Exhaust heat shield

unless I read it wrong it needs to be a fire hazard.did it catch light on the way there?

that's for you to decide assuming youre a tester,the main ones ive seen that could be considered a fire hazard would have been on/around a petrol cat and even then it generally needs to be misfiring.i assume you've seen a cat glowing red and melting the underseal etc?you assess what you see,if you think its a hazard it fails,if you don't then you advise,fuel tanks don't get differentiated between petrol/diesel despite their different ignition points and its a possible hazard certainly.

Another item in need of proper clarification. The manual does not tell us to check that all heat shields fitted as standard must be present, and The RfR clearly states the fail is for perceived fire risk, not missing heat shield.

and then we need to be able to differentiate between gaps where-lets say-the petrol version had a shield but the diesel didn't and vice versa,another can of worms,anyone for a fishing trip while the dvsa sort out the bait?

Don't get exhaust heat shields mixed up with BODY shields,the exhaust shield is the one's that are actually fitted to the exhausts,body shields are not,except for the one's fitted around the fuel tank,then that one is a fuel tank shield....if fitted

How can they all be? if they're not attached to the exhaust then they're not exhaust shields,if they're attached to the body that makes them body shields.

Did you ring the helpline?

Yes went through help line and also had email to confirm and it said if your in dought as one is fitted pass and advice I think the word risk of fire so if plenty room around exhaust a subjective view may be sensible course of action until told different

Exactly it's a shield to protect the vehicle and it's components from the heat of the exhaust. Where or how it's mounted is irrelevant.

We actually check fuel tank heat shields & exhaust heat shields (see RfR below).

Most are fastened to the body so they don't need replacing when the exhaust is replaced although most fall off before that happens. You only see them on the exhaust when no body mounting is possible.

If the RfR referred to shields fastened to exhausts only it wouldn't be in the Fuel System checks under RfR e. Fire risk due to fuel tank shield or exhaust shield missing where fitted as original equipment.


I think this RfR is based on common sense more than anything. I won't be failing any that doesn't meet the criteria exactly to be honest Hemi. To meet the criteria exactly it must pose a fire risk as shown in bold above.

Fire risk is the actual RfR criteria we work on.