Plastic Engine Under Cover

metthem

Has anyone came up with a way to mount the Plastic Engine Under Cover to bypass some of the 16 screws to make an oil change easier and quicker?
Some of the screw mounting areas are starting to become broken or just basically a pain in the butt...

SouthArk370Z

You don't have to remove the cover. The cover is hinged so that you can remove the front screws and fold the front part of the cover out of the way. That's how it worked on the '09 I had - check the Owner's Manual or FSM to see if it's still the same for your '13.

You should be able to find replacement fasteners (although I haven't looked). If you can't find them at an auto parts store, try a Nissan dealer. Those are "high wear" items and will need to be replaced every now and then.

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metthem

Laying on my back in my driveway, I have to remove the entire thing...

as far as the fasteners go, it's not so much the fasteners as it is the plastic that holds the fasteners getting tore up and twisted on some of the side mounting areas making it a pita to get the screws out because the fasteners just keep on turning....

Chuck33079

If you can't get the car high enough to fold the back out of the way, then you may have better luck with one of the metal aftermarket ones that has a panel that you remove to get access to the drain plug and filter.

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JARblue

I don't see how anyone could physically get under the car and not have enough room to fold the flap out of the way.

That being said the metal aftermarket shrouds are much better. I tend to remove the entire panel just for a thorough visual inspection. If I were lazier, I would gripe that the opening in the metal ones is only useful if the entire car is lifted and level. In my personal experience, the draining oil will catch the edge of the opening and run down the top of the shroud making a huge mess if the car is only lifted at the front two wheels.

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Chuck33079

Me neither, but the aftermarket undertray would solve that problem.

Mine comes off for every oil change since the filter is a little too far over with the sandwich plate, and the one time I tried to do it through the access panel I ended up wearing a lot of oil.

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2011 MB Touring-Sport-6sp-Nav/GTM TT/FI TT TDX/JTran/Kosmic/Eibach/Hotchkis/SPC/CSF/RPS/SoThatsWhereAllMyMoneyWent