Sumps, how tough??

[Alex_225]

As you'll see in my other post tonight, I had to take the Loop for a bit of a blast.

In the process fo doing so I took it down a familiar road not remember a particular bump. Bloody thing hit the underside doing about 35ish with quite a noise.

I'm normally extremely careful with it so the worst case is the bumper catches slightly in the multistorey and I'm only doing 5mph then.

Whats the most likely part of the car to hit in a situation like that and how tough is the sump? The sump guard is battered a fair bit but it doesn't appear there's anything more significant.

[Picola]

Not that tough Id say from my experience and from what Ive read

[Lee_]

When I dropped the engine cover off the GTi the only scape marks were at the point where the manifold goes under the sump.

So i'd have though the sump wasn't too vulnerable, but saying that I've heard of a few dead ones.

[Alex_225]

I'm just intrigued, I mean the car has a few scrapes on the underside, not done by me to be honest but they are there.

Sump guard is a mess and really could do with being taken off. I'm just leaving it on to A) keep the engine bay cleaner and give the minimal protection a bit of plastic can.

Having looked under the car it all seemed in tact anyway and I've parked on my driveway so I'll keep an eye in the morning for oil.

Maybe I'm just worrying unnecessarily as I'm sure sometimes a bump/scrape sounds worse than it is! I'm imagining most people who have lowered their Lupos have these issues?

[penry]

You mainly hit: (In this order correct me if im wrong)

Bottom out on bump stops

Subframe

Manifold flexi

Sump

Chassis rails

There was a massive pothole i caught and literally thought it had ripped my wheel off on my arosa. Id actually hit the sill it was that big, but no damage at all apart from a little scuff. Sumps are not durable whatsoever, though. Not really meant to be 6 inch off the deck!

[cardaft]

I even managed to catch my undertray the other day. While driving through a ford (the water type, not the car!) wash quite a loud scraping and a thud. Had a good look under and it seems the underside of my bumper took most of the hit, with a few scrapes on the undertray.

I think the front bumper is a bit deeper on the arosa, so its the first thing to catch as the under tray doesnt stick down like the lupos.

I could not manage with a lowered car, id be going through sumps daily

[Unheard]

I had 6 people in my car at Reading fest one year and went full pelt into a big mud puddle. It didnt look that deep

i bottemed out and the whole car just slid on its underside through the mud and out the other side. i broke an exhaust

bracket in the process.

On the motorway home bits of mud were flying out the back all the way. I could hear a thud then see a clump explode on the road

behind me

Only after i had driven all the way home did my friend tell me his birthday cake the night before had been laced with mushrooms.

I did wonder why i had funny hexagon grid before my eyes and why i had let 6 people in my car the night before

I learnt from that not to trust that a drunk friend will tell me important things like the cake i am eating is laced with drugs

Best last night of the 5 years i went though

Edited October 25, 2008 by Unheard

[Alex_225]

By the sounds of it, my little scrape doesn't really compare much compared to others haha.

Sounds as though it probably wasn't the sump that caught last night. As I said, I sometimes think the noise sounds worse than it is.

This is the first car I've had thats been on coilies so I guess I'm more paranoid than others on here.

[penry]

You get used to it mate You get that sense where you are constantly looking at the road surface ahead to dodge bumps, dips, ruts, anything!

[RobG]

You get used to it mate You get that sense where you are constantly looking at the road surface ahead to dodge bumps, dips, ruts, anything!

sounds like normal town driving in edinburgh

[Chris R]

Speed bumps all over London, hit some pretty hard but no damage apart from tracking a bit out. Less muddy puddles and mushrooms in London though...

[Philplop]

On the motorway home bits of mud were flying out the back all the way. I could hear a thud then see a clump explode on the road

behind me

Leaving Alton Towers on Sunday night the exit had a strip of stones right down the middle of the road, I scraped like buggery all the way down, and everytime I went over a bump or round a corner after that I could hear and feel stones unwedging themselves from the underside of the car and pinging out the back. They were still coming out the next morning 100 miles later.

[double d]

its not how tough they are its how weak they are.. next time you smack your sump like that just turn your engine off straight away and just check you aint ripped it or owt,, in a matter of seconds your engine could be oil free! i think if u dint it in the right place you could damage your oil feed thing.

its a 2min job to replace a sump thow.

DoubleD

[biggaz]

Girlfriend hit a rock, smashed clean through sump...about 2-3 inch hole, cracks everywhere.

Very lucky she stopped straight away, lost all oil instantly.

[Alex_225]

its a 2min job to replace a sump thow.

Well at least thats something.

To be honest, it sounds do me as though it was the front bumper that impacted as the car nose dived but it damaged the bumper. Underneath is fine.

Although I did stop staigh away and check.

Would I be correct in assuming the oil light would come on if the oil level suddenly dropped?

[penry]

its a 2min job to replace a sump thow.

Good luck! If you've got a ramp / air gun / super fast setting sealant then you'll get it done in about an hour.

[Mario Blue Eyes]

I smashed a sump on my gti...had the car off road for a few weeks by the time vw got a new sump in from germany!

As with any lowered car..(if its lowered), they are prone to cracking...mind you there was a brick i didnt see in the middle of the road!

[Gavs_arosa16v]

My sport sump took a battering, when I nealy spun it. It scrapped over a kerb, but did not crack. Depends on the impact, and if it grazes the bottom or hits side on.

[heartagram]

Your not likely to break your sump unless something hits it quite hard and directly. Like a raise manhole cover or a brick or something.

[musto]

ive got a ramp, and whenever its on it, i take a look at any new scrapes, my sump hasnt been touchd, but my exhaust bracket isnt even worth fixing any more, that gets it 1st, antiroll bars took a battering, chassis bumper, and pretty much every section of my exhaust, but there all easy and cheap fixes, wouldnt want all my oil 2 drop tho that could be nasty!

[Alex_225]

...my sump hasnt been touchd, but my exhaust bracket isnt even worth fixing any more,

I think mine is somethin along the same lines. The exhaust bracket catches as from what I recall apart from the sump guard hanging down the exhaust bracket is the lower point.

Having said that, last time I saw the car up on the ramps it didn't look ruined. In fact the underside looked surprisingly tidy.

Also I found that if you keep your tyre pressures correct it doesn't scrape as much hahaha. Noticed the underside was catching going into my usual car park. Put an extra 3psi in as they were all 2psi down. Clears the ramps just like when I first got the car lol. Must not leave it 4 months between checking tyre pressures.

Edited November 7, 2008 by Alex_225

[matt~black]

sump is between the wheels if your trashing it on speedbumps your suspension is ****ed

[GtiJames]

Sump guard is a mess and really could do with being taken off

If uv got a sump-guard then you shouldnt need to worry about the strength of the sump itself... my mates got 1 on his mk4 golf gti and thats hit loadsa stuff but just looks a bit scratched... that bang u will have heard is just the guard doing its job.

[Philplop]

I'm guessing he meant the plastic undertray, never seen a Lupo with a sumpguard.

[electricpanda]

Well it's sort of a sump cover/guard thing isn't it?