Over the weekend my husband hit a pot hole right as we were about to turn. The passenger front wheel went over a big curb- approx 15 feet of scraping. The car made a horrible noise, blew smoke, and didn't stop immediately despite brake pressure- probably rolled another 10-15 feet. We turned it off, and looked for damage, couldn't see anything. It went into restricted performance and limped home. The following morning it sounded even worse, and blew nasty smoke again, this time the check engine went on, and it died shortly after.

I had it towed to the shop this morning. My husband thinks it knocked a sensor, but I don't know why that would make it blow smoke, or fail to stop. Any ideas what we might be looking at repair wise?

Thanks,
Trish

 

I think you need to steel yourself for a significant cost to repair. Apart from the engine problem, there is likely to be suspension damage, with wheels out of alignment, even damaged, and so on.

If you can sue the highway authority for neglecting their job, then you could get some or all of this back.

 

I sort of thought that might be the case. I filed a claim with our insurance company Thank you for preparing me for the worst just in case.

 

Your DOT can be held liable for such things, better do some research and glad that you are okay!

 

Its possible that you holed the oil pan and the engine has seized due to lack of lubrication.

 

They 'resurface' the road here yearly. Creates lots of harsh roads and debris. Hit some when I had my porsche, blew the tire, ate up the rim, sent the repair bill to the city manager along with the business card of a well known local attorney, had a check a week later.