2009 TDI Oilpan blanket

JSWTDI09 · Sep 9, 2009

I installed a Dieselgeek MK5 Panzer plate yesterday on my car and I have a question. After I removed the plastic "belly cover" under my car I noticed that my car's oilpan has a molded fibrous "jacket" enclosing it. There is a hole in it for the drain plug. This "jacket" is less that 0.25 inch thick, black, and it has a VW part number embossed on it.

My question is: What is the purpose of this cover? Is it insulation to keep in heat, or to muffle sound? Is it a feeble attempt to protect the oilpan from damage? Just curious...does anybody know?

TIA

Don

k1xv · Sep 9, 2009

Only speculating here. I would say it is for both sound deadening and heat retention. In extremely frigid weather, a low fuel consumption engine could have trouble maintaining proper oil temperature.

Turbine Suburban · Sep 9, 2009

I'm guessing it is for thermal retention.

But only a guess.

I am wondering how loud / what the consequences are if you do not re-install the plastic pan when installing the dg pan. Anyone know? Sorry for the thread drift....

JSWTDI09 · Sep 9, 2009

Turbine Suburban said:
I am wondering how loud / what the consequences are if you do not re-install the plastic pan when installing the dg pan. Anyone know? Sorry for the thread drift....

Let her drift if she wants to...

I don't know. DG's instructions say to put it back on - so I did.

Have you taken that cover off? The upper side is very interesting. There are many little hollow plastic cubes in a variety of different places. Some grouped together, some places with none of them. I did not look closely enough to figure out where those little groups of "blocks" fit into the engine compartment. My guess is that without it more sound would bounce up off of the skidplate making the engine more noisy. Whether this is good or bad would probably depend on which sounds were bounced back.

That said, the plastic belly pan/cover does do a pretty good job of sealing out water, dirt, etc from the bottom side of the engine compartment. The Panzer plate does not completely fill the space covered by the plastic cover. For this reason it is staying on my car.

Turbine Suburban · Sep 10, 2009

All those blocks are for attenuating noise. Expensive home theaters and recording studios use the same technique, (only bigger blocks) to break up room modes that can make a subwoofers job hard. Very effective.

jayson9 · Sep 10, 2009

JSWTDI09 said:
I installed a Dieselgeek MK5 Panzer plate yesterday on my car and I have a question. After I removed the plastic "belly cover" under my car I noticed that my car's oilpan has a molded fibrous "jacket" enclosing it. There is a hole in it for the drain plug. This "jacket" is less that 0.25 inch thick, black, and it has a VW part number embossed on it.

My question is: What is the purpose of this cover? Is it insulation to keep in heat, or to muffle sound? Is it a feeble attempt to protect the oilpan from damage? Just curious...does anybody know?

TIA

Don

My '09 did not have one (molded fibrous "jacket") and I live in MO. According to your bio, you live in Nevada, so I don't think it gets that cold there? Maybe the car came from Alaska....

barshnik · Sep 10, 2009

No blanket on my oil pan. Maybe your car was diverted from its Greenland destination. Re: Panzer installation: Did your frame rail studs have plastic caps on them as shown in the instructions? Mine didn't, but seemed to have a plastic coating on the threads.

John F
LV, NV

Turbine Suburban · Sep 10, 2009

No caps.

JSWTDI09 · Sep 10, 2009

No caps here either, the studs just looked painted. No problem getting nuts on though.

It's odd that I had the blanket/cover and others don't. My car came straight from the port of entry (San Diego) to Las Vegas in only a few days - no diversion through Greenland or anything. It was a scheduled delivery to my dealer, not a special order. Strange, I wonder if there is anything else odd about my car. Now I wish I had taken a picture while I had it all off, I'm not about to remove it all just for a picture now.

P.S. John, that bolt that gets in the way of the front bolt on the left mount...a 17mm socket on a 10" extension fits right through the lower left grill, and it is easy to back out.

MyAvocation · Sep 10, 2009

k1xv said:
In extremely frigid weather, a low fuel consumption engine could have trouble maintaining proper oil temperature.

x2.
The combination of -0°F and highway speeds prevents my 2006 from reaching operating temp -- even with OE belly pan. Thank God for heated seats during the 45 min commute.

JSWTDI09 · Sep 10, 2009

MyAvocation said:
x2.
The combination of -0°F and highway speeds prevents my 2006 from reaching operating temp -- even with OE belly pan. Thank God for heated seats during the 45 min commute.

