Under engine splash shield

[eugenemilechka1]

Wondering if anyone has the under engine shield removed and driving without it? I took mine off doing routine maintenance, broke a lot of the bolts and the shield broke off. It's really interfering with oil changes and front diff oil change. My concern is driving in the rain and winter, as well as washing the underbody. Should I be too worried about the water getting in the bay, alternator being right there and all?

[Teknical]

I think it's fine without it. Its main benefit may be aerodynamic, so you could hurt your gas mileage, and I wouldn't be surprised if it were also noisier. It will stay on without all of the bolts if you loose some, but any Autozone or car parts store has the right size for cheap. If you don't take the entire thing off during an oil change and bend it in half to reach the drain plug, eventually it will crack. My dealer ship did this so they nicely bought me a new one. I'm sure not many people are looking under their cars. I believe that I also saw one on Amazon for way cheaper than the dealership ($400). Here for only $60 https://www.amazon.com/CarPartsDepot-Un ... x35+shield

[NJGuy]

Technically you could drive the car without it and never run into a problem. Mine had broken in two pieces as described by Teknical, but I decided to replace mine. I decided to pay a little extra and bought an OEM one from an Infiniti dealer on eBay for a little over $100 or so. It fits perfectly, and has the little hole for the oil drain plug and door for the filter (not that I've ever used them).

If you plan on keeping the car for a while, I'd recommend that you get a replacement; especially if you do see precipiation in the winter. For me, something doesn't sit well with getting salt and other road grit in another part of the engine bay when that portion is supposed to be covered. I understand how the shield can be an issue when interfering with oil changes, as these can be somewhat frequent; but the front diff fluid doesn't need to be changed nearly as often.

What I don't envy is that you said something about a lot of broken fasteners; that sounds like a huge pain to deal with. When I changed mine out, I was lucky to have maybe two or three mounting points that I couldn't use. I made sure to use anti-seize on all the bolts during installation. Should you choose to replace your splash shield, I wish you the best of luck getting those bolts out.

[EXceptional]

I oil all my bolts, prior to re-inserting them... to make it easier the next time.