Sound Damper/Belly Pan came loose

[NoWaiting]

I have a 2002 4mo sedan with tiptronic transmission, no mods. The sound damper/belly pan blew off(!), well part of the way off, during freeway driving at around 60 or 70 mph in the rain. It started thwap-thwaping as air caught the front of the pan causing it to hit the road. To compensate I had to drive the last 100 miles on back roads at 40mph or less depending on my head wind. This part had been installed by the dealer so I'm wondering if others have experienced this or I got a bad installation.

Thanks,

NoWaiting

[wwh975]

The plastic shield under the engine of my wife's 2000 passat fell of half way when we were driving down the highway about a couple of months ago. It ended up costing us about $150 to get it replaced at the dealership. The guy at the dealership told us it was probably due to the Sprint Lube guys not putting it back on correctly. Impossible to prove but I would have to agree with them. So the lesson for me is to take it to the dealership for an oil change so this won't happen again.

[NoWaiting]

Thanks for the tip, however, in this case the belly pan was installed by the dealer. You mention that the 2000 part was plastic... I doubt that is the case for this 2002 because of the way it came apart, chipping and flaking as it hit the road. Thanks again for you comments.

[00Psst]

Originally Posted by NoWaiting

Thanks for the tip, however, in this case the belly pan was installed by the dealer. You mention that the 2000 part was plastic... I doubt that is the case for this 2002 because of the way it came apart, chipping and flaking as it hit the road. Thanks again for you comments.

Nope the belly pans are the same material, ABS plastic.

Anyway, it sounds like when it was put back on after an oil change or something, they forgot to put all of the hardware back on. This is fairly typical at quick lube joints but I've also heard of some dealers doing it as well. If attached properly the pan shouldn't go anywhere.

Its fairly important that you get this replaced asap as well. This pan is there to protect the oil pan which hangs fairly low in our cars. If you can't get the dealer to help you out with it, I'd go to www.drewparts.com and buy it there using clubb5 in the coupon field for a 20% discount. You can also go to www.clubb5.com and register there. Registered members get a huge discount on parts from Liberty VW in Illinois - IIRC its 10% over cost. Even with shipping this is going to save you $$$ over regular dealer costs.