Plastic Trim At The Front Of The Prius

[fuel miser]

Hi all, I was in the Lake District over the weekend, just a few miles from where the rescue took place that was in the news. The roads were like river beds when I drove out of the area yesterday morning. At one point I had to drive through a long pool of water about 8 inches deep. As I ploughed my way through it, I was aware of a 'thunk' underneath, and then a scraping noise as I exited the water. I assumed I had collected something underneath the car as I drove through, and it was therefore getting dragged along. I was wrong. Some sort of plastic trim or 'guard' had come adrift directly behind the front bumper, and had got bent back underneath the car. I had no choice but to rip the thing off, which was quite easy to do. It's about two and a half feet wide and about a foot deep, and made of a fairly flexible plastic.

I drove the car back down to London without any problem. Does anyone have any ideas what this piece does, and am I doing any harm driving without it? I thought I might just wait until the next service is due in a few weeks time, or do I need to be getting it sorted straight away? I'd appreciate some advice.

If anyone asks, no, I wasn't there in the Lakes to run in the mountain marathon. The most energetic thing I ever did was change gear, the Prius is of course automatic, which says a lot about my current level of fitness!

[timberwolf]

Maybe it was the left or right Engine splash shield that was ripped off?

It is apparently attached to the car by at least nine fastenings. I've no idea how important it is...

[Chris Dance]

I think it is a protection sheild which fits around the engine oil sump. Your car would function OK without it but I would recommend your dealer checks your car for any other damage and fits a replacement sheild. Sounds like you hit a boulder hidden under water.

[timberwolf]

I've looked at the photos in the Bentley book, I can't see a sump guard.

The sump doesn't have that alu grey look in the photos, so I'm guess there is a steel plate bolted onto the sump.

Do the European models differ from the USA models in respect to sump protection?

By the way, I always thought of sump protection only being for off-road vehicles.

[t4ed]

I've looked at the photos in the Bentley book, I can't see a sump guard.

The sump doesn't have that alu grey look in the photos, so I'm guess there is a steel plate bolted onto the sump.

Do the European models differ from the USA models in respect to sump protection?

By the way, I always thought of sump protection only being for off-road vehicles.

I think the plastic panel underneath the front of the engine bay is more of an aerodynamic device than a traditional "sump guard". I agree you should get it checked out in case something else down there was damaged. I would also be a bit wary of driving a electric powered vehicle through deep water.

Ed

[timberwolf]

Agree, I read a post where an owner noticed poorer MPG after one of those shields came off.

[fuel miser]

I think the plastic panel underneath the front of the engine bay is more of an aerodynamic device than a traditional "sump guard". I agree you should get it checked out in case something else down there was damaged. I would also be a bit wary of driving a electric powered vehicle through deep water.

Ed

I got this shield put back on yesterday, the garage informed me it serves as an aerodynamic fairing and also stops water/mud etc. getting thrown up into the engine bay. I thought I'd better get this done as I'll be up in Cumbria again over Christmas/New Year, the road conditions are never too good up there in winter.

You're quite right Ed, about driving a Prius through water, certainly not to be recommended. I had no option on that day though, there were reports on the radio of many of the roads being closed due to flooding, and I was trying to make it back to the guest house we were staying at. There was no other way round to get to it. We were only a couple of miles away from it, and I did witness another car drive through the water so I could judge what depth it was. The next morning, we were the only ones down for breakfast, the two other parties who should have been there had become trapped and had to find emergency accomodation elsewhere.

At the same time as having this shield put back on, I also had fitted a pair of Climair wind deflectors to the front windows. They seem to work quite well, you can drop the window 7-8 inches and not have the air blasting through like it was doing, they also keep the rain out, and they deflect rain away from the windows whilst you are driving, so they help to keep them clear.

Not much else to report, I've also noticed the engine runs a bit more in this cold weather and the economy therefore drops, but then so did the economy of my previous diesel BMW (by about 12-13 mpg on a motorway trip).

Stompe, how are you getting on with those Michelins? I'm also going to need a complete set of tyres early next year, I was just going to put another set of Bridgestones on but you've now got me in a quandary.