Yesterday I was driving on the motorway and heard the sound of something under the car rattling for a few seconds. I'm pretty sure I didn't run over anything so I pulled over and checked under the car. One of the bolts had come off the large metal (or plastic?) cover under the car. It seemed secure enough so I carried on driving. There was a strange noise for a while like the sound of metal under stress but it only lasted a short while and I've had this before (not too good I know).

Today I rang a Ford Dealer to see if they could check it out - he said there's nothing they can do till the New Year.

He said that it should be fine with just one bolt missing as it should still be secure but he also said, surprisingly to me, that a lot of people remove the panel altogether if/when they have any problems with it - he said it's only there for sound proofing.

Can anyone verify this??

Thanks

BTW my car is a 1.8 TDCi 55 plate.

sound proofing? it stops sh1t hitting the bottom of your engine i would suspect.

Yeah, tiz mainly for sound proofuing...make a big diiference...as engine noise vibrates very well off the surface of the road...

does help a little with rubbish....but it aint the main reason.

although as a mechanic I hate the bloody things...always got oil and water and twigs and dead animals and mud and twigs.....etc....stuck in them, so they fall on you when you remove it!!

should be fine with only ONE bolt missing...seen them on with only two cable ties before!!

[quote name='InstructorPiggy' post='57056' date='Dec 30 2009, 07:01 AM']Yeah, tiz mainly for sound proofuing...make a big diiference...as engine noise vibrates very well off the surface of the road...

does help a little with rubbish....but it aint the main reason.

although as a mechanic I hate the bloody things...always got oil and water and twigs and dead animals and mud and twigs.....etc....stuck in them, so they fall on you when you remove it!!

should be fine with only ONE bolt missing...seen them on with only two cable ties before!![/quote]
wouldnt worry about it believe it or not a lot of fords dont come with one anyway you have to buy them from the dealers as an extra even some newer fords dont have them. go into any scrapyard and ask for an engine undertray to fit a ford and they will laugh at you as so many just dont have them

Some run without them indeed. Actually its only the diesels that come with one as standard. As stated it is to keep the noise down outside the car but it does serve well as a keep the sh1t off the bottom end protector too. The biggest downside is get an oil leak and it'll be running dry before you realise its even leaking.