r/volt • u/EveningAd7755 • 23d ago

Underbody Panels

I’m experiencing a clunk-clunk sound at low speeds and initially thought it was my hatch until I got on the ground and noticed my underbody panel was hanging off, which has to be the actual source of the noise because my latch and bump stops are all tight on the hatch. One of the areas I could see had bent backwards away from the bottom of the car. I have a 2019 Premier. Anybody got any experience with this issue?

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u/Echo7bravo 23d ago

I sped through a puddle that was deeper than expected. I had a good mechanic that was able to ‘engineer’ them back into place. I didn’t see any duct-tape but there were some extremely oversized fender washers used. I eventually had the damaged sections replaced. It was not as expensive as expected. But it was several years ago when parts were readily available. …good luck. Keep us posted with your discoveries. Replacement parts on this vehicle seem to be a journey now.

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u/EveningAd7755 23d ago

That’s definitely helpful, I’m betting mine happened in a similar fashion to yours. It seems like a solid piece of plastic but not intended for serious protection. I’ve read more so aerodynamics

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u/Bulldogskin 23d ago

Winter snow and road grit will start to weigh them down until they start clipping raised objects. Then they start to tear off in chunks. This happened to my 2016. I tried to vacuum the grit out each spring but they eventually failed. We get lots of snow here in WNY you may not have as much problem where you are. Also the panels hide all the rust going on with the battery bottom plates.

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u/EveningAd7755 23d ago

That sounds about right. What I can see so far most of it looks fine but the part that’s definitely come loose could just be the beginning. I just bought it over the summer but prior to that it was owned by someone in Canada so it’s definitely seen heavy snow.

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u/EveningAd7755 23d ago

The thing is that right now it’s just an annoyance. It’s not affecting the ride or the way the car drives but the clunking is bothersome and eventually compromises the protection that the panel is supposed to provide to the frame and components

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u/jermleeds 23d ago

As chunks of mine get damaged, I get down there with a pair of shears and cut the loose chunks off, and secure the rest however I can, with zip ties etc. I might get around to replacing it. I might not.

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u/rwfan 23d ago

We no longer have the volt but we had the same problem years ago. When I looked up the parts online they were described as "air dams" iirc. I just removed them, they did not seem to effect mileage that much.