Disasters averted by laziness

[snow_kiter]

Several weeks ago we (Northernbongolow Ady and me) removed my undertray to replace some coolant hoses and perform general maintenance.

As I have been
a) busy doing other things
b) watching a great deal of oil soak its way into my once clean concrete back yard
c) feeling lazy whenever I could have refitted the tray

1) Near Aircon Belt Disaster
Whilst travelling to North Wales I heard an intermittent rattling/slapping noise. On further investigatoin I discovered the aircon belt had started to delaminate.
This was only possible to find due to the missing tray and the belt was removed. Had it not been removed I fear it could have come off and taken the alternator belts with it.

2) Near Coolant Loss Disaster
Pulling out of a parking space earlier today I noticed a small pool of coolant like fluid on the ground. I found a spot to stop and investigated underneath. No sign of any leakage. Travelled a bit further and checked again. Continued home but no sign of temperature rise or coolant loss. Parked up in the yard - avoiding the oily bit and went inside. Some time later I checked again and found a small puddle of coolant underneath. Further investagtion led me to a small pin prick hole on the bleed hose just near the engine stub? I was able to push the hose further onto the stub, reclip it and cut off the excess. No leakage to speak of I hope I have averted the need to bleed. Had the tray been refitted I don't believe I would have discovered the leak until too late.

So whilst waiting for fault number 3 to reveal itself I beleive I WILL NOT be refitting the undertray anytime soon.

[Bob]

Let that be a lesson to us all.

More putting jobs off.

[jaylee]

My wife found her car had a flat battery on the Monday morning after 2 days standing, when starting it up for work.....

If we hadn't decided to take the Bongo on Saturday morning to go to a DIY store... It would have been a ruddy disaster!

[The Great Pretender]

The undertray IMHO has a propensity to hide early warning signs of problems. mine was discarded as soon as I started modifying my Bongo. I make a habit of looking at the parking space by reversing before moving off.
The undertray can negate the best early warning alarm system on this planet, the one between your ears. Ok, so my Bongo goes out without some of its underwear........ ......But isn't it better that small 'mishaps' show up?...

[briwy]

Does the undertray serve any purpose other than to protect the engine/transmission a bit and collect the odd leak?

Perhaps it helps funnel air to keep the engine cool or perhaps it could restrict it.
Does anyone know its exact purpose?

Leaving it off certainly makes it easier to spot faults and get at things as TGP said.

[rapiddescent]

might not be important to you - but mine does a handy job of preventing the engine bay from being packed solid with snow and ice!

[321Away]

I've always said the undertray is as much a curse as blessing,for that exact reason, you dont know you've got a leak til its been there a while or its a BIG leak!!
Julian

[mikeonb4c]

Interesting thread. I'm a fan of the undertray as I like my components shielded from the elements and I wonder also if has a role to play in helping channel air (pull also, unsing venturi effect) over the engine assembly. Also in reducing engine noise reflected from the road surface. But as the insulating material gets sodden and old, part of the benefit is lost. So I'm thinking I will take it off, remove remnants of old sodden quilting, clean and degrease it, and get something like carpet underlay cut to shape and then contact glue it onto the tray. My hope then is that any fresh leaks will show as patches on the undertray quilting. And I have an LCA, dipstick, mk.1 eyeball, and low oil warning light to take care of the other stuff.

Mine stays on

[bigdaddycain]

Was the bleedhose chafing on the alternator Pete?

[snow_kiter]

Was the bleedhose chafing on the alternator Pete?

No. Its protected by a sleeve of hose pipe. Had just developed a tiny hole at the end of the metal pipe.

[flossie]

I've always said the undertray is as much a curse as blessing,for that exact reason, you dont know you've got a leak til its been there a while or its a BIG leak!!
Julian

Absolutely this was the case for me and it was only cos I took it for an unrelated issue and it went up on the ramp that Fred noticed the substantial leak !!

[TechnoTurkey]

Mine is currently off after removing it a few weeks ago for the waterpump swap. I've drove a few hundred miles since then with no problems at all, although I am going to refit it.

As the lining on mine is sodden and horrible after years of use I was contemplating removing it and also drilling lots of holes spread over the lowest points in order to let any drips out to help alert me of problems in the future.

[Alacrity]

Had the same thing here, removed the tray to do some work & coolant ran off it. I had pin holes in the turbo water cooling pipe & a heater hose. I am not sure of the function of the tray either. Most modern cars have them but it's all to do with airflow under the vehicle to aid handling & fuel consumption - hardly the case with the Bongo! Mine is back on but I question its worth.