CEL - Catalytic Converter
 

My check engine light came on a while back (Code P0410-secondary air injection system) and the dealership told me after a few tests that it was actually my cat failing and it would be something like 1500+ to fix.

I'm about 3 months outside my warranty and they refuse to help me out seeing as the cat warranty it actually taken care of by the federal government.

My questions is, should I honestly just pay to have it fixed before it gets worse? I don't really want to replace it with an aftermarket that will just burn up due to the excessive heat put out by the engine. I know I can get one from onlinemazdaparts.com for about 1100.

Any advice?

P0410 is the Air pump. I had the same code. Mines turned out to be the fuse even though I replaced the air pump before checking the fuse. Start with the cheapest option and check the fuse (located in the fusebox under the hood) Then the relay (I believe its under the PCM cover). If those aren't the problems look for a used Air pump and replace yours. They range anywhere from $50-$200 if your lucky you can find one here in the for sale section for <100.

Ya I thought that too before taking it to mazda. All the fuses are fine and the air pump seems to be working fine. When they did their tests they said that the cat was failing which caused the air pump to mess up or something like that its been a while but the light just came back on when I was driving to NY after we stopped to eat. I'm getting bad acceleration. so im assuming they are correct and it is the cat.

Then again I don't know I have very little experience with engines

Take a look at the cat after you drive, if its glowing red or orange that means its clogged and needs to be replaced. Also if your losing power at higher RPMs your cat is bad. If you can, try to have it taken off the car and look inside to see if the honeycomb is still intact. If its broken up in pieces I would suggest taking a long bar or rod of some sort and gut out all the packing inside so its a hollowed out midpipe and use it until you can get a new cat or midpipe. If you do gut out the cat you will also get a CEL.