Any Problem Driving with no Undertray ?

66Beetle

A2OC Donor
Is there any problem resulting from driving without the Undertray in place please ?

We have horrendous floods here ( between Kendal & Lancaster ). We know of at least 4 cars floating in floods around here, including 2 Jags and 1 Police Car !

Lost the Undertray last night driving through floods. Probably the deepest water I have ever driven through. Thought the A2 was going to stop. The lights were flickering !

Re traced the route this morning to look for it. No joy.

Does anyone have an Undertray and Fittings going Spare please ? Timmus ?

1.4 SE Petrol 2003 ( 53 )
 
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No issue here without an under tray for 3+ years without one. Including up and down the German autobahn at absolute top speed for long durations.
 
Just for future reference, the undertrays are all the same, apart from the TDI and even then the only difference is that there is some additional sound deadening material.

So you can use any A2 undertray if you can't get the matching one (but if it were a tdi the matching undertray is preferred to help keep the noise down a touch)

Steve B
 
Must have driven at least 150k without -just puts me off changing the oil !
. .i would put it back if i lived in a close
 
The danger of driving in deep water in A2 Tdi's at least, is that there is a small hole in the base of the air filter casing to allow any condensation to drain out. If this is below the waterline, you are sucking water into the inlet! Beware!

RAB
 
The danger of driving in deep water in A2 Tdi's at least, is that there is a small hole in the base of the air filter casing to allow any condensation to drain out. If this is below the waterline, you are sucking water into the inlet! Beware!

RAB

This is a very important point that Rab makes.

Take great care if driving through deep water, with or without an undertray fitted.
Hydrolocking of an engine will certainly render the A2 beyond economical repair and it'll be written off.

The undertray also forms part of the rigidity of the car, so driving without one fitted isn't recommended.

Cheers
Jeff
 
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I once drove through a very "deep" puddle in a T5 Jeff and hydrolocked the engine. Suffice to say it needed a complete new engine and was very expensive to repair. Friends at work thought it very funny and put me forward for a "submarine" course....:)
 
My 2nd Mk1 Golf met a similar fate, going down a lane in the floods, I nearly got to the end, then there was a dip just before a hump backed bridge, I was doing okay until I had to slow down due to not wanting to just speed over the HBB, engine stopped, no chance of a restart. When I opened the door to step out, the inrushing water flooded the car, up to my knees. I had to abandon it and walk to a friends' house who luckily lived quite close by. I called the police just to let them know it was stuck in the middle of this lane, they said they'd had a few calls that day, including one from a chap who said "If you see a 2CV floating down the Soar, it's mine!"
 
I once drove through a very "deep" puddle in a T5 Jeff and hydrolocked the engine. Suffice to say it needed a complete new engine and was very expensive to repair. Friends at work thought it very funny and put me forward for a "submarine" course....:)

oops......a very expensive mistake to make.

Many just have a quick thought about the cars electronics or if the water is likely to wet the carpets.
The reality is that water doesn't compress like an air/fuel mixture, and once it gets sucked into the cylinder bores it bends or breaks the engines mechanical components.
I've seen and older car throw a con rod through the casing of an engine block when the pistons stopped suddlenly and the crankshaft wanted to keep rotating.

I'm unsure of the gap between the ground and the bottom of the air filter housing, but if any water level comes up to the lower lip of the front spoiler on the front bumper, then I'd not want to drive through it at any speed, and if it's washing anywhere close to the bottom of the fog lights, then turn around and find another route.

Cheers
Jeff
 
I may have a 1.4 petrol undertray - let me have a chat with Tom about bring up.

Sounds promising! Do you mean Tom “Timmus “ ?

Hi Steve,

I'm currently working on a recording studio in Leicester and am staying about half a mile from Jeremy, hence why he's suggested I act as courier. Unfortunately, I've got so much stuff here that I don't have the space for an undertray when I return to Lancaster. Also, I'm moving from Leicester to another studio in Liverpool, so I'm not really in a position to be of much help, unfortunately.

Dare I ask, how does one lose an undertray in a flood? Given that it's held onto the subframe by 3 screws, onto the front bumper by about 10 and onto the chassis legs by two 10mm hex bolts, it's not something that should be able to float away.

I must reiterate what others have said about driving A2s in deep water. I use the front bumper as a gauge; if the water is deeper than the clearance between the ground and the bottom of the front bumper, then it's too deep.

I saw the photos of Galgate, near M6 Jct 33. There's definitely been some rain up there! Luckily my house stands on a small hill, so I know my place will be unaffected. I hope everyone around Milnthorpe, Sandside, Arnside, etc is OK.

Cheers,

Tom
 
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Timmus,

There was a triangular bit of The a Undertray left attached to the Right Hand Front of the A2. Still attached by one of the splined head screws. We left home at Carr Bank to find Sandside Road flooded, like we had never seen it before in the 22 years we have lived here, all the way to Milnthorpe. After Going through a deep bit just before Milnthorpe something started dragging on the road. Thought we must have picked up a branch or something in the floodwater. Seems water pressure must have caused the Undertray to break off. Could see nothing under the car in the car park at Milnthorpe. Drove home a different route, A6 - Beecham, hoping it would be better. It was worse ! That’s when we thought A2 was going to conk out in the water and the lights were flickering. Did not know we had lost anything until the next day, then I re traced the route to look for the Undertray. Found nothing. Had to remove the remaining broken bit, as it was catching on the Drivers Side Front Tyre. So Undertray no more !
 
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Must have driven at least 150k without -just puts me off changing the oil !
. .i would put it back if i lived in a close

My undertray is slightly modified by just cutting a small 5cm piece away, so access to the drain plug is unrestricted and easy.
 
So back to the original question, anyone got an Undertray going spare please, with any likelihood of me being able to get it to Lancashire / Cumbria / South Lakes please ?

Anyone had any experience of the New Non Genuine A2 Undertrays on eBay at £49.99 ?

Cheers,

Steve
 
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