The heat shield around the rear box on my T-Jet is dead, corroded and being supported by and rattling against the exhaust. Will anything get too hot if it just remove this and leave it off permanently?
Mine did the same a few years ago, I used the old bit as a pattern and made one from 3mm alloy, I appreciate this doesn't answer your question but if they didn't need to spend money on it, you can bet fiat would have never fitted it, it's an expensive sized sheet of metal if you think how many grande puntos there are.