What On Earth Is This Sticking Out The Bottom Of My A3?!?!

emzino

emzino

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When I was fitting my new S3 pedals to the car, I was walking towards it from the side when noticed something sticking out the bottom of the car. I pushed it up and it springs back down again...
What on earth is it!

Heres the pics...

d4371751.jpg


cd1560e1.jpg


c891e305.jpg


Click on them for a larger picture

So, am I in trouble?
 
Not an audi related problem its just a badly attached bomb, the rest of us neednt worry that our cars may fall in bits. Emzino should pay the mob for his shipments more rapidly in future .
 
Hmm very weird. Think it's time I take it into Tuning Werx. Gonna have to wait till next week though :(
 
What does it join on to, is there one the over side, is it part of the suspension?
 
audi upgrades
Hmm heat shield you say. I wonder why it would been sticking out though... ah well thanks for the headsup, i'll point it out to the guy and what I think it is when I goto see him.

Thanks again
 
there can only be one thing hanging down from the floorpan of a car, and that would be a shield/splash pan, either for the exhaust or the gearbox.
 
Aha I see, interesting. Thanks for that :) but why do you think it's hanging down? What may have caused it...
 
Its come loose, a screw has fallen out. Happened on an old BMW of mine, but it scraped along the floor it was that loose
 
Had something similar happen to the exhaust heatsheild on my old golf caused by drving through a rather large puddle too fast.
 
They're not heatshields (the fact that they're made of plastic is a bit of a giveaway!) - they're sump covers which improve the aerodynamics of the underneath of the car. Most VAG cars have them and they come loose a lot.

Get it fixed quick before the remaining fixings snap off under strain and you lose it altogether.
 
You can tell thats Plastic from those photos? Well done Plank, perhaps a job in recycling awaits... fckwit
 
Damnit I didn't have time today and now I got work all week!

Gonna have to take it on thursday to get it looked at. Oh and thanks Plank but it's metal
 
why don't you just have a proper look yourself?

bang the car on some axle stands and have a look
 
Think I will actually. Dunno if I have those but I got a car jack in the boot. Will that do?
 
Well i wouldn't advise getting under a car using just a car jack, they have a small chance of failure or the car coming off the jack, if you intend to get under the car then the best bet is using some axle stands.
 
emzino said:
Think I will actually. Dunno if I have those but I got a car jack in the boot. Will that do?
Click to expand...

Yes, like Robin pointed out, please don't risk it. I have seen with my own eyes a car jack bent and the car felt down with one wheel off. I'm almost sure the guy didn't use the jack correctly and it was bend in an angle to begin with, but that really traumatise my preception of how safe the jack is.
 
Ok i'll defo not do it then heh. Haven't got axle stands though =/ The guys i'm taking it to shouldn't mind having a look for me though. It's Tuning Werkes in Croydon. Heard good things about it. Think they'll charge me for just having a look or giving it a quick fix?
 
Heard bad things about Kwik Fit =/

Haven't got RAC or AA cover :(

Haven't got Audi Recovery :(

Tuning werkes it is lol
 
d3fy said:
You can tell thats Plastic from those photos? Well done Plank, perhaps a job in recycling awaits... fckwit
Click to expand...

No you tosser, I can tell it's plastic because it looks exactly like mine did when it came off.
 
its not the fuel cooler thingy is it,i cant tell if it covers the whole width of the car or not,you know the silver element thats under the drivers seat that gets hot,just a guess as i cant realy tell from the pic.
 
Oh really. What does it do and what does it mean when it's hanging down?

P.S. It's definitely metal and it doesn't cover the whole width of the car.
 
tinka said:
its not the fuel cooler thingy is it,i cant tell if it covers the whole width of the car or not,you know the silver element thats under the drivers seat that gets hot,just a guess as i cant realy tell from the pic.
Click to expand...

I was thinking that too. From those angles its not quite clear, but appears to be a fuel cooler. In fact, I'm pretty sure, if its in roughly the middle of the car, its the fuel cooler! Does it have cooling fins on it much the same as a car audio amplifier would?? It seems very similar to what it described below.

Someone I know had a '05 Passat with the fuel cooler hanging off also (drivers side, middle of the car), it was hanging down so the front edge was scrapping along the road (as opposed to the rear edge being dragged along the road!) The (female) driver said it had been hanging down for a bit! :faint: Needless to say she was a bit shocked when we told her what it was and exactly how dangerous it was if a bump or pothole had of completely ripped it off.

So probably best to get it fixed back up ASAP!
 
Just a quick update, took it to Tuning Werkes last week Thursday and you was right, it's the fuel cooler.
I've got it booked for tomorrow (Monday 4th) 9am and gonna get it done.

I'll let everyone know what happens :)

Oh and MANY MANY thanks for everyones input, very much appreciated
 
Well got it back and it's fixed. There was 2 possible ways to fix it:

1) If I had given it to Audi they woulda probably had to lift up the carpets etc and do it like that as it's to manufacturer specifiction.
2) Ther way which was as safe, secure and within guidelines but saving me a massive amount of money and hassle.

Whether it's true or not is another story but so far they've lived upto there reputation as a top notch garage so i'll take there word for it.

I'm happy anyway, my babies alright now lol. Just need to book in an appointment with Autoglass and get my 2 chips on the windscreen done :D

P.S. i'll take pics tomorrow of what it's like now.
 
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