A great many of us have removed the drip pan and the plastic underbody panels that "cover" the engine bay and have been driving that way for some time.

Do NOT have the muffler shop weld on your body panels. They will likely cause more trouble than help the situation. You'd be much better off going to Lowe's and spending a couple of bucks on some replacement metric bolts or even going to your Toyota dealer and ordering the right ones than repairing your engine lid after it warps from the heat of the welder (and painting, etc, etc)

But no...you don't need the drip pan. If you want to pretty it up a bit, find some black mesh and bolt THAT to the bottom side of your engine lid.

 

Re: question?

Originally posted by spyddie
Can I drive without dip pan(i am not sure this is the name for it but i am refering to the part under the engine lid for catching the rain) in heavy rain? will this damage the engine in long run? To make long store short, I lost all the screws and in the event trying to use some replacement screws I mess up one of the screw hole. Anyone have suggestions for the fix? only thing I can think of is permently solder the dip pan onto the engine lip? Is this possiable? Do yo think the muffler shop can do this for me?

Thanks

No, No and no

Folks have their grease drip pans (when BBQ'ing on the back grill) off and have suffered no ill effects. I have no suggestion for a fix. Soldering is not usually an option, welding is more likely.

 

Originally posted by bmerton
A great many of us have removed the drip pan and the plastic underbody panels that "cover" the engine bay and have been driving that way for some time.

Do NOT have the muffler shop weld on your body panels. They will likely cause more trouble than help the situation. You'd be much better off going to Lowe's and spending a couple of bucks on some replacement metric bolts or even going to your Toyota dealer and ordering the right ones than repairing your engine lid after it warps from the heat of the welder (and painting, etc, etc)

But no...you don't need the drip pan. If you want to pretty it up a bit, find some black mesh and bolt THAT to the bottom side of your engine lid.

Thanks for the quick reply

. Now the right screws will not help any more. One of the screw hole is totally mess up

. I have been driving without it for a while but I have never drove it in heavy rain without it. I heard the modern engines are built water tight, but I am worry the water might get into one of the electrical connector and short the circuit.

 

Re: question?

Originally posted by spyddie
Can I drive without dip pan(i am not sure this is the name for it but i am refering to the part under the engine lid for catching the rain) in heavy rain? will this damage the engine in long run?

http://www.spyderchat.com/phpBB/viewtopic....drip+pan+remove

 

If the threads are screwed up, you could try running a tap through it to clean it up a bit. I know Sears carries a limited selection. If it's really bad and the hole is enlarged, then filler would need to be added (via welding which has been stated to be a not-so-great idea) and then the hole redrilled and tapped. Obviously, try to use a new bolt then later.

The other choice as has been stated clearly is to leave it off.

 

Careful running a tap up in there, it is very easy to go a little too far up in there and create a reverse ding in your engine lid. Don't ask how I know.

 

Originally posted by WIWhite87
If the threads are screwed up, you could try running a tap through it to clean it up a bit. I know Sears carries a limited selection. If it's really bad and the hole is enlarged, then filler would need to be added (via welding which has been stated to be a not-so-great idea) and then the hole redrilled and tapped. Obviously, try to use a new bolt then later.

The other choice as has been stated clearly is to leave it off.

Thanks for the suggestions but none of above will work for me, The part that you screw in got pull out accidently as I tried to hammered back I over do it and it's somewhere in the engine lid, getting it out will take some effort and I have no plan to do so.

Thanks for the link, I think I will leave the drip pan out.

 

answer

 

Keep it off...but if you really want it on I say try to carefully Tap the hole.

But yes do not weld.

 

Now that we have heard that there is no ill effect, what are the positives for doing these two mods? Details would be nice.

 

Cooler engine bay.

 

Originally posted by AgSpyder
Cooler engine bay.

Less weight (okay, no big difference, but some),
Easier to change oil (referring to bottom panels here),
Enhanced appearance (replacing drip tray with mesh).

 

I drove appox. 40 mins in heavy rain today and nothing happen to my car. Thanks everyone for your help.

 

Originally posted by spyddie
I drove appox. 40 mins in heavy rain today and nothing happen to my car. Thanks everyone for your help.

Yeah it takes a while for the exhaust manifold to start cracking from the cold water hitting it.



(grin)

 

Originally posted by spyddie
Thanks for the suggestions but none of above will work for me, The part that you screw in got pull out accidently as I tried to hammered back I over do it and it's somewhere in the engine lid, getting it out will take some effort and I have no plan to do so.

Insteresting. In mine, that piece that you screw into just spun in place. I ended up having to drill it out to remove the drip pan. Apparently, this is not a part that Toyota figured would need to be removed very often. If I ever put it back, it might be trouble...