For the last two weeks, my car has been very low on power. When I say very low, I'm saying that it takes 15-20 seconds just to get to 35 mph. The car won't rev over 6k wether in gear or free reving. I have changed both O2 sensors, coils, plugs, and wires. I'm thinking its a clogged cat. I'm getting codes for the bank one O2 sensor and secondary air injection system. I don't think that the air pump being bad would cause such a large drop in power. Would a bad cat cause these symptoms? Anybody have any ideas of what else it could be? Thanks in advance.

 

sounds like clogged cat

 

and its not good idea to drive around with clogged cat because it could eventually catch on fire

 

Well it turned out to be the cat. I took it off and you pieces were just laying in the bottom. The part behind the o2 sensor was still intact but somehow started to rotate in the pipe. It was at a 45 degree angle to the exhaust flow which was the reason for the loss of power. While I had it off, I went ahead and gutted the rest and now power has returned. It also seems to rev faster than before the cat went bad or maybe that's just in my mind.

 

..lol, you could've gotten it replaced for free if you were under 80k miles.

 

if you're under 80K miles, Put the *glutted* CAT back on, bring it into Mazda dealer and replace it for free.

Well, an gutted CAT means its a straight pipe, so yeah you should get a few more ponies, but hmm, I like Clean air more, so I will never do that.

 

I'm at 85k so that's not happening. I was debating wether to gut it or not but the lack of power and the horrible gas mileage won out. Going from getting 18-19 mpg to 9-10 sucks. I think I can deal with a little gas smell for a while and if not, I've already ordered the rx7store cat.

 

I think the warentee is longer (more mi) for all the required emissions equipment. Not sure what effect gutting it may have, not good for sure. There have been a few threads over the years here IRT aftermarket cats, and that would be another option. Also saw someone selling a stock cat recently for pretty check, something like 200 or so.

 

I forgot the exact cell count for stock cat, was it like 600 or more ?

Anyway, 200 bux for a stock cat is still pretty good, depends on the miles/condition of the cat of course.

 

I remember 1000+ from a different thread. At 200 you could get it install it and have it warenteed by the dealership, and end up with a new one .