# Of Belly Pans and Oil Spillage...



## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Based on the reports I've read the splash guard under the Cruze's engine bay was an engineering afterthought. This implies the car wasn't originally designed to have one, which may be part of the reason GM's solution to the fire reports was basically to remove it.


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## mcg75 (Mar 5, 2012)

The Mazda 3 also has a full pan with a slot for the oil filter and no fires.

The shield modification is being done because of sloppy oil changes. Gm even changed the oil filter removal procedure recently. It now says to loosen the cap and wait 30 seconds for excess oil to drain out.

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## 70AARCUDA (Nov 14, 2010)

...apparently the GM (daewoo) designers in Korea aren't as good as the Honda or Mazda designers at "seeing" the obvious!


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

I think the splash guard thought came from an American engineer who was watching the water testing of a prototype from Lordstown. It was rushed into production without being fully thought out.


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## Toyotech (Aug 17, 2012)

Cars have had belly pans for years. Landcruiser's have had them for 15 years with never an issue. its just a poor design on gm's part and bad filter location along with exhaust exhaust temps from the turbo


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## NBrehm (Jun 27, 2011)

Toyotech said:


> Cars have had belly pans for years. Landcruiser's have had them for 15 years with never an issue. its just a poor design on gm's part and bad filter location along with exhaust exhaust temps from the turbo


Exactly. The shield is nothing new to the industry. The bigger issue is the oil filter location and poor work by the technicians changing the oil. Most cars with belly pans normally have the filter mounted over an open area, off to the side, with a "spill" channel that moves oil away from the pan or simply require removal of the whole thing to get to the filter.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

I'm starting to sound like a broken record: Change the oil yourself if possible. Then you know it's done right.


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## eagleco (May 3, 2011)

I see the fires a result of a "perfect storm" of three things coming together in the Cruze. The location of the filter, the design of the belly pan, and the location of the exhaust on the front side of the engine. Change any one of those and you wont have a fire.

Sloppy oil changes are being performed on all cars, not just the Cruze, and all the notifications and warnings in the world will never completely eliminate sloppy oil changes. At least as long as people demand cheap and fast oil changes. GM forgot to idiot proof this aspect of the Cruze. Removing most of the belly pan was obviously the easiest and cheapest solution.


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## gt_cristian (Apr 7, 2012)

Well, I refused to have the belly pan removed. I find it totaly wrong to strip away parts from my car...


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## Grand-87 (Sep 21, 2012)

Their is no problems with the GM belly pan some a-holes left oil soaked rags or rag between the engine and pan to soak up oil that should of been cleaned up @ the time the oil change was done.


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## Grand-87 (Sep 21, 2012)

NBrehm said:


> Exactly. The shield is nothing new to the industry. The bigger issue is the oil filter location and poor work by the technicians changing the oil. Most cars with belly pans normally have the filter mounted over an open area, off to the side, with a "spill" channel that moves oil away from the pan or simply require removal of the whole thing to get to the filter.


I have change my oil 7 times with very little mess, the oil filter location for me is in a great position for ease of replacement,and I love the cartrige filter too...


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