Scraping the Underside of my OHC

aveek · 12th May 2005, 15:37

My City(1.5) is now officially 5 years old, and has 80K + kms on the Odo... and has fianlly started bottoming out.
I went for a wedding last night from Whitefield to Malleswaram with 5 people (driver, um, dad, me, 10 yr old sister) and the car scraped ABSOLUTELY EVERY speed breaker there. The ones in Whitefieldd I couldd understand, but it even scraped those mimi speed breakers around the city where it never used to, wth a much heavier load. Everytime the car went oh-so-slowly over any elvated area, the bottom would scrape for what seemed like ages...
I need advice - what the h*ll should I do to restore my cars height??!! Raising it even a bit makes it look soo wierd (has anyone ever seen the cars rear wheeel when its stationary? It looks unusually small and as if the rear suspensions been notched up a large amount...)...

Was considering getting a sheet of something made as a shield for the undercarraige...
Any suggestions?

Mpower · 13th May 2005, 08:44

I feel the pain brother. We have an OHC 1.5 too. 40K on the odo.
Went on a trip to Thirupati with 5 people and luggage. I really felt sorry for the car. Took the speedbrakers at 5 kph at an angle of 45 deg but no luck. The thing keeps scraping for 10 inches before it lets go. Dont think its has anything to do with the age of the car. Check to see if your bump-stop has'nt fallen off. Or just get bigger wheel/tire.

freakrz · 13th May 2005, 09:21

why dont you raise the height of the car..i mean when the car is fully loaded the shocks tend to go down..depending on the total weight.so its better to raise the front and rear ..i had this problem on my zen ..it got so low..so i got it raised up at the max possible height..

autopsyche · 13th May 2005, 09:31

Solution One (cheaper): Put one inch thick aluminum (not rubber) spacers on top of the rear shockabsorber mountings with longer bolts. You can get them fabricated if u cant find any available.

Solution Two (recommended): All you need are new springs and shock absorbers! thats what has sagged from your original condition otherwise why would it scrape?

aveek · 13th May 2005, 12:21

Thanks guys...
Autopsyche:was going to try that... now I need to covince dad about it... maybe play a recording of the scrapings on his iPod or somthing... hehe... any idea ow much both options would cost?

Freakrz: how much wouldd it cost to jack the height up...? And roughly how long would it take...?

Mpower: nope, still very much there... I tried the 45 degree thing too... absolutely no luck... heh... I was really planning to get spacers or something...

Will update you guys on the final decision. Thanks a million!!!

Shan2nu · 13th May 2005, 12:33

One problem with the OHC is that it's not really the under chassis that touches. It's usually the silencer that hangs much below the chassis which usually touches.

Check and see which part of the car has been touching, if it's the silencer then you'll just need to get that raised.

On my car, it's clearly a few inches below the under chassis.

Shan2nu

RJK · 13th May 2005, 13:34

Standard issue with 5 people onboard. It absolutely hurts when that happens.

vivaid · 13th May 2005, 13:54

have faced this problem with my new baleno too...

speedsatya · 13th May 2005, 14:07

guys,
raising the height will simply mess up the handling.
see what has happened to the corolla.

if the OHC has done 80+k kms then instead of raising the height why dont u redo the entire suspension .maybe change the struts all round.

nitrous · 13th May 2005, 14:33

my advice to u is to get ur suspension checked and get the necessary part replaced, since this has been happening of late.

aveek · 14th May 2005, 22:23

Yeah, talked to a Honda guy as well, he said that its advisable to get the entire suspension checked up... Shan, its not just the silencer box, I checked that first, though that has taken a pretty hard beating...

jigarmuni · 15th May 2005, 04:47

Dude, since u are planning to change ur springs.....might as well go for a slightly stiffer springs....!! That will improve ur cars handling......braking....as well as eliminate the bottoming....with 5 ppl in the car...!! Plus the OHC has got a very soft suspension and the car weight is also very little......so when u are 100kph+ the car goes over all the place....even on slightly uneven roads...!! U tend to loose a lot of control with very soft suspension...! Slightly stiffer suspension will do wonders...!

islero · 15th May 2005, 09:13

I dont think stiffer springs are needed unless youre a very very enthusiastic driver who only travels by himself all the time. From what you've mentioned, this car also ferries the family around, so I think a comfartable ride( read standard springs) will be better.

Mpower · 15th May 2005, 09:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by jigarmuni

Dude, since u are planning to change ur springs.....might as well go for a slightly stiffer springs....!! That will improve ur cars handling......braking....as well as eliminate the bottoming....with 5 ppl in the car...!! Plus the OHC has got a very soft suspension and the car weight is also very little......so when u are 100kph+ the car goes over all the place....even on slightly uneven roads...!! U tend to loose a lot of control with very soft suspension...! Slightly stiffer suspension will do wonders...!

Totally agree....the car is severly undersprung and underdamped. Gets really wallowy at triple digit speeds. Iselro, ride quality will be stiff with driver only, but once you add people it'll settle down well. But any idea where I can get stiffer springs and shocks? Its got to be imported, I presume.

Mpower · 15th May 2005, 10:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by autopsyche

All you need are new springs and shock absorbers! thats what has sagged from your original condition otherwise why would it scrape?

One way to identify if the suspension has indeed sagged is to measure the height from the fender to the ground and compare it with similar but newer car. Make sure both cars have same size tires at same pressure.

