[WHITE KARMA]

After getting the new exhaust system i still have this slight raddle noise when im driving on stealth mode but its only when i drive on a bumpy street its like a metal scraping noise from the right front wheel Lormax checked the heat shields and pretty much everything else couldnt find nothing lose. Anyone have or had this issue with their car? But I guess the next thing is taking off the heat shield.

 

[8AVGMPG]

heat shields arent needed. techs were going to be instructed to remove them once the exhaust recall was launched but it never happened.

 

[Harleyguy]

I've been removing heat shields for months now also makes doing an alignment a lot easier

 

[SoCalGuy]

I've been removing heat shields for months now also makes doing an alignment a lot easier

Why are the heat shields not needed?

 

[8AVGMPG]

Why are the heat shields not needed?

They dont really do anything but make noise. Any time a new car came to FA HQ they were usually the first thing to be removed.

 

[SoCalGuy]

They dont really do anything but make noise. Any time a new car came to FA HQ they were usually the first thing to be removed.

Follow up question - why were they put there in the first place? Was this another example of the over engineered/conservative settings on the Karma?

 

[Harleyguy]

Follow up question - why were they put there in the first place? Was this another example of the over engineered/conservative settings on the Karma?

You are correct about over engineered . When I was at Fisker they were in the process of making the car lighter and placing heat sensors all over the car to test what parts they could start removing to reduce weight and remove cooling system parts and monitor the changes . Even going as far of drilling holes in the front bumper to increase cooling . If things had moved forward they would of eleminated cooling pumps and hoses etc . Like you mentioned over engineered .

Guess they finally reliezed the heat shields were overkill and I can't agree with them more . Removing the heat shields has helped more then not

 

[8AVGMPG]

Follow up question - why were they put there in the first place? Was this another example of the over engineered/conservative settings on the Karma?

well, in theory it makes sense to have them. if the car had proper development & testing time they probably would have been axed prior to production but you know how the story goes.

 

[WHITE KARMA]

So I guess no1 has had this problem with this metal scraping noise even on stealth mode? Because all the heat shields are adjusted and tightened. So its like a mystery what this noise is.

 

[FAChassis]

Don't remove the heat shield attached to the middle/rearward section of the front subframe. Also the HS near the CAT must stay.

 

[Harleyguy]

The heat shields that get removed are the ones that cover the lower control arm and the one that goes behind the outer mufflers only them .They are made of a light weight tin .All the other heat shields are heavy aluminium leave them alone . If you only hear the rattle in sport mode its proably a heat shield if in stealth the noise needs to be looked at . Also right behind the center muffler that has four torx screws holding it in they sometimes are to close to the center muffler and rattle the shield also covers part of the front of the HV battery

 

[WHITE KARMA]

Thanks for the info but Lormax said he will remove the heat shields so i think he knows what to leave and what to remove.

 

[WHITE KARMA]

The raddle is coming on stealth mode and sport i can hearnit better on stealth mode but lormax couldnt find anything that was lose on it or what wasncreating the raddle noise. So he said he will take off the heat shields to see if that may bebthe reason.

 

[Lormax]

The rattle is very subtle, and can only be heard with the windows down. A tinny noise, I'll be trying the heat shield removal and going from there.

 

[WHITE KARMA]

Thanks Lormax I was just trying to see if anyone else had the issue with their karma since we couldnt find the exact spot where the noise was coming from.

 

[FAChassis]

you describe the noise as 'tinny'.... could be dust shields. Try tugging on them to pull them away from the rotor.

 

[Lormax]

Ahhh, good call. Fisker of OC just did the coupler on that car before they sold it, so it's entirely possible that the shield is having an issue. I'll be meeting up with him on Monday, will check that as well, thanks!