Engine Light came on Help!

[Ruud]

I bought my RX-8 in Feb. this year and it has done 8,000 miles. We were on our way to the Lakes on Friday, just joining the Motorway, when the engine light came on. The engine sounded OK, no loss of power, or anything out of the ordinary. I pulled over and rang the Mazda breakdown service and explained that the yellow engine light came on. After talking to the techies there she told me that it was OK to drive to the nearest Mazda dealer in Blackburn. Which I did and they were very helpful considering I had not bought my car from them. They did the computer diagnostics and the fault code indicated that there was a problem with the Catalytic Converter. The dealer said that it needed to be replaced, this happened to a few other RX8\'s and it would of course be under warranty. He was going to order a new cat. He cleared the error and we had a great weekend.
 
Sorry for the long story, but
 
- have any of you had problems with the cat. con.?
- isn\'t it a bit quick after 8,00 to have replace the cat?
- any ideas what could contribute? I usually fill up at Tesco. I do make 3 or 4 short journeys (between 5 and 10 miles) per week.
- after the cat is replaced do I have another full period of warranty on the replacement?
 
Ruud
 
PS I did try to search for Catalytic Converter problems on this forum but did not find any posts.

[SiH]

I know 1 person with an RX8 that\'s 2 years old. They\'ve just had their cat replaced...
Done any track days? not that the person I know has...

As for the warranty - i\'d check with Mazda themselves

[pdtaylor18]

That is a bit soon for a cat to go but it can happen.  I wonder how the ECU knows the cat has gone? Might know when the lambda sensor goes but the cat?