Loose plastic cowl underneath front end?

[MartyMng]

I have a 2007 Mazda5, and there is a large plastic cowl underneath the front end. When I hit bumps, I hear something rattle, and it sounds like plastic, so I think this cowl is loose. I put the 5 up on a hydraulic jack, but it wouldn't go high enough for me to get a good look at how this cowl connects.

Is this cowl supposed to be tight up against the bottom of the car? The end closer to the back end of the car has about 5" of clearance, which is where I can pound it upward to recreate the sound that I hear when driving over bumps. (I think)

Did I lose some bolts on this cowl, or do you guys see a space at the back end of this cowl as well?

 

[flcruising]

Do you mean it hangs down 5"? Mine has 2 bolt on either side right beside the wheels, and 4 or 5 on the front at the bumper. You just need to get under there and look. If you see a small (3/8") hole with some wear marks, a bolt was probably there. Each bolt goes into a nut that is clipped onto mating plastic, so wherever you see a clip nut, a bolt will go there holding the lower cowl onto it. The 2 at the wheels are the inner fender liners.

 

[Heat]

Post a picture of what you are talking about.

 

[ljmattox]

Likely the under-engine tray is being mentioned. It indeed does fit closely at the front and sides, held by (I think) 6-10 fasteners. Do a search for "oil change" in the how-to section of the forum and you'll see all about it. I visit mine every oil change .

The rear edge isn't particularly close fitting, with a gap like you describe. The back "corners" of the cover actually clip into other plastic parts; if these were not clipped properly, or the clips broken off, you might get a noise from this flailing about.