My 2005 CTS-V with 30000 miles just experienced something I never thought could happen to a nearly new car. My CAT fell off. It snapped at the welds. Friday i was changing my oil, detailing, and inspecting everything in preperation for a car meet in old town on Saturday. I found a very loose passenger side cat, and upon further inspection it fell off. I removed it and had the car towed to my dealer. Hopefull they don't try to pin this one on me. IT FELL OFF CLEAN AT THE WELDS!!!!!!!!!!

:thepan::thepan::thepan::thepan::thepan::thepan:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/randycsvt/IMG_0400.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/randycsvt/IMG_0401.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v293/randycsvt/IMG_0407.jpg

OH MAN i can so see them tryin to pin it on you...

"Due to the excessive heat generated by the mods you put on the vehice we found that the welds became fatigue prior to their expected life..."

eek
great excuse to go headers/catless now :D

Should be replaced under emission warranty.

Norm

You can get some good money out of that.

Should be replaced under emission warranty.

Norm

I'll wait and see what the dealer says tomorrow. I wouldn't be surprised if they tried to deny the claim, but there is no way I did this. The car is pretty much stock. I am glad I found it before it had a chance to fall off while driving.

There was a big discussion about the quality of the cheap steel that is flooding the market.

Pretty scary stuff as no one inspects it.

I am no welding or metals expert, but by the looks of how this broke off I think thi swas inferior welding or inferior materials.

Can anybody provide me with an informed/professional opinion of how this could have happened.

The weld failed.

Wether it was a bad process or material or both would take some analysis.

From the pic it looks like the weld didn't have enough heat to bond to the flange, or the flange material didn't like the weld material.

Looks like a couple bolts needed to be removed for the fall off part to happen.Dealer will re-weld it IMO.Steels propably fine, just didn't get good penetration on the weld.

The dealership is giving me crap about fixing this. They want to deny the claim. I am just gonna get them to give me the parts. I will have the flange welded back on, and I will drill out the studs at the bottom. I will have my own studs put through the drilled out holes.

The dealership is giving me crap about fixing this. They want to deny the claim. I am just gonna get them to give me the parts. I will have the flange welded back on, and I will drill out the studs at the bottom. I will have my own studs put through the drilled out holes.


Nevermind. My service person, Billie at Cannon Cadillac in Lakeland, saved the day. She went to bat for me and got the dealership to cover it. :worship::worship::worship::worship:

Good penetration. Hmmmm..