2004 Mazda3 front wheel side splash guards loose and flapping when driving
 

These two plastic splash guards are hanging loose and have empty holes where bolts or clips must have been.. I just cant tell where they are supposed to fasten or tie down to keep them from making so much noise. The drivers side is flapping when I drive. The passenger side has a tear in it but so far no noise. Any way to fix these? I tried to take pics under car. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

Thank you!

those holes attach to the plasic cover thats supposed to be on the car under the engine to protect it from road spray / puddles. the problem is they made so you need to remove to get the oil filter off & that means that when the bolts corrode they break the plastic apart when you get an oil change - and they aren't going to tell you or fix it.
On mine I replaced the hardware with stainless bolts, and enlarged the oil filter hole so it actually lines up with the filter (the 2.3L it doesn't line up, I guess the 2.0L might). SO I don't have to remove that under plastic at all, so mo breakage problems.

As for fixing it, probably a metal bracket to replace the plastic that's missing is the easiest solution. Or just find a replacement cover off ebay or something - there are many cars that have been wrecked & get parted out.

^^ Correct, those holes are meant to connect to the lower engine shield. Many people have removed theirs to facilitate oil changes. Like above some of the hardware on mine seized up..... Mazda used a captive nut on the original clips but the welds broke loose. They later replaced them with a better design.

For the moment you can either get a new lower shield to replace the missing one, or you can just loosely tie the two shields together (zip ties, string, etc.) to keep them from moving towards the wheels.

djs, FYI the "oil filter" hole in the lower shield isn't actually for accessing the oil filter. It's a hole placed for final inspections on the assembly line. You're not the only person who thought that, nor are you the only one who's made a new hole to access the filter either. The 2.3 and 2.0 both have the filter in the same place, though the stock filter on the 2.3 is a cartridge style vs a spin on. I replaced my cartridge housing with the spin on from the 2.0 just to make changes easier.

i'm glad to know that it doesnt line up on the 2L either... wonder why they didnt just move it over a few inches to make maintenance easier? :doh: oh heindsight, where have you gone.