Mazda's Deflood TSB, air pump, and cat life
 

After letting my battery run down too far (I was driving one of my other cars for a few weeks) and trying to start my car without enough cranking speed, I flooded it today. ('06 with 52k miles)
I got it started after fully charging the battery, then pulling the plugs and pulling the fuel pump relays and cranking it until nothing came out the plug holes, then buttoning it back up and starting it with the air pump disconnected. The "full throttle" basic deflood procedure never worked the two times I've flooded the engine, perhaps because it was 23 degrees at my house this morning.

Mazda's TSB for deflood procedure says to disconnect the secondary air pump connector (the "hair dryer" that comes on during cold starts) to preserve the catalyst due to all the unburned fuel that dumps into it when you flood the engine, then plug it back in once the car warms up.

What do you guys think about just leaving it disconnected? Would it throw a code? Help the catalyst last longer? Shorten the life of the cat? I presume its just there to help the car meet its EPA rating.

PS- I found that one of my leading plugs had an insulator that is cracked all the way down from the wire contact to the wrench collar. I can't figure out why it wasn't misfiring, but I'm replacing all the plugs tonight. I changed these plugs about 15 k miles ago and they're pretty knackered now.

if you have a cat, don't delete the air pump. It will destroy the cat.