Hopefully someone can help me with this :confused:

Since getting the dogbone bush and Whiteline RARB fitted about 4 months ago (this could be entirely unrelated of course) I've noticed a strange noise when hitting horrible potholes and bumps. It doesn't make the noise on all road imperfections, just the particularly nasty ones.

Anyway, the noise is a plasticky crashing sound, and I only noticed with the window down one day.

I thought it might be the undertray so I had a look and it does seem to be a bit loose but I don't know if it's meant to be like that anyway? Is it supposed to be really tight and secure along the whole width of the tray, or do they all have a bit of give up and down? Is it just secured at the sides, if you see what I mean, because mine doesn't seem to be secured at the front towards the bonnet, along it's width?

Any ideas gratefully received

That short front splash guard clips into the front valance, then has 4 screws attaching the sides to the two side splash guards. If the front isn't clipped in properly then that might be it.

It's really common for the rear portions of the side splash guards to get ripped off when grounding the subframe, meaning they flap around. This causes the front guard to flap a bit too, since it relies on them being secure. I managed to smash one of my side splash guards on the deep snow, which caused it to move about when braking hard or going over bumpyness! They're only £25ish and easy to change, so nothing to get worried about. The screws also tend to rust and crumble away.

Might be worth checking the 3 splash guards and fixings....

Thanks Bodge, that sounds about right.

When you talk about the side splash guards, those are the ones that go under the wheel arches?

When I looked under the car the front splash guard is definitely not attached at the front so it's unclipped itself I guess. I suppose the dogbone mount made everything stiffer/harsher so the extra vibrations have probably worked it loose, or finally killed the screws. I'll take a proper look. Cheers

I manmaged to rip the splash guard on my Ibiza mostly off in a flood- it caught the front and unclipped it. Then I had to snap it off to drive home.

Thanks Bodge, that sounds about right.

When you talk about the side splash guards, those are the ones that go under the wheel arches?

When I looked under the car the front splash guard is definitely not attached at the front so it's unclipped itself I guess. I suppose the dogbone mount made everything stiffer/harsher so the extra vibrations have probably worked it loose, or finally killed the screws. I'll take a proper look. Cheers

Yeah the side ones attach to the undersides of the engine cradle, then drop straight down (lower wheel arch) and wrap under the engine slightly. They stop all the water and crud covering the aux belt etc. Most mk4 golfs you see on the motorway have two little plastic 'ears' hanging down from under the engine where they've snapped off the backs!

To remove and re-attach the front one you might not even need to raise the car up if you have a short bit driver or one with a flexi extension. Once you get it off you'll see how it slots into the metal panel under the radiator. It has two or three fingers that hold it in. Maybe yours got snapped off or something? Could have been the result of murdering some small furry animals!

Could have been the result of murdering some small furry animals!

Unintentionally of course

Just out of interest does anyone have a picture of the underside of the cover? I heard a strange rattling the other day on my octavia and found that the plastic trim covering the cam belt area was lose but then it dawned on me that I'm sure on my old VRS I had a plastic splash guard on the underside of the engine bay, well my new Octavia Mk1 doesn't have any cover??

There's a few on here who I think have never had a guard on the underside :confused:

There's a few on here who I think have never had a guard on the underside :confused:

I don't have one and it's not listed on the dealers parts system(using chassis number) as having one either.

So I guess some did, some didn't

HTH

But then mine has the side parts that seem to link on to the guard, these have broke away and for the moment have been fixed with cable ties, the plastic bits that cover the aux belt which I'm guessing is quite an important bit to be protected??

I think that's why it's there, yes. It's only £25 from a Skoda stealer, or less from the scrappy.

I still haven't had time to check mine properly yet. It's deffo loose though and I should get it sorted before it comes off :eek:

Will add it to my list of jobs to do for when I move, as then I have a garage and a driveway as oposed to silly communal parking!

I can see on the inside of this piece of cover that the belt at some point must have brushed the plastic as there is a bit of a gouge mark!!

does anyone know the part number for this part? mine was loose before the snow and is now in two pieces in my passenger footwell and a little bit more still holding on under the car.

i had a look on VAG CAT but i can't be sure what it is as i'm not sure what an intact one looks like.

thanks

Most of mine has been ripped off in the ice and left in the middle of a road somewhere, then a smaller section of the wheel arch linder decided it didn't like it's home and ended up on top of the wheel.

really think i need to get a new one