Undercarriage scrape

DIDIERJM

MEMBER
2007 VOLKSWAGEN BEETLE
2WD
MANUAL
80,000 MILES

I scraped the undercarriage of my VW on the edge of the pavement trying to do a three point turn. The pavement was raised about 4 inches above the side of the road (dirt), and was angled away from the dirt. I approached the shoulder turning right, about at a 70 degree angle and slowly let it go onto the dirt when I heard a scrape. I then stopped and put it in reverse to very slowly and gently try and pull it out of the ditch. It scraped a little more but I got out and everything seemed fine. Only later did I realize there is now a slight scraping/scratching noise when I brake at low speeds/approaching a stop, and a similar noise when accelerating at low speeds/ coming out of a stop.

1 Reply

KASEKENNY

MECHANIC
18,907 POSTS

Can you get a recording of the noise? This could be a backing plate but the fact that it only does it when taking off and stopping tells me that it is not necessarily rotational.

Does the noise get faster until it goes away or does it stay the same speed when it starts and then just stops?

Here is a guide that covers basic grinding noises but I doubt these will apply in this case. The video will get us on the right path because hearing the noise will tell us what the possible causes could be. Thanks

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/vehicle-grinding-noise