no, my cat did not get shot or impaled, nor do I even have a cat...

But over the weekend I found that there is a hole in my catalytic converter, probably from a speed bump that I hit a few months ago. For weeks I noticed an occasional high-pitched hissing sound coming from my car but never picked up on what it was. Well, doing an alignment last Saturday I was looking under my car and there it was. It's a portion of gashed metal about 1 inch diameter in the front bottom of the cat, before the exhaust goes though the first honeycomb. I don't have pictures now but I'll try to post some later. My question is would anything bad happen if I just let it be or if I straightened the metal out with some pliers, besides increased emissions? I haven't noticed any change in drivability. No way the dealer would cover this under warranty, right?

 

When is your car due for its first smog check?

 

hmm, I smacked the cat just recently then the Check Engine light came on, could this be related?? I figured it was like last time and just the Gas Cap (never replaced it just greased the seal the light went away).

 

Hole in a box.

 

well, I got my car May 2005, I guess the first smog check is 4 years from that point in 2009 sometime.

^ and lol at trix bunny

 

I presume that means it's leaking. You need to fix that, lest you kill yourself with monoxide poisoning. Look for some muffler patching stuff and see if that will take care if it. If not, you'll need to fix it properly - even if the cat is still catting.

Ken