mr.awesome.007

Hi gents, sorry if someone had asked this question before, but I did a 30 minutes research on this forum and could not find anything.

I went to a railway corridor today because of work, and drove my car on top of the track ballast. I heard a scrach noice (rock scratch against steel) came from the underside of my car in the middle of the drive. I took a look of it when I got home, and found there are a few scratchs on the front part of the exhaust pipe and there is a small hole (half an inch diameter) on the plastic panel under the car.

My questions are:

1. does that sound like something i need to get fixed?
2. what are the purposes of the plastic panels on the underside of the car?

Thanks a lot for your help~~~~

LILBENZ230

You probably didn't hurt anything.

The plastic panels are there for aerodynamic purchases. And to disguise any fluid leaks, apparently.

Glyn M Ruck

You have a steel plate under the engine so as long as you did not hurt the transmission pan or transmission cooler hoses it's unlikely you have done any damage.

As Matt says the plastic covers are for aerodynamic PURPOSES.

LILBENZ230

Stupid autocorrect on my iPhone always makes me look like an idiot.

tommy

No comment.

Might want to get some flat black heat resistant paint, and just spray on those scratches. Better safe than sorry.

Glyn M Ruck

Gilgorm

Panels just for aerodynamic purposes and apparently to prevent rocks from hurting anything that counts. Check inside the new hole to make sure nothing hidden is damaged/leaking.
I had a 78 300D that I drove onto railway tracks and ties when I was forced off the road at about 40 mph. The right side was hammering up and down as I drove along the ties with the metal rail underneath the middle of the car. The rail created a nice groove in the oil pan so the car always took a little less oil. But there was never a leak. In those days there were no protective panels to protect it.

LILBENZ230

I got two words for Glyn and Tommy. The first one starts with an F and the second one ends with an F. I knew the purpose of the panels. One of mine is cracked. I agree with tommy about taking steps to avoid any rust that might form on the damaged part, though.

tommy

If it's "free marshmallowfluff", I'm in!

mr.awesome.007

thanks a lot guys, very good advices! really appreciate all your input. will check it out next week when i take it to service.~~~~