Took it in for an oil change and a couple of minor issues including a CEL. Dealer calls and says the catalytic converter is failing - P0420 Catalyst system efficiency below threshold ON 2 Catalyst - the service manager claims that "these cats won't last that long here because we do not have California gas and that is what causes them to break down so quickly." They spent $80 to troubleshoot and that is not covered under warranty, nor is the replacement of course.

So now I am out $500 including the troubleshooting cost for the pleasure of having this baby for about a year and a half AND I have to get a new cat.

 

More info, interesting...SR Motorsports says possible 02 sensor failure.

 

Welcome to the club!! I've got the exact same problem. My cel has been on and off for about a month now....exact same code. The cat only lasted for about 20,000 miles.

Now i've got to figure out what to do. Buy another high-flow (not SR) or just go w/ a straight pipe.

 

......I doubt it. They're probably just trying to save face.

 

When the cat was new did it throw the CEL light on?


Also what kind a gas were you guys using? 91 octane?

 

Since the 8 runs so riiiiich I am not surprised the cat only lasted 20K miles. Either test pipe (CEL light on) or a stock cat. Besides a straight pipe doesn't really make that much of a difference.

I might have the stock cat for sale if somebody is interested, and this will not be dealer price (~$1200.00!!! )

PM me if this is the case.

Carlos

 

No CEL before. I always use 93 octane.

 

I can feel the difference w/ high-flow above 6K. forget stock......i'm thinking straight pipe......

 

I always run 92-93-94, the CEL just recently came on and the cat is about 1 1/2 years old. I talked to Jeremy another service manager at another dealership who is a member of our local RX-8 club and he says it is more than likely breakdown of the cat, not 02 sensor failure. Although if it doesnt impact the performance, in the short run it is not necessarily a problem. He told me it will not change the A/F and the car does seem to run fine with the CEL.

 

i would have thought that the cat would be under warranty, but i guess not

 

There was only a 1 year warranty with that product.

The plot thickens though because I ran the Canzoomer/Emanage for a couple of months and SR Motorsports said in unprompted fashion that running too lean/hot as opposed to rich is a probable cause of the issue whether it be cat or sensor. The lean condition likely caused one or the other of these parts to fail.

The question remains though, which part is it?

New HF cat $300-$400

New O2 Sensor $120

 

Does it seem to impact performance/driveability?

 

Everything works as normal. It just gets kinda annoying staring at the light. Also, if something else were to go wrong how would I know since I'm so used to ignoring the cel?? I guess i could buy a scan tool or go to autozone. That would get old after a while though.

 

I had a straight pipe/test pipe on my car for ONE day, I couldnt stand the smell and the CEL was really bugging me too!

 

Jeremy says if a major CEL occurs, the light will flash.

 

I remember when Canzoomer came out with their Stage 2 kit they were telling everybody that they needed to get the Random Tech hi-flow cat that they were selling as the tune would make the EGT's too hot & blow out the stock cat. Maybe that is what we are seeing. Anybody switch to the Random Tech. hi-flow cat that CZ was selling ? I have the RP Supercat unit on my car.

 

***, I just put in an order for the SR High Flow CAT. I'm talking 10 minutes ago. Should I call tomorrow and cancel it, and get the RP Supercat? #$%, #$%#$, $^##

 

Guys
One point to consider--has any USER ever posted a before and after dyno with either RP or SR high flow cats showing any gain? I dont think so.I may be wrong but at one time I was considering a RP cat and I cant find any. One of our guys tried and on his car he actually lost one hp. Although by the seat of the pants he though he was having a gain above 6K also. Not trying to start nothing here but before you spend your hard earned moola do some real research and dont take the manufactors results and others word of mouth(even though they have the best intentions) as proof.
rotor on
olddragger

 

I posted one a long time ago (not in a glaxy far away ) with the SR Motorsports unit (w/resonator) showing a consistent 4-5 hp gain across the rev range. Didn't Nemesis dyno his Rp supercat unit & get like 8 hp from it ?

 

I think I remember hearing that some members lost some low-end torque and hp. Most of the gains occur in the upper rev range to the best of my knowledge.

 

I'd cancel if I were you....

 

How ironic that this thread is up... I was having a rattling sound coming from under my 8 for the last couple days, I just put it on a lift this morning and my SR cat is rattling like... well, like a rattle. I just ordered this... http://www.rx7.com/store/rx8/rx8exhaust.html ... so I hope my problems will soon be over.

FYI, I have had the SR pipe and exhaust on for about 2 years now, and up until now, I never had so much as a CEL. I guess I have been lucky.

 

I also dynoed... of course I installed all the SR goodies at once (intake, exhaust, midpipe, pullies), and came up with nice gains. So I honestly dont know what parts added what hp.

 

Hey Fanman
Was your hp gain on the dyno before you turbo'ed or after? I looked through your posts but got dizzy after 10 pages!
Nem didnt get 8 hp showing on his dyno--the numbers actually didnt change --what happened was that a buddy dynoed the same days he did(before install and after install) and his buddys car lost approx 8 hp on the 2nd dyno day(the day that Nem dyno'ed after he installed his) so he figued he should have lost 8 hp that day too. But he didnt he had the same results as the 1st day so he lodgically assumed he gained 8 hp.
olddragger

 

with the RP cat being metal and the SR being ceramic, i don't really see the RP cat being more heat resistant