Skid plate removal for oil change?

[Beltaine]

Last time I tried to do an oil change, I didn't take the skid plate off. (Mostly because some of the screws that seemed to hold it on were the triple-square head type and they were all stripped out.)

It made a huge mess.

So now I'm going to make a run to the dealer and get some screws to replace the mucked up ones.

Which leads me to my real question.

Which screws/bolts/whatever do I have to remove to get the skid plate down?

It LOOKS like it will be 4 of the triple-square drive screws, and 4 decent sized bolts I just want to be sure.

[ziptron]

On mine it's just the 4 screws (T-20?), 2 on each side.
Then it pulls straight back, disengaging the front "fingers" that interlock to the underside of front bumper.
And just to clarify, the plastic piece is a Splash Guard, it does virtually nothing to prevent oil pan damage if you hit something.
If you truly want a Skid Plate- here's the real deal:
Panzer Plate heavy duty aluminum skid plate kit for 19982010 New Beetles by www.dieselgeek.com

I fear speed bumps no more !

[Beltaine]

I must have something different.

This thing is definitely metal. I'm guessing 1/8" to 1/4" thick.

It runs from underneath the front bumper all the way back to behind the dogbone engine mount.

2x triple-square bolts at the bumper, 2x more triple-square bolts near where the suspension arms mount. 2x 14(ish)mm meaty bolts right next to those, and 2x more of the 14(ish)mm bolts where it connects behind the dogbone.

(I didn't get a wrench on the 14(ish) bolts to see what size they were while I was down there)

There's lots of other little things screwed into it like plastic guards and whatnot, and even a duct to pull in air to the snowbox, but the best I could tell it was those 8 that were what was holding it there.

[FarrisK]

Originally Posted by Beltaine

I must have something different.

This thing is definitely metal. I'm guessing 1/8" to 1/4" thick.

It runs from underneath the front bumper all the way back to behind the dogbone engine mount.

2x triple-square bolts at the bumper, 2x more triple-square bolts near where the suspension arms mount. 2x 14(ish)mm meaty bolts right next to those, and 2x more of the 14(ish)mm bolts where it connects behind the dogbone.

(I didn't get a wrench on the 14(ish) bolts to see what size they were while I was down there)

There's lots of other little things screwed into it like plastic guards and whatnot, and even a duct to pull in air to the snowbox, but the best I could tell it was those 8 that were what was holding it there.

Do you have a convertible?

[Beltaine]

Originally Posted by FarrisK

Do you have a convertible?

Si

[kaiser]

n-910-097-01

[Beltaine]

Just to prove I'm not crazy.

[KobzBug]

That is what my 04 turbo NBC belly plate looks like. I had the same Prob trying to change oil the first time. Finally gave up and worked around it. I bought one of those Topsiders to change the oil so i don't have to remove the F*#@*%#g plug anymore. Works great. Just a little slow.

Now all I have to do is manipulate my arm to get to the oil filter. Still a mess.

KobzBug

[Beltaine]

I've gotten pro at removing and reinstalling it. It's really not so bad once you've done it.

[buggedout2003]

Great write up and photos. The metal skid plate in the photo looks like the one on my daughter's 2003 2.0 convertible. Recently, she put a wheel off the road at low speed to allow oncoming traffic to pass on a one lane road. Of course that was followed by a crunching sound and a vibration/rattle. The dealer took a look at it yesterday and told me that I needed a new skid plate and had a huge quote for the repair. I thought about buying a Panzer plate, but I wondered if it would be any beefier, and if there were any problems with cooling after you seal things up? The vibration/rattle was less after the dealer took a peek, but after seeing the photos and write up, I decided to just remove it and take out my aggressions as I practiced my metal working skills, beating it back into shape. It was easy to take off the plate, but a little challenging to get everything lined up right on the re-installation. Eventually, I did get it on, and I must have done something right because I cured the vibration/rattle. I saved a bundle by doing it myself, but I appreciate the fact that the dealer didn't charge anything for taking a look, and he pointed me in the right direction.

Oh and FarrisK was close on the bolt sizes. 13MM up front and the two on each side. 16MM for the two in the rear. Right on for the triple square for the self taping screws holding the plastic shields in place.

[2005Beetle]

I was trying to put my Panzer plate on yesterday since I had to replace the wheel well anyways but I must have installed the post that holds one of the front corners backwards because the holes didn't line up and I was trying to remove the post but one of the bolts just keeps spinning which means one of the Panzer plate's Rivnuts must have stripped out and isn't holding. Now comes the painstaking attempts to remove and replace the Rivnut.

Wish me luck.

[2005Beetle]

Jim Royston at dieselgeek gave me some help on removing the bolt from the rivnut that was spinning so I could get the front post off. But now I'm out of time and have to just put the Panzer plate on the shelf again.

Life sucks and then you die.

ps Also, when I tried to do a redo on the insertion of the rivnut with the rivnut tool that they provided both the rivnut and the tool are now stuck under the car.

[my4thVdub]

Thought I would never get my oil changed due to the fact that the dealer I bought "Punch Buggy" ,as my kids have named it, stripped out all of the hex bolt heads completely round.

So after a trip to the local VW stealership I had myself some new bolts and screws. Day after that I rolled her up on the ramps, got my handy dandy Dremel and cut those bad boys off!

After putting some good clean Mobil 1 in her, putting the skid plate back on was really quite simple. Made the kiddos day getting to help dad change the oil and crawl underneath and get dirty and hand me tools and parts that I needed too!

[doferty]

Went to remove my skid plate for an oil change. First time doing it myself. Both hex patterns in the mid/main bolts were stripped. Had to pull out the Roto-Zip and trim the sides off the rounded bolt head and grab it with my Knipex pliers. What a pain in the butt.

This is what the bolt looked like when I got done with it:


Glad that's over.

[SMG]

I hate triple squares so much. 90% of the time when I have an issue working on a VW it's because of a triple square.

[sb_beetle]

2 hex bolts forward
2 hex bolts each side connecting the plate to a brace
3 smaller hex screws each side (1 forward, two to rear) to secure plastic barrier.
2 bolts on cross brace either side of dog-bone.

I replaced all of the larger hex bolts with standard bolts as they stripped the 2nd time I went under the car.

[beetlejuice]

Originally Posted by doferty

Went to remove my skid plate for an oil change. First time doing it myself. Both hex patterns in the mid/main bolts were stripped. Had to pull out the Roto-Zip and trim the sides off the rounded bolt head and grab it with my Knipex pliers. What a pain in the butt.

This is what the bolt looked like when I got done with it:


Glad that's over.

That is not a "hex pattern". It is a triple-square. If you are going to work on your VW you should get a couple of different drivers. You would not have needed to go to all that trouble with the correct driver.