dmckeown

Hi all,

I bought a 2008 GS350 recently and the plastic splash shield came with a flap cut into it, clearly made so it would be quicker to change the oil filter.
I understand the idea, but recently when I was driving home it fell down and got ground down a bit as I was listening to music and did not notice for a couple miles.

I feel like this is a good excuse for me to replace the splash shield and all the bolts as many are missing or rusty, and I am wondering if anyone here has any experience with the aftermarket replacement splash shields and specifically if you are able to transfer the sound dampening pads from the OEM one over as all the aftermarket ones I have seen do not show foam pads.

If I do end up going with an OEM part, will it include new pads? I can't seem to find any pictures of it.

Any suggestions are appreciated

Oro

I’m in because I’m trying to replace a missing 09 awd one myself. Someone else can be authoritative but what I have found so far is:

- OE one has the pads, c. $225
- Replacements are much cheaper, no pads, $55 to $90.

Also, I noticed the “splash shield” in the parts catalog is labeled “#2” - is there in fact a second chin one or something? Hopefully someone can help us both.

mspearl95

do you mean the entire splash sheild under the car/motor? or just the smaller cover that you remove to access the oil filter?

dmckeown

PN 5141030120 is what I'm looking to replace, I believe the rwd model has a "door" that the awd model (mine) does not.

Oro

So there is a second one? This car has nothing behind the bumper; oil filter is plainly accessible. But when i search I only find the big one (I need it, too). Mine is awd.

OP is apparently rwd and needs only the back one. Sorry for the cross-talk but I was going to post the same Q today, coincidentally.

dmckeown

I have an awd, sorry if confusing

Oro

Fixed it. I noticed the same thing as you - aftermarket ones were very cheap looking.

I was thinking to find a parts car and pull one - bookmarked a couple parts cars within 1/2 hour I found on FB Marketplace. More hassle and may be no cheaper, but likely better. That’s where my thinking is at now.

mspearl95

oh yeah I didn't know the AWD was different! I've got a gs460(rwd) and the splash cover basically covers the entire front of the car, and then there is a small cover in the middle held on by like 7 screw bolts that you remove to access the oil filter. mb this is specific to the gs460 tho.

dmckeown

Gonna order an aftermarket one, see if I can swap the dampening pads over. My main concern is just noise, if it's as quiet as the oem I will be happy. Will update at the weekend

Oro

I’ve been driving w/o one - it doesn’t affect cabin noise. I thought they were mostly there as “sanitary pads” for leaks (guess).

I bought a cheap ebay or amazon fender liner for a friends camaro a few years ago. It was thin, but it installed fine and did the job. Not as robust as factory and would get damaged more easily, but worked. I imagine the same applies here. Keep us up to date on what you do and find.

and does it in fact take two? Or just the one?

dmckeown

I got around to working on this earlier today and this was the result!

Easy enough to get the old one off, had a couple rusty screws, but I got some new ones earlier in the week from the dealer, anticipating this.
I removed the pads very easily using wide flat pliers to pop the clips off, then ran into some trouble putting them on the new aftermarket shield as the holes were far too large for the clips to hold it down.
I ended up using some zip ties to secure the pads for the time being, but I intend to get some larger clips and fix this next oil change.
The other minor issue was some of the holes did not perfectly line up with the underside of the car to the point I could not easily get the screw to bite, but I was able to use a small screwdriver to center the holes and get screws in all of them.
The aftermarket shield was pretty much the same thickness - quality as the OEM plastic one, and I am happy with the end result.
Cost me 37.99 and about 40 minutes of time

In the below images you can see the old one, the damage, and how the replacement looked with the pads attached. (I did zip tie the loose corner of the pad in the below image before putting it on)

Oro

Cool. Thanks for the update. I need to get one. what brand did you get? That price is super. I don’t have an old one to transfer pads, but can live w/o them.

Thanks again for the update.

ETA: so for total clarity - is this the ONLY shield under the engine on an awd? Mine is blank from the front bumper cover/surround back. it doesn’t look like it would make to the curved front bumper. Is there a second smaller shield up there, or a gap, or am I wrong/not seeing it correctly?

dmckeown

- the bumper has plastic tabs pointing towards the back of the car that the splash shield gets bolted to. There is just the one main shield as far as I can tell, it connects to more plastic on the sides, but I'm not sure if those are seperate shields or part of the wheel well or something else.