Catalytic Converter Question

[kaicpf]

Hello guys, first of all, I am new to the forum so forgive any mistakes and I am open to corrections. I bought my 2012 ms3 silver last weekend. I am the second owner of the car, the first owner did some upgrades like corksport intake, magnaflow exhaust, and a bov. I went to the mazda dealership in Orlando and asked about warranty and mods, they said that anything inside the motors like cams and etc would void the warranty but that they overlook bov, intake, and exhaust (as long as it still has both catalytic converter). I came home and looked underneath my car and couldn't find the catalytic converter and the car has a really nice sound so I assume I am right. My questions are:

1- Does removing the catalytic converter affect my engine reliability?

2- Is there anyway I can re-install the original catalytic converter at a exhaust shop and possibly have my warranty back?

3- Does removing the catalytic converter give me more horses?

Thank you, and once again I apologize for the mistakes and will get better with time.


2012 Mazdaspeed 3
25k miles
-Corksport intake
-Magnaflow Exhaust
-Bov

[MazdaBoy2.3]

It gives you 75 horses. Magical horses.

[Vansquish]

No, it doesn't give you 75 horses. It gives you 40 acres and a mule.




















Seriously, you need to read your welcome PM. The information you're asking about is covered in the links contained therein. In order:

1. Yes.

2. Yes.

3. Yes.

Furthermore, with the BOV, the intake and assuming that, in fact, you DO NOT have the second catalyst, your motor is on borrowed time unless you get yourself a tuning solution (Cobb Accessport) and a tune that fits your mods. Right now, your HPFP is probably not keeping up, your WOT AFRs are very lean, and you're overboosting. Moreover, the BOV is a really bad idea without a tune because if it's venting to atmosphere, then it is venting air that has already been metered by the system, and your car thinks it has a leak.

[Koke382]

Removing a cat will give u more power when tunned, BUT it can also blow your motor if u do not have upgraded fuel pump internals. If i were you id check and see if i have upgraded fpi and if not get some Autotechs in there. Would probably be around the same price as buying a cat and getting it welded in. If u see no cat then u must have a test pipe.

Sent from my LG-LS980 using Tapatalk

[ABOSWORTH]

The car has two cats. One is in the down pipe and one in the mid pipe section. You mention that the previous owner put an exhaust on the car. It's important to know if it's a full turbo back (TBE) or a cat back (CBE). Hopefully it's just a CBE because putting a down pipe on this car without fuel pump internals is not the wisest mod path.

It is pretty common for folks to remove the cat in the mid pipe by replacing it with a test pipe. In fact, that will be my very next mod.

Yes, taking the cat out and either having a straight pipe or replacing it with a high flow cat will increase power.

You certainly could replace the second cat with the stock piece. Hell, if you still want one when I get my test pipe, I'll sell you mine. LOL.

Is something wrong with your car that is making you worry about warrantee work or are you just being cautious?

FYI, the stock mid pipe with the cat looks like this.

[kaicpf]

Thank you so much for the patience and attention.
I contacted the last owner and found out she did upgrade the HPFP internals, so I should be good about reliability correct?
I dont see any of the catalytics, my question was more related to the warranty thing, meaning if I take it back to stock catalytics if I would still have my warranty or if its noticeable that it was once upgraded.
So correcting the mods list
-bov
-magnaflow TBE
-Corksport Intake
-HPFP internals

I do not have the cobb tune, since I have the HPFP is the tune necessary or not? for right now im not looking so much into power but more reliability, the car has only 25k miles on its motor, i dont wanna f it up lol..

Also answering the question: No the car is fine, its really loud which is nice but i preffer reliability for now, and im just being cautious. to make sure I have a good daily driver in my hands.

one last question.. should i take the bov out since i dont have a tune or not?

[ABOSWORTH]

Originally Posted by kaicpf Thank you so much for the patience and attention. I contacted the last owner and found out she did upgrade the HPFP internals, so I should be good about reliability correct?

Yes, that is a good thing. HPFP should be one of the very first mods done to this car.

Originally Posted by kaicpf I dont see any of the catalytics, my question was more related to the warranty thing, meaning if I take it back to stock catalytics if I would still have my warranty or if its noticeable that it was once upgraded.

That's hard to say. I don't think they could really say much if you put the stock exhaust back on but who knows. I guess it would depend on the dealer. Nobody can really answer that but your dealer.

Originally Posted by kaicpf I do not have the cobb tune, since I have the HPFP is the tune necessary or not? for right now im not looking so much into power but more reliability, the car has only 25k miles on its motor, i dont wanna f it up lol..

Well, if you were all about reliability, you should have bought a completely stock car. With that said, I'd leave the exhaust on the car and say fuck the warranty. Buy an AccessPORT and tune that shit.

Originally Posted by kaicpf Also answering the question: No the car is fine, its really loud which is nice but i preffer reliability for now, and im just being cautious. to make sure I have a good daily driver in my hands.

You do have a good daily driver. It is moderately modified and I wouldn't worry about it.

Originally Posted by kaicpf one last question.. should i take the bov out since i dont have a tune or not?

[/QUOTE]

You need to find out if it's really a blow off valve or a BPV. If it's really an atmospheric BOV, I'd take that shit off. It should be recirculating. If you are able to contact the seller again, I'd ask.

[kaicpf]

I checked and it is a forge BPV, shouldnt worry about it them correct?
I'm not trusting the last owner so much for some reason, I will have a friend of mine who has an acessport to check the pressure im running on and find out if it has been changed or not, until them, no WOT for me http://mazdaspeedforums.org/forum/im...es/worried.gif

Mods I am sure:
Corksport SRI Stage I
Turboback exhaust
Forge BPV

I will check the HPFP soon and if it has not been done ill do it right away since i see its a potential issue to occur.

Once again thank you for the attention. This is a really good forum and sorry for the lack of knowledge.

[Agent_Orange]

The fuel pressure your running at is not indicative of upgraded internals. The only sure way to know is to remove the pump and inspect.

If your actually concerned with your car's health and longevity an AccessPort is an absolute must have.

[kaicpf]

I just talked to a friend of mine and we will check it with his accesport the fiel pressure, and see of its above the stock pressure, if its somehow close than we'll have to open it up! That will tell me if my next mod will have to be a HPFP or an accesport! Lol
Thank you

[bryancregger]

Just an FYI, Accessports are married so your friend will need to un-marry it from his car in order to use it on your car. Which means he will be back to a stock map until he re-marry's it to his car.

[Dat8687]

Catalytic converters are emission related only.. In fact they hamper performance or can in many cases. Now removing them can damage your car in that it may over boost which if you don't have the Fuel pump upgrade you can possibly run lean and damage the motor.

You can physically cheat the rear 02 with a proper Block spacer or using a defouler. I prefer the block spacer because I have never had one ever not work and I have used it on several cars. I buy em from a guy on the VW vortex forums