plastic trim under the engine!

espzetec · Unread post by **espzetec** » 20 Aug 2004, 16:25

right, im going to replace the accumulator sphere. dfo i do this from under the car or from above?
I cant gain access to the enigine from below as there is a plastic trim fixed in place that covers the whole underside of the engine bay. is this normal as i have never seen this on other xantias. Its also have a scrape by the looks of it and is sagging down, nearly touching the road. or maybe its the weight of all the oily gunge on the surface of it?? i think i may have an oil leak? bottom half of the engine block is very very grimey?

MW · Unread post by MW » 20 Aug 2004, 20:12

Yes, it's normal. Try not to break it because new ones can be quite expensive.
Mine got a fit of the sags a few years ago - in fact it had been scraping the ground for quite a while before I discovered it. Fortunately I only needed a partial replacement, which wasn't too bad.
Best of luck with the job!

NiSk · Unread post by **NiSk** » 20 Aug 2004, 21:10

The plastic trim contains sound-deadening material and was fitted to quite a lot of diesels - it's also useful for keeping the prying eyes of MOT inspectors blindfolder to the goings-on under the engine/gearbox.
The plastic gets brittle and breaks up around the bolt holes, this together with the possible weight of oil spills/leaks is the reason why they droop.
//NiSk

JohnD · Unread post by **JohnD** » 21 Aug 2004, 20:35

I left my bottom engine cover off for a trip to Spain last winter - mainly because it was too cold here to mess about putting it back on. When eventually I did replace it, I found the bottoms of the wheel liners damaged and torn. I've replaced the five nuts and two bolts with quick release wing nuts.