Hello all. I was just wondering if it was ok to leave out the little exhaust shields that go arond the downpipe and turbo on my RX? How many of you left those off a while ago, and how is your car doing? Did it get too hot for anything in that area?

 

...Im only talking about the ones around the exhaust stuff. The heatshild that is part of the spare tire support beam will stay however.

I would like to hear any input about this as well.

The reason i ask is because there are really a LOT of them all stuffed down there. In my mr2 turbo i just have a downpipe with nothing like that, just ones protecting the fuel lines, but in the rx they are comming from the other side of the motor just about.

 

The downpipe ...pipe...has a lot of heatshield stuff already on it too...like directly around the pipe.

Yeah, I just did a clutch job on an 88 RX and had to take all that crap out and put it back in... that seems like a LOT of heat shieldings... seems like stuff should be okay with out the shields... you might need to upgrade any wires near it though???

i have run them absent. no problems. just check the hoses back there periodically for cracking due to heat. may want to fashion something to shiield the axle boot on the under/frontside of the downpipe

may want to fashion something to shiield the axle boot on the under/frontside of the downpipe

 

That piece could probably be left in.. but there is still like 3 or 4 other little pieces all over that thing...

i yanked the spare tire support heat shield since i don't have a spare in there anymore since i'm in the process of a tmic. when i upgrade the turbo and get a new downpipe i figure i'll wrap it in one of those cooling wraps. wouldn't that do the same job as a heat shield?

Bump

 

 

Alright, i left the shield that covers the axle boot, and the shield ont he spare tire support, but other than that i left the couple other little ones out. From the looks of it, it should be ok. But if anyone else has any input, please feel free to add it.

I guess you could spend ~$130 and get your downpipe ceramic coated to 2000º tolerance. I'd only do that on a custom job though..

Wraps and coatings will not do the same job as the heat shielding. It is designed to keep fingers from getting burned and wires/hoses/rubber/plastic from getting degraded by the heat. The air gap and its metallic properties are important for it to do this.

 

That being said, much of the EA82T's shielding seems to be for consumer protection, and to minimize the risk of an underhood fire in case something burnable (paper, loose wiring, etc) ends up where it shouldn't. I would make sure that there is air-gap metallic shielding protecting things like the axle boot, the spare tire, and any hoses and wires that you may have running in proximity to the pipes.

 

I have run mine without most of its upper shielding for several years. It makes maintenace a lot easier, and I learned years ago on motorcycles how hot exhaust pipes can get so I am careful about not touching them.

when i chanded my stock exhast to the 2 1/2 i have on there now i left the heat sheilding off the only problem i had was i keep burning the inner cv boot up so that is one i would leave on

Many of the heat sheilds on my ea81t are missing, as they self destructed when I tried to remove them (ie the bolts were too stuck, and i was far too impatient!). No implications as yet, i just ensure nothing flammable/meltable sits too close.

After too many times of trying to figure out how to put the heat shielding back on, I just left them off. I did however have my up/downpipe/headers ceramic coated, and they cool off to the touch very quickly, just don't touch the gaskets. Worth the money I say ~ $115

i ran no shields on my wagon with no problems

i ran no shields on my wagon with no problems

The one that is not running? Sure... "no problems"!!! :lol:

If you remove all the heat shields I wouldn't recommend that you use your car for 4 wheeling on trails. If you must, please don't come here to Idaho. We get waay to many range and forest fires started by people parking/driving in dry grass. Also, be sure to check your catalytic converter now and then and make sure that you don't have combustible stuff crammed between it and the heat shield.

well on my wagon i pretty much took them all off. except for the ones on the y-pipe.im not worried about setting off fires around here. where i live it is pretty much always raining.(but it does make everything muddy)

 

but honeslty, this guy is runnin a rx. somtin tell me hes not gonna go trail riding. i think you will be just fine.