Driving without belly pan
 

I'm trying to locate a minor leak. Any risk of driving without the belly pan for a week or so.

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Hey Dirk, I'm guessing you mean the splash guard? plastic under tray that locates under the engine bay area and is held on by little plastic screws into the underside?
If this is the case ( please someone else clarify ) I really wouldn't imagine so....It doesn't really protect anything as such but more keeps the engine area clean:)

Jim,

That's pretty much it although the piece is fairly good size. For a short period of time (one week or so) I wouldn't see much harm. For a longer duration I would not recommend it as the belly pan also protects the various electronic bits from getting wet.

Mike

It probably improves air flow as well as keeping things clean and somewhat protected (from wet, stones etc), but I guess it should be OK running without it for a while.

Finding a leak may be harder, because the air (and any rain) will swirl around and drag at the leaked material. Worth a try, though.

I drove around for a month not knowing that mine was still in the garage after they had removed it for the service and to trace a leak. I did not notice any difference at all. I am surprised at that as it is packed with soundproofing, (diesel version) but it would maybe only noticeable standing outside the car on startup.

It was during the summer and the bay did not get dirty at all.

I'm surprised the undershield would be sound-proofed on the diesel. It's not on any of the other cars, AFAIK.

I would drive around without the undertray for a day or so (and have done so while working to solve various issues), but I wouldn't do it for extended periods of time. Your HVAC compressor sits very low in your engine bay, and so do a couple of shielded HVAC hoses that are stupidly routed just below the oil filter. Both of these areas are well-protected when your undertray is in position. Stay on pavement and watch out for debris in the road if you're out there with no undertray. Murphy's Law, you know....

+1 on what Jon typed up!

I drove around for a week without Joyces, trying to figure out an oin leak, turned out it was the oil pan gasket.

Delta66,

This must have been during the Scottish Dry Season.:icon_teeth:

Mike

I think that is one afternoon in July. :icon_wink:

More likely to be an oil absorbing pad, I know on my Volvos it just there to catch any fluid drips from the engine compartment.

I don't know if it's different than the one on my 05 STR but on mine it looks like a miniature skyline of a city with all kinds of molded square projections on it of differing heights. I think it is indeed an airflow as well as a sound deadening design. Mine also has an air inlet on the bottom as well as extreme heat insulation at the rear near the exhaust.

I'm curious how they determined where to vary the size and height of all of those squares. It looks rather like a blown up image of a digital approximation of gentle rolling hills.

Mine just had a lot of sand and stuff in it.

Bob S.

When my mechanic removed my STR's belly pan a family of illegal immigrants jumped down and scurried away?

Back on my 540i, there is a small access hole for the oil drain plug (wish Jag had the same feature). I went to change my oil one day and a dead, oily mouse dropped out of the hole. On me. It was nasty.

Talk to BP about that? MUAHAHAHAHA!!!

bfsgross:
I don't care who you are, but that's funny!!
Thanks for that!
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Illegal immigrants? Oh how un-PC. LOL.

Priceless....


Well bfs, this should definitely improve your 0-60 time and your 1/4 mile! Less weight....


When I had my tray off for oil change and messing around, there was this hose hanging down that had a stopper stuffed in the end. I don't remember what it went to. Anybody else notice that? Looked like a vent hose or something.

Probably trans. vent tube. LOL! "...a family of illegal immigrants jumped down and scurried away?" What a nut?

Just had mine off today also. And yes I've got what looks like a 1/2 inch hose with a stopper in it. Also what are the plastic bags attached to the cover meant to do? And lastly there are two large apertures in the cover plus a small hole directly in the middle should this have a stopper? I always thought the shield was to stop oil drips etc, must admit mine was somewhat oily, so why all the holes in it?