Exhaust manifold damaged by corrosion

[donpalino]

For the past year I was getting some noise from the exhaust near the engine. I was thinking the donut gasket was in need of replacement. The dealer could not find any issue. Then the noise got worsening recent weeks until I found the problem.



The exhaust manifold has a heat shield on top. The metal mounts welded in the manifold to support the lower part of the shield were broken, destroyed by corrosion. The rest of the manifold was in great condition so I guess is an issue with the quality of the metal used for the mount.



I stopped by a junk yard and checked a used exhaust manifold from a 50k. Also corroded, so I a not alone here. My Yaris was almost 5 years, 85K miles when I first heard the noise.



So I had to replace the exhaust manifold and the heat shield. I could blame the salt in the cold areas but 5 years is sort of a short time.



My question is, does anybody faced a similar problem?