Suzuki Heat Shields for Sale in South Africa

Suzuki's current local range is petrol, so exhaust work here is about catalytic converters and lambda sensors rather than the DPF systems that dominate the diesel marques. Cylinder count is the thing people get wrong: most of the range is a three- or four-cylinder with a single system, but the older Grand Vitara was also sold here as a V6, and a V6 is a different exhaust layout entirely from the manifolds back. The naturally aspirated and turbocharged Vitara derivatives differ from each other too, and the rear-drive Super Carry and Eeco are routed unlike anything else. In practice the decision in front of you is whether the section that has failed can be replaced on its own or whether corrosion has already taken the neighbouring joints with it.

The derivative — on a Vitara whether it is the 1.6 or the 1.4 turbo, and on an older Grand Vitara whether it is a four-cylinder or a V6. With that we can usually confirm the right part quickly, and we'll tell you whether we're quoting new, aftermarket or good used rather than leaving you to guess.

It is the quickest way to stop the noise and the most expensive mistake on this list. Those panels are the only thing between a pipe that runs at several hundred degrees and the carpet, the fuel line and the plastic clips holding the brake pipes. Scorched carpet and melted clips are the mild version of what follows.

If the panel is still solid and only the mounting has torn, a workshop can pack it with a large washer or clamp it back properly and that holds for years. Once the metal has gone lacy around the holes there is nothing left to fasten to and it needs the panel.

Shields are identified by position rather than by a name most people would recognise, so the fastest route is a photograph taken from underneath with the area circled. Send that through the quote form along with your model year and engine code.

The examiner is looking at whether the exhaust is secure, leak free and not fouling anything, and a shield swinging loose against the pipe or a hot section sitting bare next to a fuel line is exactly the kind of thing that gets written up. Fitted properly they are also just quieter.

Different metals bolted together with road salt and condensation between them corrode faster than either would alone, and the shield is far thinner than the pipe to begin with. Coastal cars and cars that live on gravel see it first, because grit strips whatever coating was there.