While driving my husbands car today, a sudden dragging sound appeared. Careful inspection reveals that some large black plastic (?)part from beneath the front of the car has become partially dislodged and is dragging. It appears to have the purpose of protecting the underside of the mechanical stuff.
What is this thing called so that I can speak intelligently to a mechanic when I start figuring out what to do to repair or replace it?
Depending on the location it can be called an air dam, a shroud or a mud/stone/water deflector.
Hmmm. Perhaps the name is under tray? (From some creative Googling.)
I call 'em “splash panels” if they’re made out of plastic or “skid plates” if they’re made out of metal.
Splash shield will probably work fine as a term.
If it is damaged, these are things that are often not easy to find and if you do find them you’ll probably need to pay more than you’d like. What you probably need for a mechanic is someone who is willing and able to do a little back yard rigging. For most car repairs rigging is a bad idea. But these shields are normally just chunks of plastic that keep junk from hitting things it isn’t supposed to. They just need to be kept in place and whether it ends up with “from the factory” quality is irrelevant. (Mine are really old (1997) and I’ve got some combination of original screws, new holes & screws made by me, and totally rigged zip ties.
If you have to get replacements for some reason, I think that salvage yards are the only way to go.
Splash Shield or Air Dam, they are two different pieces of plastic. The air dam improves engine cooling and fuel mileage especially at high speeds…
It all depends on the part and/or location of the part. I have seen these called undercovers, deflectors, splash shields.
If your husband knows a little about vehicles why not let him handle this? Teamwork.
Just tell the shop there is a plastic thingy hanging under the car and can they reattach it to its proper location. That will do.
Yep, just tell them its the splash shield and they’ll know what you are talking about just like here. I was lucky enough to see mine hit the ditch once through the rear view mirror and picked it up. $3 worth of new plastic anchors fixed it.