Hey guys,

So I got a curve ball to throw at anyone who is Rotary savvy. Now I'll tell you right now, I'm no mechanic and no rotary god..But I know what a Rotary is, how it works, what to do with it and what not to do. So at least give me that...But this happened the other day.

I took the car to the dealership due to a check engine light..and he said it was the Cat being all clogged with "fun stuff" we'll call it. Apparently, it has to fail a test of 0-7.99...so it has to be over 7.99 for it to fail and be covered under warranty. I AWESOMELY passed the test with a 7.39. They wouldn't replace it on the spot and said to come back when it starts to affect my daily driving, and that apparently it wouldn't damage the engine if it went. So... I took my car and off I went.

A day later..Driving home from work.. I noticed.. After 4k RPM...the car felt like it had absolutely NO power. None. Just like it was going and that was it. Best part is.. it took forever to rev up, and it wouldn't go past 7k rpm. After a bit, the check engine light started flashing and I smelt smoke. Thats when I really knew something was up (and of course the fact the car felt like a 150 HP car and not a 240HP car...) So I took her to the dealership this morning... Low and behold.. The Cat did damage.

He called me later to say that because the cat was so clogged with crap, fumes went back into the engine and misfired a rotor, causing the sparkplugs to go and make me run on 1 rotor. Soo... Apparently I have to wait a couple days and see what happens. They ordered new plugs and apparently a whole new "Converter Set".

That being said.. I know the dealership knows their stuff, but they surprised me on this one, and I don't know if I can count on them to gamble my engine like that. So my question to anyone out there is...Is there anything I suggest for them to check out as well? Anything you guys think happened to the engine? My rotary buddy says most likely the engine is fine and shut down the rotary as a precaution to not hurt the engine...Sounds feesable..But I'd like to just make sure is all. I don't want to visit the dealership again sometime soon just because I didn't have them check something out while it was there.

Thanks for the feedback everyone, and happy motoring.

UPDATE: 4/09/2008 I know it's been a little bit but felt this would be a good knowledge base for everyone. I noticed I forgot to mention that the original reason I went to the Dealership and how they found out the cat was clogged was because I was seriously lacking in low end power... It just felt like the car was "going" and not actually GOING..Hard to explain. Thats where they did the test. Now..Notice the numbers I provided everyone with.

They said I got a 7.39 and it was passing..and that a 7.9 is a fail. The tests go from .0 to 8.1 ... Apparently..4.60:1 and up means your catalytic converter is toast. (http://www.coremazda.com/tsb/rx8/rx8-repair-procedures-recall.pdf) So.. This dealership openly didn't give a rats and lied to me about it in the first place. Thanks Astral for that knowledge as I know I will NOT be taking my car there again for anything..Period. For all, just making sure you know, it was the Nashua NH Mazda Dealership known as Tulley. Plus, it's apparently Inconvenient for them to take your car in on any weekend or weekday other then Monday. Plus they also close at 5. I'm a working person with a 9-5 job..so.. really hard to get time off work for these guys. Won't need to anymore anyways. F that. Just letting the community know.

DUDE i almost cired this morning when you called with the news.

im pretty sure most people that have engine's replaced are because of failed cat's as well so i would definitely have the motor compression tested and vacuum tested as well why its there. Tell them this is common if they dont already know and you dont think their advice the first time was too helpful, that is the least they can do is do those tests AND give you the results so there is no confusion later.

also dude, get a midpipe then give it to me haha, But, Did they even tell you what the cost will be with the new system?

You should be OK but give us some more info on your car. You might ask for a compression test. Do you have any mods? Year,model,transmission,miles,serves history,has it ever been flooded,how many miles driven on clogged cat after they said ok to drive and how many miles driven after it smelled. Of course just take your best guess on miles, few or hundreds. The cat is warranty for up to 120K miles and what ever it damaged should be covered too.

I have 40K miles on the car and have had 4 cats replaced. All have been clogged. It is interesting to hear about a correlation between bad cats and engines. I have also had 2 engines replaced. I will most likely now to get a midpipe and save the cat for when I need to take the car in for emissions testing.

To Greddy: Compression and Vacuum test? Gotcha. Thanks. Like I said, hopefully the engine is okay. I just bought the damn thing a couple weeks ago and then this.. :/

To Crunk: lol it's warranty bro. All covered.

To Old Rotor: ZERO mods. None. 22k miles on it. Black Grand Touring six speed. Apparently the dealer told me the previous owner flooded the engine once. Thats where I'm at.

To Alnielsen: Dude...4 cats replaced and 2 engines? What the hell happened everytime? lol Sounds crazy. Thank god for warranties.

lol

Why am I not surprise

Most dealerships have zero idea how to fix a car

I had my cat replaced once bcuz it was clogged and I just push fuel to it so it will burn it all. Then I tell them to replace it

Tell them to check ur motor

I definantly will.. It was funny because they told me that most likely it'll burn away, just give it some more gas... lol. It took out my second rotor..instead of the gunk. :/

I definantly will.. It was funny because they told me that most likely it'll burn away, just give it some more gas... lol. It took out my second rotor..instead of the gunk. :/

That line I might believe if it were a piston engine. After all, how many "new" cars do you see in the shop for clogged cats? (unless the owner was doing something fubar). But judging from the experiences I've seen posted here...once it starts to go its done.

Yeah. Oh well. I just want my car back... :/ But thanks for the input guys. I'll keep everyone informed when it's done what the final outcome is.

the dealership doesn't know their stuff ...

Even though the service guy has a old school Wankle Rotory Engine toy thingy on his desk. :x So tomorrow I'm gonna ask if he can compression and vacuum test the engine. Anything else you guys recommend?

Anything else you guys recommend?

go to a different dealer from now on.

Don't know of any in the area I can trust.

Bump. Update for everyone on the forums. Good knowledge.

I've noticed the CAT is one of the most problematic thing's on these cars. Would moving it further back from the headers help any? Like more toward the rear, around the rear seats? That way it would leave the header --> back more straight and flowing like having a mid-pipe? Or would this screw with the exhaust pressures and emissions?

well i didn't know it until my engine light came on and mazda said it was a fault in the CAT, and needed a new one at £1100.

why is it problematic and how do you look after it?

I guess just simply try not to flood the engine and red line every once in a while like you're supposed to.

i never flooded my engine, only had it for 4 weeks, and red lined once a day like suggested. CAT must have been faulty, do they last long, my miles are 62400 odd?

I think it's like... every 30k