The Nissan Path

I had rattling for the past 8 months and finally had a bit of time while out camping over the weekend to see if I could pinpoint the cause. I checked all skids & heat shields and discovered that one of the metal bands that wraps around the pipe and heat shield under the driver's door had been severed. Probably from rust. First question is what diameter pipe we have. I didn't even think to measure it while I was under there. I'll either buy a 3" or 4" pipe clamp for it which I will trim to fit. I also noticed a wire connected to one of the flange bolts, which then looks like it runs a few inches to a nut on the frame/undercarriage. My wire is completely gone & looks like it simply melted off. I'm assuming it's a ground, but for what purpose?

Most people use radiator hose clamps to replace the broken heat shield clamps. They work and they're quick and easy (some will just remove the heat shield and toss it). The ground strap is just that. Nissan used them for years and it's not uncommon for them to rust off over time. You can repair or replace it if you want, but most just cut them off and discard them when they break.

I'll leave my melted wire as is. Thanks for the info.

I pulled the car into the garage today, pulled off the busted clamp, then put on a new hose clamp. Started the engine and immediately heard the rattling again. I crawled underneath again and started smacking the exhaust with my hand to pinpoint the rattle. Come to find out, I had 4 more broken clamps. After a quick run to the store for more clamps, I'm now finally rattle-free. Bloody hell. I'd advise everyone to check their heatshielding clamps.

A few of the busted clamps:



How it looked underneath (the rest had the breaks on the upper side):



And a bad picture of the melted wire:

Yeah, that's pretty common. I just replaced two of them a couple of days ago on my 2008.