Rear wheel splash guard fasteners for 2017 MKX Res

[greyfox47]

On the rear quarter panels in front of the tires on both sides are splash guards. They are held by two fasteners each to the metal quarter panel. wheel well and trim About a year ago, I noticed the driver's side guard was dangling by one fastener. After looking all over and visiting countless auto shops, I found a plunger button type fastener that looked like it should work. Last week, I did about 1500 miles of highway driving and noticed everytime I stopped for gas or anything else that both guards' fasteners were inching out, one guard precariously so. I pushed all 4 back in snugly (?) and went on my way. Later, I took the car into an auto wash and when I sprayed around the guard, I thought it was going to fall off. So, for the rest of the trip, everytime I stopped, I checked the fasteners and pushed them back in if needed. Yesterday, I was on a bike ride and found myself going past a Ford/Lincoln dealer who was unfortunately out of Lincolns. I sought out the part dept and asked about the fasteners since none of the four I was using are OEM. Like me, the guy couldn't find the fasteners or the guards anywhere in the Lincoln parts system. The closest we could come up with is part number W712196-S300, which seemed to be used for a number of trim locations. I bought a bag of four but would like a warm feeling they will work because I'm not so sure. Can anyone share some light on where I would go (besides a Lincoln dealer) to identify the correct fasteners? Thanks in advance. TL

The attached pic is the passenger side guard. The two fasteners are the push button type. The upper one penetrates the trim molding and metal on the other side. I'm not sure about the lower one.

 

[greyfox47]

You aren't going to believe this!! This morning I drove to a local Lincoln dealer and asked about the flaps. Turns out that the original dealer that installed the flaps, did so incorrectly and only installed half of them. The flaps are a dealer installed item and whoever installed them put front facing on the rear tires and none on the front. It looks like these two flaps should have installed rear of the front tires. My second best option was to order 4 new flaps and install them correctly. I thought about it and said to myself, "I've owned this vehicle since Feb 2017..... why bother since there's no apparent wear and tear on the under door trip or behind the rear tires." So, no flaps became my best option and I saved $75. Now, my only decision is whether to remove the exisiting "do nothing" flaps.

 

[Steve_C]

If you decide to go with no flaps, you might want to cover the holes the old clips were inserted into, especially if you are in an environment that induces corrosives on roadways being splashed up into the undercarriage.
Although you might not need them, the clips you were seeking in your original post are generic, and can be purchased in assortment packs of various sizes from everywhere. I bought my last pack from amazon, but they can be sourced from Harbor Freight, any automotive supply store chain, e-bay, etc. etc.
I keep them on hand because all the vehicles I own use them, from my wife's old BMW to my even older Infiniti!
They are also used extensively on our 2023 Nautilus. They are good to keep on hand. Every few years I remove mud flaps to clean up behind them. Old clips get brittle & break. Like you mentioned, extensive re-use of them wears down their ability to fasten securely.