I have had a rattling noise coming from the exhaust manifold area on my car for about a year. I never really bothered with it, and then i had my car in the shop for something else and they mentioned that it was a bad "header pipe", that was the specific word they used. I am wondering if anyone else has had this problem and if i really do have to buy new exhaust manifolds.

 

I have the same exhaust rattling from my SE. It is getting to the point of driving me up the wall. At least the weather is getting better--or it should be. At that point, I will remove the Y pipe heat shield to see if that helps (I found evidence of a rusted strap stuck between the shield and the pipe).

 

Yeah its been bothering me because my exhaust sounds really nice, but its killed because you hear alot of rattling.

 

So you think taking the heatshield off would help? The guy who put my muffler on said that he thought it was a weld that broke off of the heat sheld, but then a nissan specific shop told me it was the exhaust manifold...

 

The heat shield expand/contract makes rattling noise, mostly heard when engine off, cooling. Nuisance. The heat shield is installed to get hotter gases for CAT, it does not work cold =most of time! It also insulates exhaust gas generated noise.

 

Yeah i know the noise you are talking about when the car is off, but this is a constant rattle whenever the car is on, it never goes away as long as the car is running. I guess i will start with taking the heat shield off too. That wont cause problems will it, like over heating something in the engine bay?

 

If its loose shield with rusted off connectors, pressing that shield with screwdriver will end the resonances. If this is the problem, then use some wire to wrap it tight. Tst.

 

Is it safe to take it off completely tho? Like if i try fixing it and that doesnt work, can i take it off safely and not have to worry about like catching on fire or something crazy like that?

 

taking it off...you SHOULD be ok. just look at the aftermkt y-pipes...they don't have any shields on. just don't decide to park over a huge pile of dry leaves or something like that. use wire or a large metal hose clamp works for me too.

 

That is so.

Take off only problematic parts.

 

first.. lift your hood while the engine is running and find the problem yourself. don't take the word of a greasy monkey.. most of the time they're looking for idiots to scam. charge them for a new manifold when it's a rattling heat shield and such.

a little common sense will go a long way here.

 

i had a constant rattling at idle. it was just the headshield over the cat converter. it shouldnt be a problem if you take it off. took mine off in november cuz it was rattling like CRAZY and still no problems with it till now. all i have now is just a broken exhaust manifold stud(s) =/

 

When I had the car up on a lift, my rattling sounded like it was localized to the Y pipe heat shield. After I turned the car off and did some further poking around, that was when I found parts of the rusted strap. I am just hoping that is really the source.

 

Yeah i took off all the heat shields that i could see last night, there might still be one or two that i missed, but its still there. So either i missed a few shields or im stuck with a rattle.