifold, these are insulated to keep heat out of the engine bay, but the heat from there to the catalytic convertor needs to be dissipated.
Catalytic converters have been around in cars since 1975. And heat shields made of thin aluminum. Not sure where this 2010 number comes from.
Aero coverings under a motor away from any exhaust routing are make of smooth ABS plastic , or PET, they are called “splash shields”. PET is nicknamed “hairy cardboard” by mechanics. These are not skid plates. Skid plates protect the sump and transmission from impact damage and are typically thick steel or thicker aluminium and are aftermarket for off road use.
This is the actual part, it’s a combination of splash shield and heat shield :
It’s a large pressed sheet of aluminum, with added noise insulation on the sides, but not the middle because of heat. It also has a NACA duct to direct cool air to the hot exhaust above it. It has to come out on this model to do an oil change. It is held in place by a series of plastic push clips which typically break when removed. It’s not a good design. However, it has no weight, which is why the tech used nylon straps. I’m pretty sure what caused the failure was damage from driving over a speed bump tearing the aluminum, then air flow at speed ripped it apart.
Most mechanics, including dealership mechanics, simply discard the heat shield when the thin aluminum gets brittle. BUT, they should tell the owner and give them the option to replace it, which no one does because of the cost.
That’s complete bullshit. It is only there to help fuel economy a bit, it is paper thin aluminium, about half the thickness of a licence plate. You can fold it in half with one hand. Sounds like someone drove into the ditch and is trying to find someone to blame and cover the costs because they don’t have insurance.
I don’t think anyone claimed the car drove itself to the ditch… it was the part suddenly falling off the car and dragging that cause the emergency stoppage.
The fact that CanTire mechanics, and you apparently, think it’s OK to leave pieces of a car (non-vitals as they may be) dangling under the car barely held in place by plastic zip ties, does not really mean there is no claim here.
Do better… your shitty attitude is exactly why mechanics have such bad reputation
It’s just a splash shield under the engine, it is not a “critical” part of the car, it’s as critical as a mudflap. Pretty much every Civic of this generation on the road has it held on with just zip ties at this point, unless it has just been tossed in the trash. There is no way this affected the acceleration or speed of the vehicle. The shield gets trashed due to snow/ice damage, and the bolts all seize which rip out the nuts from the shield when you try and unscrew them.
it’s critical if you park on tall grass in a dry field.
You’re thinking of the exhaust heat shields. This is the engine skid plate. It’s there to protect the engine compartment from road debris and provide aero for better fuel economy. It’s pretty common for the screw holes in them to rust or wear around the fasteners to the point where the fastener head no longer covers the hole and they fall down.
Not really. The only part of a car that is hot enough to ignite grass is the cat converter, and this shield does not cover it. And cars before 2010 or so never had a shield like this. It is purely for fuel effiency.
OK, it’s clear this clear this thread is full of “experts” , but I actually worked in this industry.
Any exhaust piping from the engine before the cat is hot enough to ignite, and even more so if there is a turbo. It gets red hot. On teh top of the motor, at the exhaust manifold, these are insulated to keep heat out of the engine bay, but the heat from there to the catalytic convertor needs to be dissipated.
Catalytic converters have been around in cars since 1975. And heat shields made of thin aluminum. Not sure where this 2010 number comes from.
Aero coverings under a motor away from any exhaust routing are make of smooth ABS plastic , or PET, they are called “splash shields”. PET is nicknamed “hairy cardboard” by mechanics. These are not skid plates. Skid plates protect the sump and transmission from impact damage and are typically thick steel or thicker aluminium and are aftermarket for off road use.
This is the actual part, it’s a combination of splash shield and heat shield :
https://www.ebay.ca/itm/285530340600?chn=ps&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=706-89093-2056-0&mkcid=2&mkscid=101&itemid=285530340600&targetid=1657783856815&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9000871&poi=&campaignid=17285617092&mkgroupid=135567174886&rlsatarget=pla-1657783856815&abcId=9300872&merchantid=5432291163&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=17285617092&gbraid=0AAAAAD00iICQ4YNwezIZGjZ6fxz1ZDWZ3
It’s a large pressed sheet of aluminum, with added noise insulation on the sides, but not the middle because of heat. It also has a NACA duct to direct cool air to the hot exhaust above it. It has to come out on this model to do an oil change. It is held in place by a series of plastic push clips which typically break when removed. It’s not a good design. However, it has no weight, which is why the tech used nylon straps. I’m pretty sure what caused the failure was damage from driving over a speed bump tearing the aluminum, then air flow at speed ripped it apart.
I have been a licenced tech for 30 years, was at Honda/Acura for 18 of those years.
Working at CanTire?
No, I don’t work on 20 year old shit boxes.
oh, so you hook up a scanner and replace whatever it tells you until it gets it right and the customer is properly milked… got it
FTA:
Sounds pretty damn critical to me.
Most mechanics, including dealership mechanics, simply discard the heat shield when the thin aluminum gets brittle. BUT, they should tell the owner and give them the option to replace it, which no one does because of the cost.
That’s complete bullshit. It is only there to help fuel economy a bit, it is paper thin aluminium, about half the thickness of a licence plate. You can fold it in half with one hand. Sounds like someone drove into the ditch and is trying to find someone to blame and cover the costs because they don’t have insurance.
I don’t think anyone claimed the car drove itself to the ditch… it was the part suddenly falling off the car and dragging that cause the emergency stoppage.
The fact that CanTire mechanics, and you apparently, think it’s OK to leave pieces of a car (non-vitals as they may be) dangling under the car barely held in place by plastic zip ties, does not really mean there is no claim here.
Do better… your shitty attitude is exactly why mechanics have such bad reputation