cgranger said:

I was about to service my TA 4x4 for the first time today so had read up on the rusty sump guard stuff. Mine was not too bad - just a bit of surface rust here and there.
All good I thought until I came to undo the bolts holding it in place. Even with a good soaking of penetrating fluid half of them would not budge and started to round off. I tried ring spanners, open ended spanners and 6 point sockets but they would not budge.
I have only had the car 6 months so do not know its history other than it is a 2015 with 19k on the clock.
Any suggestion or shall I take it to a garage and let them sort it out?
Chris

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This sort of thing 'worries' me. Fiat say the petrol-engined Pandas should have an 'inspection service' every 9000 miles, and an oil change every 18000 miles or annually in low-mileage cars. That means that sump guard should have been removed annually (given your car's total mileage)... which I reckon means it should have been off six times by now, and yet the bolts are rusted solid. I think sometimes people see the 'oil every 18000 miles' but don't spot the asterisk that says 'or annually'

(I appreciate this car is new to you so the comments are about its previous owner )

Perhaps they used a Pela pump to suck the oil out via the dipstick tube, is the oil filter not high up on the TA as well?

Herts Hillhopper said:

This sort of thing 'worries' me. Fiat say the petrol-engined Pandas should have an 'inspection service' every 9000 miles, and an oil change every 18000 miles or annually in low-mileage cars. That means that sump guard should have been removed annually (given your car's total mileage)... which I reckon means it should have been off six times by now, and yet the bolts are rusted solid. I think sometimes people see the 'oil every 18000 miles' but don't spot the asterisk that says 'or annually'

(I appreciate this car is new to you so the comments are about its previous owner )

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I share your concerns which is why I want to change the oil ASAP.
I will have another go at the bolts this week using plenty of penetrating fluid and a bolt extractor socket - not used one of these before but Youtube videos suggest they look to be what is required.
I did notice some oil on top of the sump guard so I was hoping that someone had removed the sump plug with the guard in place and let the oil run out over the guard. It looks like it would just be possible to do this with the right length extension bar on a socket. Maybe this is just wishful thinking!

I read about galvanizing and stainless steel, but anyone thought on aluminium rugged sheet? I bet it's better to bend and reproduce the original engine guard.

I imagine so, but there's a couple of areas which are bent back upwards towards the subframe which wouldn't be able to be bent easily I'm guessing.

I think folks need to look more closely at the shape of the sump guard. It is generally curved from front to back, as well as being 'dished' so that all 4 sides are sloping. This is an easy shape to press but more complex to fabricate by bending. The guard effectively has two parts in its structure: there are strong thick, flat steel bars welded together to make a frame which offers the overall strength, and this is supplemented by the tray which acts to 'slide over' obstructions. A tray formed just from sheet metal would lack the strength provided by that heavy welded frame. (The photos in my earlier post here https://www.fiatforum.com/panda-iii/486312-rusty-sump-guard-2.html?p=4588444 show these two elements...)

The guard is also shaped quite precisely to offer maximum protection to vulnerable parts under the car – not only the sump – whilst not reducing the ground clearance by any more than necessary. The front section has (on my diesel) a very particular section right at the front which protects a special, flat-bottomed-profile plastic section of the turbo ducting. I wonder if that section of duct is unique to the 4x4 (to allow for more room underneath)? You can see it in these photos...

Hi all, sorry to bump this thread but after reading this I thought I'd take my sump guard off for a closer look.
It looked ok until I started cleaning it up. It's made of thin pressed steel welded to a frame. Without the frame it would have no strength for taking any knocks. Water and crud has settled between the frame and guard between the welds and helped it to rot. If I find a new skid plate, I'll have it galv dipped. My cross is a 17 reg done 55k
I'll put some pics on.

Hey Rosco, dont know if its any help but see my thread on sourcing a new one. Herts and Lunchbeers did some great work tracking down the part number for the twinair one. Will update on the quality when mine is received.

Many thanks artonic, I'll keep my eye on it.

That's poor for a 17 reg.

Shudder to think what my 15 reg (which spends its life hammering up & down a muddy farm track) must be like.

Still, out of sight, out of mind...

Alex4x4 said:

Yep as per ePer £140-00 plus vat on top of that!?
So i guess a Stainless steel one would be double that but lighter more durable & no need to paint!? Last the lifetime of the car!

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Stainless steel weights more then regular steel and is also more likely the fracture and crack