Lil Smoky after Hitting Concrete!

DrFishbone

SCCoA Member
Well, I had a gut-wrenching experience the other day...

I was cruising down the interstate on the way to work and noticed a piece of concrete in the middle of the road...since it was a dangerous area and I didn't have enough time make sure noone was next to me and since the two cars in front of me drove over it...I figured it was small enough that my car would clear it. Well, as I got closer I realized the two cars in front of me were SUV's and the little piece of concrete was about the size of a football!!!:eek: By then it was too late...I drove over it and hear/felt a nassssty *bang / scrape* and felt my car lift a bit from it too. I looked in the mirror and saw it flying down the road spinning like crazy. That was a hard piece of concrete!

I pulled over to make sure everything was still under the SC, and it was, but I have some nice new dents to the secret collection. Well, just afterwards, I noticed my car would smoke black a good deal when I accelerate hard. I later found that my exhaust pipe and cat on the driver side is banged up pretty good and the exhaust is leaking a little. The cat is nice and rattly inside (heat shields are already gone), especially during deceleration. Yesterday while driving home at about 70mph, I sped up to pass some folks, I really saw the black smoke pour out.

So...I'm wondering why the car is running so rich now, especially at WOT. Sometimes it's works than others, but since the concrete football collision, it's been noticable. Would a busted cat. converter (driver's side) cause the car to run this much more rich? Perhaps the pipe is clogged with catalyst pieces? Another note - gas mileage has been creeping down from about 24mpg to 22mpg over the past 2 years..

I need to get under the car and inspect everything a bit better, but it looks like the engine cradle, driver's cat. converter, exhaust pipe, gas tank heat shield and rear bumper all have some degree of damage. Nothing is leaking or broken though. Good thing the oil pan wasn't hit...it would be in pieces for sure!

Any ideas why the car is running so rich? I'll see if gas mileage has changed next time I get the chance. :(
 
Sounds like you severely collapsed part of the exhaust.

And by the way, maybe you didn't really have a chance to do otherwise, but good choice to take the hit rather than risk worse by changing direction, seriously.
 
And by the way, maybe you didn't really have a chance to do otherwise, but good choice to take the hit rather than risk worse by changing direction, seriously.

True.

You know, if you have collision / comprehensive on the car, you could probably file a claim and get the dents and exhaust fixed.
 
True.

You know, if you have collision / comprehensive on the car, you could probably file a claim and get the dents and exhaust fixed.


I just have liability and would much rather do it myself - good point though.

I think I may even have a front exhaust section I could stick in there at my parents house. Good thing I'm a pack rat! :eek::D
 
>This is likely...but would that alone (with busted a busted cat) explain the smoke?

If the exhaust is blocked enough, say on one side at a point before the Y, I'd think so...

You could pull plugs and codes, etc. but until the underside is checked closely, it's just a guess, of course :)
 
Well, the pipe wasn't collapsed, nor was the cat. Most of the catalyst pieces must've been small enough to work their way back the pipe, because all that was left in there was one nice-sized chunk (and the cat was VERY lightweight!)

I don't hear any rattling after replacing the cat with an old one I had..and in the short amount of time I've driven it since then, I haven't seen puffy clouds behind me. :D Hopefully it's good now....
 
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