Hey guys! I just got my Rx-8 last week and i just registered here! ..

Having one problem with my car now though , the check engine light is now lighting up and i took it over to Mazda to have it checking out. The catalytic converter is running inefficient. I did some research and found out that Walker or Magnaflow's Universal catalytic converters would not fit the car... Where could i get a factory one? I would just need the Catalytic Converter for the car... The dealer's said i would have to spend about 1400 or 1700 just for all the parts.

 

What about the smog component warranty?

 

Yeah, you know that Mazda has to cover the CAT for 8 years 80k miles right? It's a federal emissions law!

 

Unfortunately mine is under a salvaged title =(

 

Well................take off the CAT and just run with a midpipe. Yeah, you will get the O2 CEL, but a lot of people live with it. Either that or check the FS threads and see if anyone is selling a used CAT.

 

Pound the catalyst out of it

 

^................yeah.............that will work as well!

 

Good advice!

 

Hmm , but i think i asked some mechanics about doing that , they said it would be bad for the engine or something?

 

I have a similar problem, but you know Mazda dealerships wanna charge first and ask questions later. How do I ensure that they'll actually fix this for me under warranty?

 

Usually, they should have a written estimate and they will check if your car still falls under the warranty clause.

 

Bad for the environment, but not for the engine. Engine gets to fart without any obstruction, and that's always good.

If your state does emissions testing, you may need a cat eventually though.

 

I love Mississippi. No emissions law. Running a cat less midpipe is not bad for your engine. They might've been referring to needing back pressure. I imagine with the restrictive exhaust ports on the renesis, and a muffler, you have all the back pressure you could want

 

Just a random thought, and I don't know if it'll work... but... A lot of the rb guys do it and I did it on my old car. If you're running a catless exhaust exhaust and you don't want the O2 sensor CEL on all the time, couldn't you get spark plug defoulers and drill a hole in one of them, screw them into each other, screw them onto your rear O2 and then put it back into the bung? What it does is it takes the O2 sensor further away from the exhaust so that it thinks it's reading catted exhaust, therefore no CEL! Any thoughts?!

 

Search..we have beaten this to death

Won't work...the pcm is too smart....

 

Haha damn it! I've never seen it mentioned many places so I just assumed no one had ever tried it. But oh well, it was worth a shot...

 

Just 1 point.

Piston engines need "back pressure" for savenging exhaust gases from the piston chamber more efficiently. (not actually back pressure, but exhaust flow restriction to keep temps high, which in turn keeps exhaust velocity high and "pulls" the exhaust more completely from the cylinder. Obviously there is a sweet spot, you can have too much restriction of course.)

Rotary engines do not need this scavenging effect, and "back pressure" does nothing for us except rob power at some level or another. You want the exhaust as open as you can possibly get it.