What is purpose of exhaust front pipe heat shield on a 1992 Camry V6 LE, 3VZFE engine

[danmancalif]

Can someone please tell me what is the purpose of the heat shield on the exhaust front pipe or crossover pipe or Y-pipe on a 1992 V6 Camry LE, 3VZ-FE engine on a California car? The reason I mention California is because sometimes there are additional rules and requirements for cars here.

Mine was leaking and I bought a new one online from auto parts warehouse dot com and had it installed. It was made by Bosol in Mexico.

I had it installed by a local shop but they could not reinstall the heat shield that was around the original pipe. The problem is that the original pipe was sort of flattened in sections to fit the shield whereas the new Bosol pipe is perfectly round and the shield won't fit around it. The pipe itself seems to be well made and fit well to the exhaust manifolds and the catalytic converter.

The mechanic says that he doesn't think it will cause any problem but the Toyota engineers must have designed it that way for a good reason. Anyone know how important it is.

So far it has been impossible to get auto parts warehouse dot com to recognize their mistake in describing the part online as "Direct fit OE replacement" and to do much about this other than to say that they have to receive the part back in order to give me a refund for the part only... not for the labor to maybe remove it and install another, correct pipe from a better source.

My thinking is that auto parts warehouse dot com sold me something that is not "Direct fit OE replacement" as they advertised because it doesn't fit the heat shield. They lead me to spend the installation money that I may have to spend again. Of course, they do not want to assume that financial responsibility.

Should I bother trying to deal with this issue any further? Will something be degraded or risky without the heat shield? What do you think?

[abew330]

the heat shield is used to keep high temp from exhaust system radiating to the passenger compartment or other vehicle parts that should not be exposed to the high heat

[danmancalif]

Thanks abew330. So what is the risk or consequence of not having the shields? Anything serious?

[muminiasty]

engine overheating maybe?

[slpr1mz]

hot legs!!! i mean from the temp of course.

[the_professional]

We're talking about the smaller heatshields that go on the front exhaust pipe, not the manifold heat shield right?

I extremely doubt the lack of heat shields will cause your car to over heat. Overheating, would not be caused by an exhaust pipe.

That being said, like you said, they are there for a reason, I would be worried that they may burn/melt something in its vicinity as it travels to the CAT. Just an assumption though.

[bcp477]

The primary purpose of exhaust heat shield(s) in the engine bay is to help prevent you from badly burning yourself, if you accidently touch the hot exhaust header/ down pipe. That's about it. You'll still burn yourself if you touch the hot heat shields.....BURN yourself....not ROAST yourself. So, the heat shields are not that much of a safety improvement, after all. The heat shields do serve a small additional function in keeping excess heat away from things like hoses and belts, etc.....but this is not really an issue, unless you sit at idle for looong periods. Airflow moving through the engine compartment will control excess heat when the car is moving. There is no functional problem with your heat shield being left off (not fitting)....so, I wouldn't worry about it. As for concerns about excess heat transferred to the passenger compartment (without the heat shield)..... that is NOT true. The engine compartment actually retains more heat (stays hot longer) after the car is shut off WITH the heat shield(s) in place....than without them....and the exhaust pipes cool faster in the airstream without the heat shields in place, as well. So, barring any state regulations (I know of none)..... I'd just not worry about it.

[danmancalif]

Thanks to you all for your input and recommendations. I have decided that I will just live with it the way it is and not worry about it at all.

However, I can't say anything good about auto parts warehouse dot com. Trying to get their customer service people to understand is impossible and when I finally spoke to two different supervisors, it got me nowhere. The organization is very frustrating to deal with and i recommend against them.

This is not my first problem with them either. I bought Tokico struts from them and one failed. I had to argue with them until I was crazy and i had to actually do all the legwork to put them in touch with Tokico in order to get them to acknowledge the lifetime warranty and to honor it by replacing mine. It was enough to drive a dead man crazy.

If their price is lower on something, I can almost guarantee that it's not worth dealing with them.

Thanks again all.

[danmancalif]

I forgot to add that the make of the front pipe or header pipe is Brosal and emailing that company and got the following response: "751-011 does fit on your car. In the aftermarket there are no heat shields on any front pipe made in the aftermarket. This is not a requirement." So, I wouldn't recommend Brosal parts either. I also have an old VW bug and I know the carbs they make for Bugs are not very well thought of at all. Just something to be careful about....

[AdamS]

A "HEATSHIELD" is just that....It is not a safety implement meant to prevent you from burning yourself - besides who sticks their uncovered arms anywhere near a hot exhaust? It is also, not meant to prevent overheating....

It is in place to do one thing- STOP RADIANT HEAT -- to "Shield" from "Heat"

Radiant heat will cook nearby components, result in heat soak, and raise underhood temperatures.

-=AdamS

[danmancalif]

Ok. Now I have a few different opinions on the purpose and I have negative responses on taking responsibility from both the manufacturer, Bosal, and the retail seller, auto parts warehouse dot com.

So the remaining question is "what should I do?".

Yesterday I was thinking that I would do nothing more but the idea that the part was described as on "OE Fit", by both Bosal and auto parts warehouse dot com, BUT does not fit the original equipment heat shield, just bugs the hell out of me. These companies don't want to take any responsibility for misleading advertising that lead me to pay for installation of a part that is not an "OE Fit" in the way I understand the term.

What does one do with such irresponsibility?

[AdamS]

A while back I decided to pay an absorbent amount of money to have a custom, true dual exhaust system made for my car. It was created from the manifolds back. As a rule, most exhaust shops will not do two things: 1) Install exhaust flanges- so you can remove the system in segments- as in OEM 2) reuse/recreate the exhaust heatshields.

Consequently, I have not had heatshields in place fore a good length of time. Fortunately, I have not noticed any ill effects of not having the shields intact. However, I did notice that the "transmission tunnel" that the center console sits on does get warm after extended driving (4-5+hrs). This is directly related to the missing heatsields. However, I have not noticed underhood rubber/plastics (hoses, belts, etc) hardening or becoming brittle.

I could foresee that over a VERY long period of time the extra radiant heat will prematurely age plastics and rubbers. If you plan on driving the car for the next 20 years I would consider having someone fabricate some shields--or bend and weld the factory shields to fit. Otherwise, I would not worry about it. And you are right they were engineered for an express purpose.

Just had a thought....it is possible that the Bosal parts are using double wall piping.....if so, then the heatshield is built in and it would be unnecessary to use the factory shields.

Hope this helps!

-=Adam

[mazdaverx7]

i don't have the heat shield on my 92 SE. the y-pipe has seen better days but when replaced, never came with the heat shield. i have not had any issues with under hood temps or abnormal interior temps.