12th May 2005, 15:37	#1
aveek BHPian Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Bangalore Posts: 294 Thanked: 2 Times	Scraping the Underside of my OHC My City(1.5) is now officially 5 years old, and has 80K + kms on the Odo... and has fianlly started bottoming out. I went for a wedding last night from Whitefield to Malleswaram with 5 people (driver, um, dad, me, 10 yr old sister) and the car scraped ABSOLUTELY EVERY speed breaker there. The ones in Whitefieldd I couldd understand, but it even scraped those mimi speed breakers around the city where it never used to, wth a much heavier load. Everytime the car went oh-so-slowly over any elvated area, the bottom would scrape for what seemed like ages... I need advice - what the h*ll should I do to restore my cars height??!! Raising it even a bit makes it look soo wierd (has anyone ever seen the cars rear wheeel when its stationary? It looks unusually small and as if the rear suspensions been notched up a large amount...)... Was considering getting a sheet of something made as a shield for the undercarraige... Any suggestions?
	() Thanks

13th May 2005, 08:44	#2
Mpower Senior - BHPian Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Bangalore Posts: 10,409 Thanked: 1,730 Times View My Garage	I feel the pain brother. We have an OHC 1.5 too. 40K on the odo. Went on a trip to Thirupati with 5 people and luggage. I really felt sorry for the car. Took the speedbrakers at 5 kph at an angle of 45 deg but no luck. The thing keeps scraping for 10 inches before it lets go. Dont think its has anything to do with the age of the car. Check to see if your bump-stop has'nt fallen off. Or just get bigger wheel/tire.
	() Thanks

13th May 2005, 09:21	#3
freakrz BHPian Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Visakhapatnam Posts: 176 Thanked: 51 Times View My Garage	why dont you raise the height of the car..i mean when the car is fully loaded the shocks tend to go down..depending on the total weight.so its better to raise the front and rear ..i had this problem on my zen ..it got so low..so i got it raised up at the max possible height..
	() Thanks

13th May 2005, 09:31	#4
autopsyche Senior - BHPian Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: New Delhi, Indi Posts: 1,519 Thanked: 33 Times View My Garage	Solution One (cheaper): Put one inch thick aluminum (not rubber) spacers on top of the rear shockabsorber mountings with longer bolts. You can get them fabricated if u cant find any available. Solution Two (recommended): All you need are new springs and shock absorbers! thats what has sagged from your original condition otherwise why would it scrape?
	() Thanks

13th May 2005, 12:21	#5
aveek BHPian Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Bangalore Posts: 294 Thanked: 2 Times	Thanks guys... Autopsyche:was going to try that... now I need to covince dad about it... maybe play a recording of the scrapings on his iPod or somthing... hehe... any idea ow much both options would cost? Freakrz: how much wouldd it cost to jack the height up...? And roughly how long would it take...? Mpower: nope, still very much there... I tried the 45 degree thing too... absolutely no luck... heh... I was really planning to get spacers or something... Will update you guys on the final decision. Thanks a million!!!
	() Thanks

13th May 2005, 12:33	#6
Shan2nu Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Hubli - Karnata Posts: 5,533 Thanked: 125 Times View My Garage	One problem with the OHC is that it's not really the under chassis that touches. It's usually the silencer that hangs much below the chassis which usually touches. Check and see which part of the car has been touching, if it's the silencer then you'll just need to get that raised. On my car, it's clearly a few inches below the under chassis. Shan2nu
	() Thanks

13th May 2005, 13:34	#7
RJK Senior - BHPian Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Bombay Posts: 1,140 Thanked: 701 Times	Standard issue with 5 people onboard. It absolutely hurts when that happens.
	() Thanks

13th May 2005, 13:54	#8
vivaid BHPian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Mumbai Posts: 71 Thanked: 3 Times	have faced this problem with my new baleno too...
	() Thanks

13th May 2005, 14:07	#9
speedsatya Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2004 Location: bangalore/manga Posts: 3,169 Thanked: 738 Times View My Garage	guys, raising the height will simply mess up the handling. see what has happened to the corolla. if the OHC has done 80+k kms then instead of raising the height why dont u redo the entire suspension .maybe change the struts all round.
	() Thanks

13th May 2005, 14:33	#10
nitrous Senior - BHPian Join Date: May 2004 Location: UAE/Lon/Madras Posts: 6,965 Thanked: 325 Times View My Garage	my advice to u is to get ur suspension checked and get the necessary part replaced, since this has been happening of late.
	() Thanks

14th May 2005, 22:23	#11
aveek BHPian Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Bangalore Posts: 294 Thanked: 2 Times	Yeah, talked to a Honda guy as well, he said that its advisable to get the entire suspension checked up... Shan, its not just the silencer box, I checked that first, though that has taken a pretty hard beating...
	() Thanks

15th May 2005, 04:47	#12
jigarmuni BHPian Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Mumbai Posts: 139 Thanked: 0 Times View My Garage	Dude, since u are planning to change ur springs.....might as well go for a slightly stiffer springs....!! That will improve ur cars handling......braking....as well as eliminate the bottoming....with 5 ppl in the car...!! Plus the OHC has got a very soft suspension and the car weight is also very little......so when u are 100kph+ the car goes over all the place....even on slightly uneven roads...!! U tend to loose a lot of control with very soft suspension...! Slightly stiffer suspension will do wonders...!
	() Thanks

15th May 2005, 09:13	#13
islero Senior - BHPian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Chennai Posts: 1,574 Thanked: 13 Times View My Garage	I dont think stiffer springs are needed unless youre a very very enthusiastic driver who only travels by himself all the time. From what you've mentioned, this car also ferries the family around, so I think a comfartable ride( read standard springs) will be better.
	() Thanks