Hi. Subject car is a 2012 Prius V. I installed a catalytic converter anti-theft shield (Miller CAT Shield) today. To make way for the shield, I had to remove the silver, crescent-shaped OEM heat shield under the cat converter. I found that it was basically holding in place two free-floating sheet metal components (see photo). Assuming they were part of the heat shield assembly surrounding the cat converter? Can someone ID these and let me know if they're important to reinstall? Thanks.
I don't know what those pieces are, I didn't remove or deal with them, only the silver, crescent shaped shield was removed when I installed a catalytic converter shield on our Gen3 Prius.
Thanks. Yeah, I didn’t remove either of them. They were just up in the space around the cat converter not attached to anything. The only thing that kept them from dropping out of the car was that crescent-shaped heat shield. Based on the shape, it looks like they would’ve surrounded the cat converter in some way, but I can’t tell exactly how.
Looks like the aluminum corroded off around the screws holding the heat shields to the underbody pan. Knowing that, I preempted this from happening by placing 1 inch outer diameter stainless steel neoprene backed 1/4 hole fender washers under the screw heads. They can be had on Amazon. You can still do that over the enlarged holes worn through the aluminum. Just remove the 10mm head screws that are still there on the underbody. And replace them with the screws and large washers over the enlarged holes.
I think I found where those shields came from, they were not held in place by the ones that hold the crescent shaped shield. Well, on second thought, I don't know where yours came from. The shield in my picture is aluminum, like the crescent shaped shield.
Thanks. Yes, the silver shield is still there on my car. These two pieces came from somewhere else. My main question is what harm, if any, there would be leaving them off. My guess is it would be OK, given that they’ve been rattling around up there loose for a while without issues.
Looking at some pics of 3rd gen underside, I'd speculate those pieces started out between the exhaust system and the car's floor boards. Toyota put them there for a reason; undoubtedly as a heat shield. Accordingly, I'd replace them. Do they use road salt in your area? How's the suspension, underbody faring?
