Undertray

[Insomnia]

On my 1.8, my undertray has got soaked in oil, sagged and now is draping over speed bumps. As a result, its now rattling away and makes the car sound terrible when you inside!

Question is, is the undertray essential or is it just a 'luxury' kinda thing to have to protect the engine bay?

New one seems to be £50 odd or so from Fiat, but if I had to replace it (rather than just remove and leave off) I'd try scrappies.

Cheers!

Ins.

 

[Anonymous]

i promised someone an answer on this a while back but forgot to post it.
Talked to fiat about mine and they suggested removing it as it is mainly for sound proofing, but knowing the nature of the tensioner problems and their proximity to the road i've opted to keep it, to avoid geting anything in there.
I've cable tied mine up until I can justify the cost (£78 for hgt).
there are 3 part codes for bravo undertrays, one for the hgt, one for the common rail diesel, and one for the 1.8 hlx and also the original diesels.

If ever you hear thunka-thunka-thunka from your front wheel, pull over; you may well find you have only two wheel nuts left and both of those are probably loose! Not that that has ever happened to me, honest!

 

[DeanoBravo]

Hehe - i just spent ages on the weekend taking the old tray off and putting the new one on my hgt. It was sooooo bloody fiddly and i couldn't get under the car properly, so that hampered me big time.
I'm happy it's on now though.

Dean

 

[Tom]

Given that the 1.4, 1.2 and 1.6 don't have them I can't see it helping extend the life of the cambelt tensioner.

Maybe if you use lots of injector cleaner it will make the tensioner last longer too

 

[DeanoBravo]

I think the previous comment was made with regards to how close the belts etc were to the road. On the hgt, the undertray doesn't lie far under the belt at all. (Not sure how other models are in comparison.)

It will help slightly to protect that if nothing else!
Although it's not the strongest or most impact resistant material going.
Dean

 

[Tom]

The belts go to the bottom pulley on all the engines. They are all close to the ground.

 

[Anonymous]

Fair enough - i was just suprised how close when i was under the car. Not often when i am, but it sure is interesting!

Dean

 

[rsmallwo]

clean?

does it keep the engine bay clean from debris splashing up from the road etc.

i like the fact its there....must be psycological

mind you, unless the screw/bolt in my hand comes out and drops into it!!!

 

[Richard]

Re: clean?

I smashed my tray up in an accident and took it off - then ran around for a few months without one and it wasn't a lot more noisy, nor did anything happen to the car, even though I was doing a lot of motorway driving over the winter.