A while back, I went to one of those corporate places for an oil change. They fucked up putting the metal thing back on the undercarriage, but a family member told me it would be okay without that. So I’ve been driving without the metal protective layer thing.
This fell off sometime on my drive home from work. We are currently experiencing tornadoes, so I can’t examine it too closely at the moment. It appears that it was just zip tied back on…
I am dead broke - my money this month has to go to car insurance, I can’t even afford registration at this point.
Can I just rip it off? I need an oil change soon, but I’m going to try to stretch it out a month or so.
Seems to be about money. Belts, rust damage, and engine internals cost more in the long run. Do they have to pay their credit card bill? “For the record, they don’t…” Zip ties must be expensive now days… damn tariffs.
Yes, it is all about money. I have negative 100,000 dollars, because my dumbass thought supporting my trust fund husband through his schooling would mean something, and instead got tortured and shackled with hell credit card debt. I don’t get an oil changed because I am terrified when I do they will say something is even more fucked withi and it will be 10 billion dollars please. I am getting a second job. I need to be able to make it to the first job.
I fucking hate the car. I want to drive it into the surface of the sun. The ac has never worked.
At one point I knew how to do an oil change. I could do it on my Corolla, because that was designed in a way that a human being can interact with. The 2018 Honda Civic is designed in such a way to obstruct the fact that it is fundamentally a broken vehicle.
Understandable. Civics are quite well made, so I wouldn’t expect it to immediately become a rust trap from some short term splashes. Generally, mechanics will tell you other stuff is wrong, but it only matters if it’s adjacent to what they’re working on for liability. They may find some problems like a glazed dipstick from going too long between changes, but it’s just informational.
If you’re interested in putting that plate back on, my guess is that they used plastic zip ties on a metal shield. Usually, manufacturers will only use more expensive metal guards if it gets hot in that location. You can buy metal cable ties real cheap that will hold up much better. Fasteners are also cheap if you can figure out which one, but I dunno if I’d bother on a car that’s on its way out in my mind.
Recommendation is just to prioritize it before Winter weather.
Sorry your money situation is so dire. Credit can be the hell that keeps on giving.
You act like the bottom of a car is hermetically sealed.
These things act as deflectors for debris and channel airflow better. There may be nominal protection for belts, but that’s not a massive factor given most belts are behind the fan and aren’t likely going to take damage or get damaged. Particularly given the break angle from the underside of the car and where these things are positioned… neither this photo, nor the person’s attitude, connote that this is a performance vehicle.
Few non-aircooled cars require flashing for cooling, either. Older Porsches (993s and prior), aircooled VWs, Corvairs, and other aircooled cars need proper flashing to vent and restrict airflow. Water-cooled rely more on the radiator, thermostat, and fan.
Edit: typos and shit.
Don’t really see a major disagreement here other than the direction of primary exposure, belts some how being protected behind a fan when the main exposure is from the sides, etc. Puddles have a lot more corrosion potential than rain/snow. Point isn’t to seal, that’s unrealistic, but rather to deflect enough that every puddle isn’t pressure washing your engine bay with salt water. An example car where this was a major issue was a 97 galant, which had the crank shaft low and in alignment with the water jet from the driver side tire. There was a splash shield that directly intercepted the inner spray. I would classify that case as more than nominal protection.
Edit: Maybe you’re working mostly on RWD cars, could explain our misunderstanding. I mostly work on FWD Sedans and AWD SUVs
I have both. I also worked as a mechanic for many years. I realized that I was exhausted with this conversation, so I don’t feel like discussing it anymore.
OP is fine.