I just installed the Bonez SuperFlo catalytic converter, and after starting the engine up for the first time, and letting it run for about 15-20 minutes in the garage while I checked it, I noticed that the cats were glowing bright bright red and smoking. These are BRAND NEW cats, and my car didn't smoke a whole lot starting so there is no way they can be clogged from my engine so quickly - right?

PLEASE somebody let me know what's going on here!!!! I'm afraid all that hard work went for nothing, and I have to drive her on Monday to school!

 

One other thing: The plugs are brand new, the compression is pretty good, I just redid the vacuum lines and the car idles great! Purrs like a cat, and has a very very nice exhaust note. But it acts like it has not very much power -- its nothing like the increase I was expecting.

 

Dude you just replaced the cat with a slightly better one. Dont be expecting 60bhp from something so stupid. And the cat might be glowing from some sort of chemical they use in the manufacturing process, or something. Give the manufacturer or retailer a call.

 

*sigh* Yeah... I didn't give you the entire story... I replaced the air intake (high flow), catback, plugs, plug wires, and vacuum hoses too. My old cat was clogged or at least failing, and I am pretty sure my 6 port actuators weren't opening so well before, so I removed the intake manifold, cleaned the 6PI system, put in all new vacuum hoses while I was at it, cleaned everything, and put it all back together. VERY carefully.

I even bought some new gaskets for the intake manifolds, new O rings for my fuel injectors (secondary, at least), etc.... The car had no trouble idling for over 30 minutes with the original (cloggy) exhaust system in it though, but I didn't drive it with the OEM system on it after I did the work. I just ran the engine on the jackstands to make sure everything was OK. Then I replaced the cats and catback, and fired it up. After 15 minutes (and of course the wierd smell of the paint burning off the system and the new cat), I noticed that the shifter tunnel was a bit hotter than usual, and looked underneath the car to find my glowing cats.

I think the reason I was expecting a noticable power difference was the number of changes I made, and people mentioning a noticable performance increase with similar mods. So finding that, for now at least, my performance *seems* to be less, it's a big disappointment, not to mention the FUD about my cat.

 

Im not sure what to think. Ive never talked to anyone that has used that brand. Maybe its a faulty cat. Like I said call either bonez or where ever you bought it.

 

I think you're running too rich. Too much unburnt fuel is making it work overtime & overheat. Even though rotaries like to run rich, yours make be a bit too much so.

 

I thought running lean made the exhaust hotter? And what can I do about this? I don't have an S-AFC...

 

In terms of leaning out? With you having an na, a S-AFC would best practical option.

Did you reinstall your Split Air Pipe back on?

 

Yes I'm pretty sure I put the Split Air Pipe back on, but how would that affect my performance? The car feels more sluggish now, the throttle doesn't snap open as quickly, even out of gear, and this all compared to when I had the old rusty stock cats!

 

Bonez is the Rotary Performance (RX-7.com) brand. They know their ****.

Isaac

 

Oh.

 

Well, no SAP, no Auxillary Port Activation. Unless, of course, you have an alternative way of activating them. Without the SAP your Cat, brand new or not, will have the exact same symptoms as you have, provided It Isn't clogged to begin with. The SAP provides fresh air for emissions purposes and amoung other things, a cooling effect to your Cat.

 

Hm, well the split air pipe is connected... beyond that I can't say. Which solenoid connects to that?

Well, the 6PI system works okay, I verified that on the last drive I did. But now the car is backfiring very slightly when I rev it to 8k and shift fast.

 

You are running too rich. This could be caused by many things, but an S-AFC is NOT the solution. There is something wrong with the car, and tuning it out with an S-AFC is just an expensive way to mask the symptoms and not fix the problem. There are many posts on running too rich and how to fix this. Search should turn up what you need.

 

Don't run your car that way. You will burn up that cat in a few hundred miles. Check your timing. Temporarily disconnect your trailing wires to see if there is a difference. If the trailing plugs are out of phase, you will get severe preignition at certain speeds, and lots of unburnt gas going out the exhaust which causes the glowing cats (happened to me).

 

Oops, you have an s5. Disregard Auxillary Ports not working w/o the SAP.

 

Okay, here's the deal now:

I pulled the CAS, reset it and the main pulley, and reset the timing. It now purrs very nicely, and the idle is smooth but slightly fluctuating. I was somehow able to coax the idle down to around 800 RPM too. When I turn on the A/C and headlights it drops but comes back up solidly. One thing I noticed, though, is that when I connected the timing light to the T1 lead it would sort of "sputter" - firing smoothly then a break then repeat, and the timing it was indicating was IDENTICAL to the timing for the L1 lead. Is this a Bad Thing? I *did* ground the test connector and I only checked timing below 1000 RPM (I saw the difference between advanced and non-advanced timing).

However, it *still* sounds like its got a bit of an afterburn going on, only above 7k. That's in the garage, parked. There are no engine error codes.

I found out that the double-throttle actuator (the little annoying thing that handles the secondary throttle plates) doesn't hold a vacuum worth squat. I'm going to try and block off the vacuum line going to it, to see if that helps any.

I read a post talking about fuel pressure and FPR and the PRC solenoid in conjunction with running rich, but I don't have a fuel pressure tester, and I don't know what an FPR is. I *can* however check the PRC solenoid.

I looked for other posts about running rich but the vast majority dealt with turbos and I didn't find much good information dealing with N/A's... and I don't know if I've fixed the running rich bit yet. If someone could throw a few good links my way that might help I'd be appreciative. I will continue to search on my own as well.

 

Okay, I drove it again after plugging that vacuum hose that goes to the secondary throttle plate device. I know for a fact that the rear 6PI actuator is jammed open... I can't get it to go down either, but that's another story.

The car sounds okay, but there is audible afterburning (not quite backfiring, just a bit of popping in the exhaust, mostly in the high RPMs but also whenever I hold the accelerator to maintain whatever speed I'm going (e.g. let off and it quits, accelerate and it quits... to a point). Also, due to the port jammed open and probably the throttle plate problem the car is sluggish and tries to stall at lower RPMs, but man does it fly once it gets over 4k!

When I was using the timing light I also noticed that the T1 lead was intermittent (as I mentioned previously), but that it would stabilize whenever I pushed on the wire "boot" by the ignitor coils. Does this mean the wire is bad? The T2 didn't seem to exhibit this problem. L1 and L2 appeared fine. The timing was also wierd... the T1 fired at precisely the same time as L1, and was aligned on the yellow mark as well. I don't know how to adjust this... please let me know.

So, that's where I am right now. Further input, particularly regarding the running rich condition, how to get my leading and trailing timing on the correct marks, and this throttle actuator/vacuum hose issue are most appreciated.

 

I've two n/a's and one turbo. None of the double throttle actuator diaphrams work in the n/a's. It only effects cold running. Once hot/warmed up its not a player. On a n/a, unlike a turbo, the outer set of throttle plates are spring loaded to wide open, so plug the vac line or put out the bucks for another diaphram. Should not be a emission issure at all.

T1 and L1 on the same mark.....I've seen that once or twice but seemed to go away while I was trying to figure out what was happening.

If the lead timing flashes intermittently, try getting on the other lead wire. They both fire at the same time but the way the system is, it(the system) effects some timing lights. On one lead wire it will not flash as much as the other. Bascially a timing light issue.

The trail is different. Firing intermittent is probably the wire or the plugs. They, the trail, don't fire at the same time, unlike the LEAD coil assy. Also try to put your timing light close to where the wire comes out of the coil assy if you can (my opinion).