Help fixing V6 rattle

[monkeys437]

I'm trying to fix an annoying rattle in my factory Supercharged V6 statesman.

Ive had a metalic rattle which I can hear on Idle for ages. Ive always been able to hear it near the rear of the engine at the passenger side and when I stick my head under the car near the left hand cat it has seemed to resonate down the exhaust system

Yesterday I finally found where its coming from. It seems there is a metal cover plate (possibly a heat shield) of some sort under the passenger side exhaust manifold. I cant see it, but I can stick my hand through the gap in the exhaust manifold and give it a flick it vibrates between the block and exhaust flange and sounds exactly like the noise thats been pissing me off.

Now to Fix it!

Im going to have to pull the passenger side exhaust manifold off to fix it, so I want to know what to expect so I can plan it out and do it right the first time.

Does anyone Know of the heat shield/plate im talking about? If so, How is it supported? It feels like its screwed to the block in one place only, is this right or should it have an extra bolt or two?

Im toying with the Idea of ripping it out altogether so if anyone can tell me exactly what it is supposed to be guarding/protecting this would be very helpful.

Sorry bout the essay, But any help would be greatly appreciated

[tattsus]

It is screwed to the block,usualy in two places it sounds like yours has lost a screw, save yourself a lot of time and see if you can rip it off with a pair of vice grips. all it is a factory fitted heat sheild to deflect heat away from the area near where your head meets your block,pull it off and throw it away.

[cander24]

Any chance of a pic???
A little hard to tell from your description, but it sounds like you're referring to the heat shield on the passenger side knock sensor. Is it right next to the dipstick where it goes into the block? Don't discard this shield. They are held to the block with 2 bolts, 1 of which also goes through the engine mount bracket. Just tighten them and replace a bolt if one is missing. You don't need to remove the exhaust manifold to access it. Come up from underneath.
Cheers,
Chris

[monkeys437]

Yeah thanks guys, I discovered it was the heat shield for the starter motor and one of the bolt holes had broken away from the rest of the heat shield (dont know how that would have happened). I just decided to remove it since removing the headers would be a pain in the arse and the ecotecs don't have a heat shield so its probably not that vital even though the supercharged 6's do run a bit hotter.