Is the plastic shield under engine necessary?

[jdogg]

I am a newbie and was wondering if anybody has taken of the black plastic shield underneath of the engine. It is blocking me from doing any work, and i do not want to put it back on if i don't really need it. I know it serves a purpose, but it is an annoyance to me since i cant see where i have fluid leaking from.
Thank you in advance for any feedback.

I have what i think might be run off from the oil filter, and wasnt cleaned off after oil change. It looks like dirty oil dripping from the right front axle bolts, they are the 2 bolts holding the axle i think?

[akarol]

Not needed but a precaution. I would feel uneasy knowing that at any moment, something from the road can jump up and really damage the engine.

[fitch303]

I love a clean engine bay and the shield does exactly that. It takes about 3 minutes to take it off and another 3 to put back on, don't be so lazy.

I have an opening where the block and tranny meet where I can see the flywheel, is that normal?

[Papachristou]

its also my understanding it helps force the air through the engine better. if the air can escape out the bottom then it doesnt flow through the radiator and engine bay as well, increasing engine, exhaust and IATs especially for those of us with FMICs.

With that being said, i ran all winter without mine, but i may run some logs this weekend before and after i put it back on... im curious if there is a measureable difference.

dont forget it has some air scoops/vents on the pan to pull hot air out of the bay as well...

I have an opening where the block and tranny meet where I can see the flywheel, is that normal?

yep

[CO AVANT]

I see no reason why I would take it off. Road debris alone is enough for me.

[jdogg]

Thank you for your feedback. I just do not think that on my car the shield is sitting correct. There is a couple of plastic clips that are not in place and there is little bit of sagging on the rear end. And also it is in my way of getting at everything i want to see. I only have a smaller jack and cant really get to far underneath.
I am trying to find where the oil is dripping from.

[CO AVANT]

Did someone change your oil for you recently? If so they could have spilled a bunch from the oil filter onto your subframe and it's slowly dripping off.

Also check the turbo oil return gaskets, oil pan drain plug, valve cover gasket, crank seals, etc...

You probably knocked off some 1/2 turn screws and/or the clips those screws turn into. There are three in the rear of the belly pan that hold it in place.

[jdogg]

I just bought and picked up car last week. I had been told that the oil was changed, so that is what i was assuming happened, but i cant see beyond the shield. Until i get it off i am going crazy because i do not like drips on my drive way. I own a 93 civic as well with 400k and never had dripping!

[gtsingh91]

I just bought and picked up car last week. I had been told that the oil was changed, so that is what i was assuming happened, but i cant see beyond the shield. Until i get it off i am going crazy because i do not like drips on my drive way. I own a 93 civic as well with 400k and never had dripping!

was that 400k a typo?

[manhertm]

Anybody interested in buying these, I thought about contacting a supplier to reproduce these at a lower cost, since, they always come up missing on our cars(Jiffy Lube)

[jlaudio]

was that 400k a typo?

honda lol..

[Pufftrees]

Not needed but a precaution. I would feel uneasy knowing that at any moment, something from the road can jump up and really damage the engine.

I do feel uneasy lol, I havent had mine since i bought the car. Some mechanic at a jiffy lube prob forgot to put it back on and I never felt like paying for a new one

[MikeWire]

Mine is sitting in my garage right now. I still haven't put it on...

FWIW that piece of plastic will do you no good if you hit something in the road. It's really only good as a wind deflector, and I'm wondering how good of a job it does at that.

[A4 TSCHUSS]

Alot of people have them, alot of people dont, me personally haven't had one for 2+ years.

[fitch303]

The shield also helps you locate where the leaks are.

[JMRQuattro]

I don't have one either. My car didn't have it when i bought it. I'm contemplating getting a new one to put on just cause i don't like the idea of mud and rocks and whatever else is on the road flying up into the engine bay. And like someone else said, it'll help keep the engine bay cleaner, which is a plus to me. Although i might not end up getting a new one. It might just be a bigger PITA than it's worth.

[szinkuti]

its not really a shield...its a "noise insulation pan" according to Audi....it does not protect against road debris....i have seen lots and lots of cars that come in with the belly pans on and oil pans with holes in them....

[A4SoftWalker]

Took mine off when I started doing my own oil changes 4 years ago... after the warranty expired and I got tired of paying $60 for synthetic oil changes. My how time flies.

