Hi guys. Went on a road trip up to Tulsa a while back, and coming home going about 65 we hit a dead possum. There were two dead opossum on the road, I guess once came to scavenge the other and was also turned into roadkill by another driver.

I avoided having them hit my wheels, but one went under the car and it felt like it hit pretty hard.

Now when we're driving around in it, when there are cracks in the road or slight dips something keeps scraping on the ground. Sounds like plastic scraping or something. I haven't had a chance yet to take it in to get it looked at, but I was wondering if any of you have any experience yet with the undercarriage of the car to see.

I can't actually see anything that looks to be dangling down, but something is now not giving us enough clearance that we once had.

 

Running over road kills not fun. Guess only way to find out if something got caught underneath is jack the car up and look.

Most of the bottom are protected with a plastic shroud unless it damaged one of them?

 

I hit a live raccoon in my '00 New Beetle - the repair tab was over $6,000 (insurance covered it, but probably weren't happy about it).

More than likely your plastic engine belly pan got cracked or popped the bolts and is dragging. Jack it up and take a look.

es

 

probably just the undertray that got damaged

 

I love this one.

"I hit something with my car and now something is dragging. Please Mr. Internet Psychic, tell me what is wrong!"

Umm, look under the car and see if something is hanging down further than normal! If nothing is, give the various bits of shrouding a tug to see if any of it is no longer attached firmly.

 

…and please report back and let us know what you found!

(kind of like Stump the Chump)

es

 

It could have been worse:

 

Kitten Survives 1,000-Mile Trip in Engine of Honda - ABC News

 

I clearly said I see nothing hanging down.

I can't tell what the car is doing under driving dynamics though.

I was asking here to see if somebody has maybe seen the underside of a fit and knows what is under there that might be knocked loose. There's nothing psychic about it, because i'm not asking what is hanging from my car, but what could make a plastic scraping sound that might be knocked loose.

The others aren't psychic, but they gave great guesses based on their knowledge of the vehicle undercarriage. Plastic shroud, belly pan, under tray...


And obviously if I had the means to jack it up right now, I would.

 

You can reach most of the shrouding without jacking the car. Put on some old clothes, crawl around a bit, tug downward at the various bits of plastic and you'll find the problem.

 

Not to state the obvious, but you do have a jack in your spare tire area...

Of course, you may not have a good place to use it...

I have yet to have need to go under my Fit, so don't have a good mental picture of what you need to look for. It's possible the belly piece under the engine got cracked and pushed *up* and is rubbing against a half-shaft or something. But really, we can only guess until you go be our eyes for us.

es

 

Quote for Possum meat shipped to 90266?

 

LOL...

"Excuse me Mr Critter sir, could you AT LEAST pick your foot up so you aren't creating a dragging sound while I drive?! Also, not to nit pick, but you're literally dragging my MPGs down because your face is not very aerodynamic... just saying."

 

This is good if you need a better view under the car, but don't crawl under a car supported only by a jack. Put something stable under the tires and let the car down on them before crawling under.

Oh, and in the picture I posted, the deer is alive and survived its wild ride!

 

This coyote survived as well

 

Are you sure the sounds are coming from UNDER the car?!?!? Lift the hood VERY slowly and make sure you have a stick in your other hand...

 

Dead possums are bad enough, live ones, no thanks! Tiny brains, big teeth, bad attitudes!

 

Sounds like you're describing my first wife...can we add hair all over, beady eyes and just a hint of Jack on the breath...I'm talking about the opposum of course!

 

haven't had a chance to look under the fit yet, but if it has a heat shield it could be causing your issue. just rebend it at a different angle.