Hello. I'm trying to put my 04 G35x back together. I'm nearly done but I have one odd shaped bracket that I don't know where it belongs. I was hoping someone could help me identify it so I can finish my car up.

I will upload pictures soon but for now, a description is a black painted heavy gauge steel 4 sided box the size of my palm with a circular notch on one side. The notch is almost the same size of the steering rack. It has one attaching bolt about 8mm thread size and two 6mm bolts attaching the pieces together.


Can you help identify this piece for me?

 

Definitely need pics..

 

I didn't post pics because I found out where it goes. It was sort of like a miracle I suppose because I don't know how I did it.

Anyway, that bracket is an oil shield that sits just above the front diff flange and attaches to the engine block. It is there to shield the exhaust manifold from oil slung off the diff.

Thank you for your willingness to help me out!!!

 

Why would oil be "slung off the diff"?

 

It shouldn't. The diff flange is attached to the pinion which goes through the housing. A pinion seal keeps the oil contained inside the diff. If the pinion seal goes bad, oil can be slung off the pinion as it turns and hit the underside of the exhaust manifold and potentially cause a fire. It's actually the first oil shield I saw for a diff. I'm still not sure how I figured out it goes there since it's been almost a year that I removed it.

 

Strange that they'd put a shield there just for "what if" the seal fails.