[CO AVANT]

Tell me how it doesn't protect against road debris? It's common sense no matter what audi uses it for. A rock 1/2" in size will probably not break the belly pan. But it will prevent it from flying up into the engine bay. That's protecting against road debris IMO... I have worked on many cars and it seems all the cars running without a belly pan have a more dirty engine bay.

[Johnnada]

Anybody interested in buying these, I thought about contacting a supplier to reproduce these at a lower cost, since, they always come up missing on our cars(Jiffy Lube)

I am interested, but the shipping cost is the problem.

[maclem8223]

Tell me how it doesn't protect against road debris? It's common sense no matter what audi uses it for. A rock 1/2" in size will probably not break the belly pan. But it will prevent it from flying up into the engine bay. That's protecting against road debris IMO... I have worked on many cars and it seems all the cars running without a belly pan have a more dirty engine bay.

Road debris I agree with; clean engine bay depends on where u live. If I wasn't in socal I wouldve bought a new one just for the keeping it clean factor. Had a b5 and b6 no problems this far without it...

[Pr0n]

After the horror stories I've heard, (rocks hitting the oil pan, water from a puddle causing the power steering to fail, etc.) I'm wary about not running with it. I think Winston (podi) was thinking of making a metal one.

[JoshDub]

Tell me how it doesn't protect against road debris? It's common sense no matter what audi uses it for. A rock 1/2" in size will probably not break the belly pan. But it will prevent it from flying up into the engine bay. That's protecting against road debris IMO... I have worked on many cars and it seems all the cars running without a belly pan have a more dirty engine bay.

I agree.

After the horror stories I've heard, (rocks hitting the oil pan, water from a puddle causing the power steering to fail, etc.) I'm wary about not running with it. I think Winston (podi) was thinking of making a metal one.

Wouldnt a metal one be more heavy?

EDIT: But I guess it would be more protective, so about how much more would a metal one weight vs. the plastic one?

[A4Ever8]

Not really necessary. I've been driving without one for a while now just because it is such a pain in the ass to work on the car.

[rxrep]

This is the last belly pan thread I'll state this in; hopefully someone will refer back to it on the millions of times it gets posted in the future...

I logged before and after.
All temps went down noticably with pan ON.
There is a reason race cars run them. Air turbulance hurts in many ways. Temps just being one that we'd worry about, since none of us are fast enough on a road track yet to worry about the other effects, lol.

Run without it for all I care. I was going to since my car doesn't get driven in bad stuff. But after logging, no way. It stays on. And it isn't a big deal to take off; I don't see what all the fuss is about for an extra minute or two TOPS. But hey, it ain't my car, so have at it.

[itsdarrow]

havent had mine on for 3yeard and everything is great

[Edible]

I've heard it also helps direct air flow underneath the engine.

I'll keep mine on anyways.

[jkjk15]

too lazy and a pain to put on and take off...so its been off

the only upside I see in having it off is that I can find any leaks in the engine right away, I noticed valve cover gasket and front cam seal right when it happened. I don't think I would have noticed the small cam seal leak until I did my next oil change...

[mullardel34]

The A4's skid-plate serves a number of purposes beyond its sound-dampening task; the skid-plate improves aerodynamic air-flow as well as providing additional protection for the engine's oil-pan.

At highway speeds (55+mph), a number of forum members have observed a loss of several miles-per-hour when operating without an engine skid-plate. The plastic OEM skid-plate can fracture, with chunks of the skid-plate being released by encounters with road debris. As long as 75% or more of the skid-plate remains intact and properly attached to the car, most of the highway mileage benefits are retained.

The B6 A4's oil-pan is amazingly thin-walled and fragile; the skid-plate provides an important additional degree of protection. For those with a B5 A4 (1996-2001), there's the "Panzer Plate" heavy-duty replacement skid-plate fabricated by DieselGeek (http://www.dieselgeek.com/servlet/Detail?no=375). The "Panzer Plate" skid-plate is only a few bucks more than the plastic OEM part and offers a durable aluminum skid-plate that only adds a few pounds of weight (I wish these guys offered a "Panzer Plate" for my B6 A4; I'd buy it in a heartbeat... ;-)

[woofster]

I, too, debated removing the plastic shield permanently to faciliate work under the car but after thinking about it carefully for 30 seconds, I decided that it was not a big ordeal to either put it on or take it off.