So I noticed a noise on the 3 lately. And it's come to my attention there's supposed to be a splash guard under the engine. A fact I didn't know. And mine doesn't have it. The wheel well...thingie, that covers the belts is also loose and flapping. Which was cause the noise. I think it might actually be hitting the belts. So I kinda googled around for a minute but I'm not really sure where to find the replacement parts. Or how difficult it would be to do. Any tips?
That under tray is held on by wishes and unicorn hairs, and is a useless piece of E36 M3.
No affiliation, but beef it up: http://www.corksport.com/corksport-04-09-mazda-3-mazdaspeed-3-skidplate.html
The wheel well spash guard might be important. You could fashion your own out of a rubbermaid garbage can and rivets.
Aside from no longer fearing pot holes, what would be the benefit of such a splash guard? And if I couldn't afford it (which I can't), should I just skip replacing it?
Better aerodynamics mainly. Any body shop can get you one.
It helps keep crap out of your accessory belts, and helps a low pressure area form behind the radiator which is kind of important for cooling (if it's the kind that wraps around to the front like most).
You can drive without it but your belts could be shredded by flying pebbles and you might have reduced cooling power.
Yeah, I'm with the others: It's there for a reason. What about your local u-pull-it? Fortunately you're talking about a popular car.
Here is a link the Subaru crew uses for wheel well liners.
http://www.dirtyimpreza.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1613
I don't have a Mazda3 any longer, but that undertray just sucked. You really do want your wheel well liners to be in good shape, there is no telling what important things could be affected. On my forester, the air intake and some important wiring harness connectors are both protected from water/mud/etc. by the wheel well liner.
The undertray is important for reasons noted above, plus just generally keeping schmutz from getting all up in your engine bay. If you don't want to go full-on armor, you can probably have a machine shop fab one up out of a thinner gauge aluminum for you.
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