Oil pan guard

[sweet124]

Was just wondering how many of you guys and gals have oil pan guards on their spiders.Was thinking of purchasing one
for mine.

[4uall]

I am a big supporter

[azruss]

i've never used one. never could understand where people were driving to beat up their pans as bad as i see them.

[SunnySideUp]

I've one installed on my Spider. It's cheap insurance and provides piece of mind. But keep in mind that if you tangle with something big enough (or deep enough) it will only lessen impact or penetration damage to the oil pan.

[4uall]

that's what she said HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

[RRoller123]

Not exactly on topic, but the existing splash guard is a good idea and can be modified to get at the oil filter more easily:

[TX82FIAT]

I have an oil pan gaurd on my car. Three Spiders over 25 years and two damaged oil pans. Yes, I drove the first spider a little hard when i was in my 20's hitting a dip in the road scraping the pan enough to push up on the pan and close the space between the pan and the pum creating an oil starvation issue. These pans do sit low in comparison to many vehicles. It does not take much to damage the pan or the pump. The second time was a cardborad box in the road. i was traveling about 60 MPH when I hit the brakes with cars on both sides in traffic. Turns out the cardboard box was not empty but had some frozen food in it. Did not know the oil pan and oil filter were damaged for about another 30 miles. I don't have pictures to show you because it was in the mid 90's before the dawn of digital cameras everywhere. I can tell you the pan was pushed in about three inches, the oil pump was broken at the base and the oil filter had a small dent as well.

I don't know if any of you are in the car business. Chrysler had a popular car about 10 years ago called the Pacifica. It was a kindacross over wagon...not really. Anyway, they sold a ton of them. The biggest problem with this car was a very low crossmember that would get jammed and create problems with the oil pan and ruin engines from oil starvation. Soud familiar. Before Chrysler discontinued the model they modified the pan guard design.

I highly encourage the use of a Pan guard just in case.

[sweet124]

Was wondering do you need to remove the splash guard.Like to see a picture of a oil pan guard installed.

[SunnySideUp]

...do you need to remove the splash guard

No, you shouldn't have to. I have the splash pan AND the guard in place:





It does make it a PITA to change the oil filter. I will probably modify the pan like RRoller123 has done to his splash pan. The air dam on the front hides the guard from view.

[sweet124]

Thanks for the pics is this a direct bolt on or do I have to drill holes to install.

[SunnySideUp]

I purchased the pan guard for my Spider from Vick's. I was able to reuse holes on the radiator support/shipping tie-down loops on the front but had to drill two holes into the cross-member near the oil drain plug. I also relocated the mounting holes in the guard where it mounts in the front as the holes that were pre-drilled made the guard hang too low for my preference. Mount the front first and then determine the location for the holes in the cross-member. I'm not sure if guards from other suppliers will have the same mounting configuration but suspect it won't be too different.

(EDITED)

[4uall]

CONFESSION TIME

Thanks to the photos above I have come to the realization that I do NOT have an oil guard

[RRoller123]

Cut, sand, and paint that baby and you will have a nice modified splash guard! I used extra fuel line as edging for the sharp edges where I cut it away to get access to the oil filter.