So I did the rat's nest delete including the air pump and the antiafterburn solenoids but I've has a rough idle and a bit of a stumble at low rpm. Lately the car has very little power and struggles to rev to 5,000 rpm. I noticed that the catalytic converter (which I bought this past spring, it's a Magnaflow btw) is glowing red hot.

So now I'm thinking that perhaps for some reason my new catalytic ocnverter is ruined and creating a lot of back-pressure which is why I can't get any power. Did removing my air pump somehow mess up my exhaust system?

Any input is much appreciated.

 

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Same thing - my stock -SE exhaust system is held in place with 8 bolts and gets swapped out for the RB header and presilencer as soon as I get home from the emissions test station. This protects it for the next test and the car runs much better with the header and presilencer in place.

The cat needs fresh air to react with nun burned hydrocarbons by introducing cool frsh air and oxygen. Without it, any excess fuel Wil burn in the cat, leading to your overheating condition.

Mazda even saw fit to install an "Exhaust Overheat" idiot light on the dash tied to a sensor on the passenger side of the Trans tunnel.

 

a catalytic converter only works with a mixture around 14.7:1. due to the design of the rotary (and quite a few older piston engines!) the rotary needs to idle around 12:1. so the air pump is added to add air to the exhaust, partly to aid combustion of the rich mixture, and partly to let the cat see something its less melty with.

the renesis was redesigned, in part to allow it to idle at 14.7:1, which it does. it does still have an air pump, but only for warm up.

 

Ok, so it sounds like my catalytic converter is probably toast.

Should I just go for the full racing beat exhaust system (header, muffler, etc)?

 

Without knowing much about your car/engine setup (12aCarb/13bEFI/13bCarb, etc) kinda hard to suggest an exhaust that will replace your Magnaflow cat which may or may not be clogged.

Racing Beat has a great reputation in the rotary world for using all stainless steel construction of heavy wall gauge tubing and presilencers with stainless steel mesh which will all stand up to the high exhaust heat of a rotary engine - nothing else will.

If you NEED catalytic converters to pass emissions testing in your city/state, then you're back to trying to find a working stock system (pick-a-part) or going aftermarket again. I would not expect the aftermarket cats to last very long due to the heat factor, and even less without pumping cool(er), fresh(er) air into it using the stock air pump. Reply back with your specs - or better yet, add them to your signature - and we'll see what we can do,

 

I live in Missouri and i'm going to go for the Racing Beat system despite emissions.

My RX-7 is a 12a with the Nikkki carb without the rats nest. I've got my ac, distributors, and purge valve hooked up but that's about it.