Okay.
I’m in an '07 Hyundai Elantra.
My unemployed buddy, Chuck, has been changing my oil in exchange for minor compensation.
He’s changed the oil the last 4 times, in fact.
The most recent time, he determined that one of the screws holding the ‘shield’ that lives beneath my car’s oil filter was stripped. He ripped the shield off, and proceeded to change the filter and oil.
Let’s leave aside the issue of whether or not Chuck is a competent mechanic.
Is there any reason to actually replace the little plastic piece in question?
I’ve looked at the thing repeatedly, and I’m having trouble imagining it doing ANYTHING useful.
I’m in Akron Ohio, and little plastic shield or not, the entire underside of my car will be coated with salt every time I drive the vehicle for the next several months.
Secondly, is this likely to have any warranty impact?
I’m interested to know, because my wife bottomed out my 2006 Scion and the entire plastic shield underneath the vehicle was dragging on the ground and I had to remove it. Looking under the car, you can now see the bottom of the engine, the belt(s), oil filter, etc.
If I had to hazard a guess it would be reduced protection from flung objects like stones and possibly overexposure to rain water onto the underneath of the engine.
I know my compressor belt squeals like a sonofabitch whenever the engine is cold or wet ever since.
They’re there for a lot of different reasons on different cars. I think the most common one is to keep water off the belts, which is a big issue for cars that have the engine positioned low to the ground. They’re also sometimes there for aerodynamics-- it’s possible that with it removed you’ll get some new annoying wind noises at highway speeds. Another possiblility is in cars that have lower intakes, they can help prevent the engine from ingesting water if you splash through a puddle. Also, getting mud in the alternator will kill it quick, so if your car has a low-mounted alternator that could be another reason for a splash guard.
I think only if the guard is there for water ingestion or alternator issue is it really all that important (although getting a squealling belt everytime you drive through a puddle will probably get annoying), so unless the alternator or the intake “snorkel” is unusually low on this car, I’d say it’s fine leaving it off. Undoubtedly it’ll also keep some of the water and road grime out of the engine compartment which will keep things looking cleaner, but these don’t really hurt the outside of the engine.
As a bit of an aside with the warranty issue, what I’d be more worried about is the warranty implications of having Chuck change your oil. Unless the car company provides the maintenance for free, they can’t specify where you get it done, but if you do have a problem, you’re going to need to be able to provide some sort of documentation that you’ve done all your oil changes. If they’re facing buying you a new engine, parts store reciepts and Chuck’s say-so might not cut it.
I’m not saying you have to take it somewhere, but you might want to think about how you’re documenting these changes (I honestly don’t know what the best way to go about it would be). But, along these same lines, it might behoove you to keep the splash guard on at least until the warranty runs out because its absence might be a tip off for a dealer looking to hang an expensive repair on self-done maintenance.
When you think about the aerodynamics of an automobile, you mostly think about the shape of the body style that you see. But the air flow under the car is also important. Wind resistance is reduced under the car by the sealing up of some areas that used to be left open.
The plastic cladding under the car helps smooth the air flow. Without that you get turbulence and loss of fuel efficiency, more air resistance, uneven cooling of the engine, road water spray, etc.
Nothing that is going to ruin the car, but the gas mileage might go down and the noise level might go up. And certain parts may fail sooner.
When you look at the engine or under-carriage of a modern car you see a lot more of this kind of sheilding. It isn’t really for protection or safety so much but rather to help the engine operate at a steady and more controlable tempearature, and for the aerodynamics.
Right.
I’ve purchased all the filters at the dealer and kept the receipts,
I’ve got receipts for the Quaker State (reccomended brand) 5W20 I bought at Wal-Mart.
I’ve also got notes on when the oil was changed, including date and mileage.
I often change my own oil. I’m generally unorganized and lazy with respect to record keeping and paperwork. I figure the chance of something going wrong and me needing to produce oil change records is extremely slim.
I once thought that same thing. Until my engine went at 59K miles.
The car company (Subie) did end up honoring the warantee, as we were able to recreate a log, and quasi-receipts (credit card statements showing auto store purchases). Not entirely honorable in that we recreated a log (read made it up), but we had been doing the oil changes on time, and by ourselves.
Better safe than sorry, and we’ll do a better job next time we purchase a new car.
BTW, if your reciepts are the “thermal paper” sort, photocopy them. The thermal paper printing fades fairly quickly.