Gettin the Engine Undertray Off...

Gonna drop the oil on my td4 tonight... had a quick look at it last night and saw that the engine undertray appears to be rivetted on, with only two bolts holding it on at the back edge... Haynes manual says "remove screws".

Do I need to drill the rivets and re-rivet afterwards or am I missing something obvious???

Also, with the front end on ramps, can i change the oil without lowering the car? Or is the drain plug at the rear of the sump?

Cheers fellas...

it is always a good idea to do a "search" before askin the question - it save 8 gazillion threads on the same subject - for instance "I am buying a freelander - wots the best one?" type posts.

sumtimes a "thanks" is nice too

Cheers dudes... never thought to search "oil change" and "undertray" returned nothing...

Look like a pain in the arse to get the tray off... at least I can do it all with the front end in the air!

As for replacing the seals in the oil filter... called in to my local stealership and they apparently don't sell them seperately... service techy said they don't change them, they just give them a wipe down!

The undertray comes off without too much trouble............I did it n I'm a woman..........so I'm sure you can do it!

Hmmm that reminds me it's still off..........I should put it back really

Tis apain to get off on my 2.0L. Yohave to take the whole alloy outer frame off! I think i'll drill the rivets out and maybe try and get some dzus quick release/fastner fings on there. Bonus points at the annual undertray removal awards!

The 6 main bolts mentioned in above thread are 17mm (M10) whereas the two attached to the rear bracket/subframe are 10mm (M5/6). It helps if you have rachet spanners rather than a socket set for restricted space and movement.

The two self tappers attached to the colour coded valance should be thrown away along with the square plastic inserts.

On refit replace them with a small M5/6 coach bolt cut to correct length. You will see a square hole in the undertray where head of coach bolt slots into. Feed rest of bolt thorugh valance and fasten with nut. Will make life so much easier next time.

Trying to upload pics but cant seem to attach them LOL

Here you go at last got pics sorted. thanks MHM for upload tips.

The yellow arrowed bolts are 17mm and the red are the 10mm with the bracket riveted to the guard. No need to remove rivets

I dont know why they are suggesting removing the screws for the wheel arch liners (circled in yellow) - unnecessary.

If you replace the self tappers (blue arrow) with suitably sized coach bolts with 10mm nuts and washers this makes life much easier for next time. so all you need is 17mm and 10mm spanner, it takes few a minutes

The other attachment is how I have modified the undertray for rigidity and extra air flow. Orange line is where extra aluminium straps are secured and the blue line is the section removed for extra air flow over the exhaust. Plus ming has mentioned cutting out a section to access sump drain plug. A 4" hole-saw will do the trick its only fibreglass

You dont need the undertray and it will keep engine cool when removed.... but if you are a rural driver best left on to keep the crud out

Great stuff thanks...

Yup i modded mine as i found it er pain ta git on orft ,used stainless quick realease ratchets un like lr says cut er hole so i can drain oil quick, took me a afternoon ta mod it ,but well worth the effort, you could also fit stainless wing nuts, jist make sure you use lockin washers [spring or star] you can also get nylock type which are the best , but hard to get hold off ,for some silly reason. . . .

Cat's Eyes said:

The undertray comes off without too much trouble............I did it n I'm a woman..........so I'm sure you can do it!

Hmmm that reminds me it's still off..........I should put it back really

Click to expand...

found this , i know its not much help, but theres nothing like a challange

good luck

Just had mine off this morning. There's a good diagram on page 1 of this thread. For my XeDi 2000 reg, there was two screws in front bumper, two 10mm bolts at the back on 4 sets of two 13mm bolts. 4 at the front by the bumper screws and 2 on each side. Good Luck.