First, it almost sounds like the old days with rusted-out heater boxes on air-cooled VWs. I remember cruising down the interstate and using an ice scraper on the inside of the windshield. Not a fond memory, but a memory none the less.

Anyway, it sounds like I'm glad it's there (who knows I might go someplace cold someday) . It's just odd that all 2009s don't have them. I can't find the part in my Bentley manual. I'll note the P/N the next time I have the skidplate and cover off.

P.S. 0°F is unheard of here (unless you go up into the mountains), 0°C is rare (only a few nights per year)

El Dobro · Sep 10, 2009

My '09 has the oil pan blanket.

DoctorDawg · Sep 10, 2009

Mine too. But I call it "the oil cozy."
.

Pelican18TQA4 · Sep 10, 2009

My car has the oil pan cozy too!

Midnight Rider · Sep 10, 2009

So does my wifes...

CMB430 · Sep 10, 2009

My Jetta has the fancy blanket around the oil pan. It also had insulation on the upper part of the firewall and on the hood...those two pieces came off. I also removed the battery blanket and purchased some rubber terminal covers from the parts store...so I would not shock myself...and just treated the terminals with that battery terminal paint stuff from CRC. My car was shipped to MN where I bought it...

Tim Birney · Sep 10, 2009

JSWTDI09 said:
I installed a Dieselgeek MK5 Panzer plate yesterday on my car and I have a question. After I removed the plastic "belly cover" under my car I noticed that my car's oilpan has a molded fibrous "jacket" enclosing it. There is a hole in it for the drain plug. This "jacket" is less that 0.25 inch thick, black, and it has a VW part number embossed on it.

My question is: What is the purpose of this cover? Is it insulation to keep in heat, or to muffle sound? Is it a feeble attempt to protect the oilpan from damage? Just curious...does anybody know?

TIA

Don

That is to hide the botched oil changes, and the inherent oil leaks.

k1xv · Sep 10, 2009

Sounds like great nesting material for mice.

Turbine Suburban · Sep 10, 2009

k1xv said:
Sounds like great nesting material for mice.

True dat.

We keep bait blocks in the garage for this reason, and they have to be replenished a couple times a year.

Pelican18TQA4 · Sep 10, 2009

Tim Birney said:
That is to hide the botched oil changes, and the inherent oil leaks.

This is probably the best post I've read all day!!

Midnight Rider · Sep 10, 2009

Tim Birney said:
That is to hide the botched oil changes, and the inherent oil leaks.

Nope. The oil still seeps to the garage floor! Don't ask me how I know...

MayorDJQ · Sep 10, 2009

My '09 has the oil pan insuallation. Maybe it's a build-date thing. I think my date code is 9/08.

Jack Frost · Sep 10, 2009

Mine does too. When you shut off the engine in the winter, it is very effective in retaining engine heat.

Dieselgeek · Sep 10, 2009

The 1999 2.0 MK4 Jettas had these plastic oil pan insulators as did the A3 and B4 TDI. The reduce noise considerably sitting right next to the oil pan. The 1999 2.0 cover's part number began with 038 which is a TDI prefix.

I took my Corrado TDI's AHU engine's oil pan cover off and it made a difference in noise.

MayorDJQ · Sep 10, 2009

The skid pan and oil pan blanket are two different things.

Dieselgeek · Sep 11, 2009

Just to clarify, the oil pan cover I am referring to envelops the oil pan only. Anybody have a picture of the MK5 cover?

dhdenney · Sep 12, 2009

What's the PN for the oil pan cover? I kinda want one. Not sure if the CR's have the same oil pan as the PD's or not.......

Dieselgeek · Sep 12, 2009

06A 103 660 and 660AB, though the actual part has a cast-in number that begins with 038. There are also mounting parts that the dealer can get you.

dhdenney · Sep 12, 2009

corrado tdi said:
06A 103 660 and 660AB, though the actual part has a cast-in number that begins with 038. There are also mounting parts that the dealer can get you.

Thanks.

andylyco · Sep 21, 2009

Sorry I don't have a direct shot of the oil pan cover, but I got this shot of the serp belt and the pass side of the oil pan cover:

Our car was purchased near Oakland CA. My vote for reason goes to sound deadening (same with the nipples on the top of the belly pan), with perhaps the added bonus of a little heat retention for winter driving.

2009 TDI Oilpan blanket

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