I had the misfortune of hitting a boulder about 15 inches in diameter. No, I was not on a trail. this boulder was laying near a construction site in the middle of a paved road. As it was a dark night, unlit road, and black boulder, I only had time to straddle to the left side. The boulder shattered the cheap plastic skid plate that is the OEM plate on the Santa Fe.

Due purely to dumb luck I straddled to miss the transmission case, and got only a minor crease in the drain pan. The OEM skid plate was completely useless to actually protect the engine and transmission.

I decided to replace the cheap plastic OEM skid plate with a product that would actually protect the lower engine and transmission.

Found a great product...a 1/4 inch steel skid plate made by Romik in New York. The skid plate weighs about 70 lbs, and it is a substantial hunk of metal. I mounted the new skid plate under my 2004 Santa Fe in about an hour using the supplied bolts and washers hardware.

Problem: The solid steel plate reflects a LOT of engine noise up into the passenger compartment. The noise level is about the same as an early'90s Chevy V8 pickup truck. The Romik mounted directly with a metal-to-metal contact at the 8 bolt holes and a solid line of contact on the left and right side front frame.

What can I do to eliminate the noise? I have considered using rubber washers to provide standoff from the frame, spraying the inner face with rubberized undercoating, even weatherstripping foam between the skid plate and the contact points with the frame.

Anybody solved this problem?

Byron

This post has been edited by byronguidry3732: Jan 2 2008, 02:58 PM

Hi Byron,

Assuming that the increased noise is caused by sound reflecting off the skid plate surface and depending upon how much clearance there is between the skid plate and the lower surfaces of the engine/transaxle, you may want to consider a heat-proof sound insulation material, similiar to what manufacturer's install under the hood and on the firewall.

I'll bring this issue up with other manufacturing engineers I work with and get you an update.

You realize that the 70 pounds you added is doing to affect your fuel consumption?

Jim

This post has been edited by Fla_Sunlover: Jan 2 2008, 04:44 PM

Okay, have you considered spray-on undercoating? It's heat resistant and is a good sound insulator, and has an added benefit of reducing corrosion.

Jim

Dear FLA SUnlover,

I accepted that the 70 lb skid plate was a lot heavier than the plastic skid plate which weighed about 18 lbs. Hitting that boulder made me visualize my Hyundai dealer yelling "Ka-ching" for the new transmission I thought I would have to buy.

I will try the rubberized undercoating, just have to worry about clearance with exhaust crossover pipe under the engine. It is only about 2 inches from the skid plate and will burn any undercoating that is too close.

Byron

This post has been edited by byronguidry3732: Jan 3 2008, 04:54 PM

After breaking 2 plastic sump guards I fabricated my own out of folded 3mm (1/8th inch) aluminium with a dozen 2 inch holes for drainage and ventilation. It is about 6 inches longer than the plastic one and uses 2 extra bolts at the back.
I did not use any sound deadening and have not noticed any extra noise in the cabin.
I can easily lift it up and hold it while I get a couple of bolts in.

Are you sure your steel guard is not touching the exhaust or sump and generating noise from vibration?

Nope, only touching along the left frame, right frame, and front. It is just loud. I decided to find the black heat-resistant water-resistant type fabric used on the OEM skid plate and on the engine plastic cover.

I did figure out that by removing the ugly black and silver plastic engine cover, I did increase air circulation over the engine but also raised the noise level from the engine. The ugly cover actually does some good.

Still looking for a source for the black fabric similar to the original Hyundai.

Byron