Ground clearance/undertray

[156er]

The undertray on my 156 seems to be hanging down quite a long way. It's been getting worse and embarassingly my missus' lowered MX5 can attack speed humps faster than I can. Things sank to a new low yesterday (scuse the pun) when I ran over a 1 litre milk carton lying on it's side...and it hit the bottom of the car. Not good.

Has this happened to anyone else? Can I just remove the thing?

Cheers

[pdV6]

I don't know how its held on, but can't you just have a look underneath, see where its come loose and re-fix it with appropriate screws/bolts/whatever?

[anonymous-user]

I've seen it mentioned in a couple of places that these are almost consumables on the 156. It has to come off for each service from what I can tell (to get to the oil filter, etc.) so it may just be a case of checking that one or two of the fixings hasn't come loose.

[Avocet]

They're awfull! My wife's has been bashed that many times that I've had to cut most of it off now! As has been said, they have pretty "Mickey Mouse" fastenings because they need to come off to drain the oil. Yours has probably broken one or more of its fastening points and is hanging down lower than it should do. Up to a point, you can "lash" them back together with cable ties but sooner or later a new one will be the only solution. We live in a pretty rural area with plenty of bumpy single track roads and even when the car was reasonably new we were still forever catching it. I phoned the local dealer to ask how much a new one was and whether they had any in stock or would have to order one. He laughed and said they always had plenty in stock! In the end, I decided to just do without it. It hasn't adversely affected cooling or stability or noise but the bottom of the sump does (not entirely surprisingly) get more muddy.

[pwig]

You will get one fitted for free as part of your service, you will just need to pay for the tray itself.

Otherwise, just try and tie it up with cable ties as a temp fix.

[saxmund]

These are notorious, both for being too low and for being made out of cheap cr*ppy plastic. An outfit called zeatek in Denmark has started making aluminium ones which are not only tougher but have better clearance and if you go to the Technical forum at alfa156.net you will find a group purchase under way. The full price is 150 Euros, I think the group purchase target price is £95.

[156er]

Thanks for all the advice guys...I'll try and get it on some ramps, see if cable ties will do the job short term, and look at my options if not.

Cheers

[Avocet]

Can anyone tell me what it actually is supposed to do?

[pdV6]

Avocet said:

Can anyone tell me what it actually is supposed to do?

Guessing, but common sense suggests:

- Scraping the plastic before an oily bit gives you warning of impending doom before it happens.
- Helps smooth airflow under the engine bay.
- Stops cold standing water splashing hot bits and causing damage.
- Catches oily drips etc and lets them drip out behind rather than spray into the brakes.
- etc

I'm sure there are more things you can think of, one of which might actually be the right answer!

[wombat rick]

Avocet said:

Can anyone tell me what it actually is supposed to do?

I'm pretty sure they are there to help with the drive by noise regulations, but in real life I don't think you will notice any difference if you just take it off and skip it.

[saxmund]

As I understand it, it keeps the engine clean (OK a lot of cars don't have one so it's probably not particularly necessary), is part of the interior sound-deadening system, and most importantly protects the sump against knocks.

[Avocet]

Thanks all!

I can believe the noise test argument. I gather it's a very common measure used by manufacturers to lessen the amount of noise reflected off the tarmac. I have removed about 2/3 of my wife's now and haven't noticed any difference in cooling or stability. As far as warning of impending sump damage, I'm not sure about that. It used to warn us about an inch before hitting the sump but round here, on landing after a good hump back bridge, that only represents about 0.001 seconds warning!

[saxmund]

Just to add,lots of people drive theirs without undertrays and seem to come to no harm, but if you drive a lot over speed humps or on rough country roads it might be worth being safe rather than sorry. The sound isn't exactly deafening without an undertray, but I'm beginning to get a bit fed up even with the glorious sound of a twinspark engine revving and I'm hoping for a small reduction in noise when I get my new tray.

[Avocet]

I think you'll be disapponted. It only prevents engine noise reflecting of the tarmac and towards the noise test meter. I'd be very surprised if it was discernible inside the car.

[saxmund]

It's not my main reason for getting it (which is protecting the sump from rocks and suchlike on country roads), so I won't be too disappointed.

[Avocet]

You'll be even more disappointed if you're hoping it will protect the sump! It's only made of fibreboard!

[saxmund]

No, I'm getting an aluminium one.

[marcp68]

you think you've got problems with the sump on a 156.............try a series 4 spider........ even medium sized rocks/bits of flint can wreck it!!

ANy suggestions on protection for the sump?

>> Edited by marcp68 on Friday 13th January 10:47

[Avocet]

saxmund said:

No, I'm getting an aluminium one.

Are they not just sheet metal replacements for the existing one? If so, I doubt it would be much better - possibly worse in fact because it might not shatter like the fibrous one so you might end up not noticing a leak from a cracked sump above it for a while. IMO if you can't jack the car up on a sump guard, then it's not worth having.

[wombat rick]

marcp68 said:

a series 4 spider........ ANy suggestions on protection for the sump?

A sump guard!!

It's is a common problem on the 105s as their sump is huge and soft.

See here:
www.ebspares.co.uk/news39.htm

>> Edited by wombat rick on Monday 16th January 13:56