Ford Fiesta Heatshields?

Question

The other night my Fiesta was making a stupid rattling noise, so I looked underneath it and this big old bit of metal / material was hanging down and touching the ground, so I took it to a garage and the mechanic said my heatshield was falling off, so he ripped it out, although it couldn't be replaced because the screws or something had gone (I don't know much about cars, as you can probably tell! lol). So now I don't have a heatshield. My biggest worry is that I'll be driving along and all of a sudden my car would burst into flames and I'd burn to death (not a very pleasant senario!), so could anyone experienced in this field please tell me the chances of this happening?. As I said - I'm hopeless when it comes to cars - hence why this question doesn't contain many details, all I know is that the heatshield was underneath my car and it looked like it was suppose to be wrapped around my exhaust.

Many thanks :)

Answer 1

The heat shields are there for 'just in case' measures in terms of heat. The only time your exhaust would be hot enough to catch your car on fire, your catalytic converter would be glowing cherry red, and you'd definately be able to feel the heat in the car. Also, they can sometimes act as protectant, such as for plastic fuel tanks and carbon canisters.

If your car is running normal (or even halfway normal) you really don't have much to worry about, other than a little heat coming up from under you, but nothing out of the ordinary. If it was for a fuel tank, I still wouldn't really worry that much about it, since the fuel tank (if it's plastic) has a 6 mm wall to it, and that requires high temperatures to melt.

Answer 2

This heat shield was either the protector for the converter or the muffler and it protects the vehicle from catching on fire in case you park on the grass or something gets stuck on either one one them, I would have them put it back or have a new one put back in place.