I hit a racoon

[dectk06]

I was going about 60 mph and hit a racoon of about 20 lbs. The racoon was low enough that when I hit it, it hit the lower left portion of the front bumper and slid under the ground as I drove over it in a hysteria. The obvious damage is a dent in the front bumper on the left bottom portion (where CAI is) and a broken air dam on the inside of the front bumper. Then 5 mins later of hard driving (to forget what happened), my MS CAI popped out of place, car stalled in 3rd gear, and my steering wheel locked up.

What kind of damage to the engine, drive-train, or the front portion of the car in general can this kind of impact cause? Everything seems to be running normal, but is there a concern for giving the car a complete check-off?

BTW, i've taken it to the dealer and they just refitted the CAI. I'm gonna go get the front bumper fixed. I'm just so paranoid right now...

Why is all this happening? First was the paint damage. Now, the racoon. I only have 2000 miles on the car...(confused)

 

[ForceFed]

Karma.
What hav you done in your past....Gues maybe its catching up to you?

And hitting that raccon didnt do a thing to your drivetrain..I dont care how hard you hit it.
Just cosmetic damage.

 

[LUECACK]

What kind of damage to the engine, drive-train, or the front portion of the car in general can this kind of impact cause? Everything seems to be running normal, but is there a concern for giving the car a complete check-off?

the power steering just in front of the right front wheel and is electric instead of being mounted to the engine, so it me be damaged causing your steering problems, they arn't cheap (i think $1200 my cost if memory serves) and are dealer only part. but from you stated that it damaged your intake that would be on the other side of the car so im not certain, just throwing it out there.

if it is your power steering pump and the dealer/insurance wont cover it let me know, i have one laying around i'll part with for much less than $1200

although i do think you should consider taking it to a decent body shop and let them fix it properly, than if anything goes wrong in the future they will be liable, not to mention it will be a comprehensive claim and it shouldn't make your rates go up. just make sure you say it "ran" out in front of you because if it was sitting still, it is your fault, just a heads up from someone in the business

 

[ForceFed]

Thats funny..I didnt see him mention power steering problems....hell or anything about Steering probems at all?

 

[Nutari]

Thats funny..I didnt see him mention power steering problems....hell or anything about Steering probems at all?

Then 5 mins later of hard driving (to forget what happened), my MS CAI popped out of place, car stalled in 3rd gear, and my steering wheel locked up.

steering wheel locked up?

 

[ForceFed]

steering wheel locked up?

Well damn..Thats because the car stalled.
Simple.

 

[numbnuts22715]

yea, if a car stalls, it may cause the steering to lock up.

Did you try restarting it?
I dont know if you may have sucked something into the engine when the filter popped off... It could have caused some MASSIVE damage.

 

[ForceFed]

He said later in th epost...They reinstalled the filter and its running normally...The guy is just paranoid..

If its running normally..It most likely is fine other than the cosmetic damage.

 

[Nutari]

Well damn..Thats because the car stalled.
Simple.

sorry about that. sick + high off pain+cough+sorethroat meds + posting = stupid posts. I'll refrain from posting till im better.

 

[ForceFed]

sorry about that. sick + high off pain+cough+sorethroat meds + posting = stupid posts. I'll refrain from posting till im better.

LOL!

 

[katsmp3]

i saw the thread title.. and it said, 'i hit a racoon' and i thought, 'nah, i wouldn't hit it'

 

[ForceFed]

i saw the thread title.. and it said, 'i hit a racoon' and i thought, 'nah, i wouldn't hit it'

Thats funny righ thur..I dun care who u R!

 

[numbnuts22715]

shiit, my bad. reading owns me.

Just go to a bodyshop and have the bumper fixed, all the problems will be solved.
its normal to feel a little paranoid about your car when something like that happens, dont worry about it

 

[dectk06]

Thanks. The dealer just tightened the MS CAI - that's it. The guy didn't even look under the car or anything. He seemed to think that since everything is running fine, the car should be fine.
I must be a really bad owner. I've already mishifted 3 times - redlining and jerking forward as a result. I messed up the paint on the back. Hit a damned racoon. Messed up the front bumper. What's next? A tornado? A flood? Oh god... karma's shoving a s*** load of things up my ass... I need to be a better person.

 

[redspeed3tk]

just a thought...but when ya hit something its a good idea to stop and look what it did and no go beat the hell out of the car.....until ya check it all out and have it fixed you could of done major damage by getting mad at the car over hitting something..........

 

[Talbot]

Man, I bet that Racoon got messsed up. Poor little guy.

 

[dectk06]

the little guy was pretty much dead. and yeah, I should've checked under the hood before I went on a mad rampage... I need to freaking grow up and learn the ways of life!!!

 

[LUECACK]

scratch that post from earlier, i was working on my buddys speed 3 yesterday and relized speed's don't have the the same power steering as all the rest of the 3's and it is a engine driven pump, dont know if thats a good thing or a bad thing

 

[jhowey]

Absolutely a good thing, if you have ever driven or owned a mazda 3 the steering feel is incredible but almost unconnected to the car. Its like it is too easy, imagine the torque steer that would cause with the Speed3. Not to mention the unconnection you would have through turns with the power we have. Furthermore, it removes the 1200 pump out of the impact zone that is probably solely responsible for pushing many mazda 3s over the threshold to total the car. But hey I work at a dealer and I like selling that pump to insurance companies.

 

[theurgy]

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