hey, I just recently got the 40th anniversary rx8 #451, but when I turn on the AC I can smell exhaust.. and when I walk and visit my father he says he can smell exhaust on my shirt. the catalytic converter is gutted, the guy who sold me it said it was removed but it was gutted. I went to an exhaust shop and the guy said he didn't hear/smell an exhaust leak, and if anything since the converter was gutted it could have been that just somehow leaking into the cabin. any ideas/solutions? also, I hope this is the right forum to post my issue, let me know if it isn't..
also thought of just getting a custom mid-pipe from the shop too.

also, there is a rattle in the car only when it's idling with the AC, and I've read that it's possibly the motor mounts...

thanks in advance!

also, it's a 2008 with 67k miles on it, everything seems good, heavy duty spark plugs recently replaced, and a small oil leak i plan to get fixed sometime soon, not serious though, will keep an eye on the oil

 

AC causes one of the fans to come on, which might be kicking up exhaust gas to where you can smell it, but it wouldn't cause a leak by itself. The leak is always there. Perhaps the cat to header joint, especially if they had the cat off at some point.

 

hmm, so maybe if I do midpipe it and make sure it's all sealed, it might get better then. awesome, thank you!

 

I mean, by all means confirm that, you can feel for a leak if you can get under the car at all. That cat to midpipe joint is particularly it takes a special Mazda sealing ring. Perhaps the previous owner didn't do it properly. If you see bits of aluminum paper gasket in there, that's an automatic leak.

 

Did you open up and inspect/install a new cabin filter in the ventilation system (remove the passenger dash glovebox door for access to it)? You can get one with a carbon filter layer, though that will only help so much for so long.

I suppose it might make too much sense to have a cat converter installed instead. Where do you live?

 

did not.. but I will do so now uhh I live on the west side of iowa almost into nebraska
don't think they car about midpipe's and straight pipes anyways.. there's a ton of honda civics and big trucks that get straight piped so if I keep the muffler i think I'll be okay

 

How long did you have to wait before starting a thread, been a month or so now and im still restricted?

 

it was a mere day or so

 

You can post under new members any time. Anywhere else is 30 days AND 10 posts.

 

ok, well a cat converter would help the stinky part, rotary engine is at least 2x as stinky as a piston engine

 

there is a loose gasket that I'm gonna buy new parts for the "cat" so I'm gonna order those parts!

although there's a slight oil leak that I'm gonna go and get it checked out.. I know a guy that's torn apart and rebuilt rotary engines so he'll hopefully help me out 😁

 

You're very lucky then. If hes good keep in touch with him. People still into rotary engines are rare.

 

i was suprised when he said he worked on rotaries b4 so it really made me more confident in getting the RX8

 

Did u block off or remove that air pump that warms up the cat?