recently bought an 04' rx8. it was involved in a deer hit. when it came in to my garage for repairs everything was working. now after the repair the power steering malfunction light is on. i scanned it with a SOLUS and ran the codes. it said to check connections and air bag module. any ideas? i had the battery disconnected for about a few days. i also had the left front wheel off. i put a MS CAI on too during the repair so when i had the stock airbox out i moved the tray and those connections were good. what other connections should i check? how about fuses? any suggestions are greatly appreciated. thanks

Does the tach work correctly?

I don't have any first hand experience with this, but I know there are various resets that have to be done after the battery is disconnected. Hopefully someone with specific knowledge will pipe up.

A title search for power steering light turned up half a dozen threads that may be useful. One talks about a PS connector under the airbox. Try that search and see if it leads anywhere.

Ken

turn on ign...turn wheel all the way left...then right....

Shut off ign..and restart car...DSC light should go off

Connector for the power steering is kinda know to be a weak point. Might want to check that.
Go here http://smrmicro.com/rx8servicemanual/ and then down to number 8 and you'll see where the connector is.

It probably just needs to be reset by doing the turn all the way left then all the way right. It usually goes away after you drive it a little too.

Is the airbag light on too?

What am I missing?
Where in his post did it say anything about the DCS/TCS being an issue?
That reset isn't going to help him if it's truly the power steering indicator.
True it needs the reset since he disconnected the battery, but that's just for the DCS/TCS.

yes only the power steering light is on, i did however use that right to left reset to turn those lights off but the power steering remains on and i have no assist at all but i have not driven it yet outside the shop just in an out - first gear and reverse only.

did you replace any of the modules...if you did they will need to be initialized.

You could have defective module, rack. wiring, etc...you will need to do a bit more sleuthing to figure out where to start

check the connectors under the air box.

beers :beer:

^+1.......that link I provided above will show you where to look.

thanks guys im gonna start looking today.. will post later with results

yeah you gotta check the connectors under the airbox....this happend to me once and i got rid of it right away, just clean out the connectors with ELECTRONIC CLEANER (canned air) then put i lil light bulb grease on the metal parts of the connector then connect back and there YOU GO! just like new...

checked all connections and cleaned them......no luck. some more details that may help pinpoint- had the fusebox disconnected to edge fender, checked all fuses and all are good. did not replace any modules. cant get much more frustratingggggg

The CAN bus can have communication errors that require them to be re-initialized.

When they replaced the module in mine it was a bitch to get it talking to the iDS.

You may have to hook it up to the iDS and see if it can communicate before you can do much else. I'm not sure if there is a "ghetto" way to get it to relearn??

took it to the local mazda dealer this morning around 9. still no word.

dealer called and said they couldnt find the problem. my diagnostic scan says "faulty control module"

are you sure you cleaned em out GOOD??? i had the same problem, and the dealership said they couldnt figure it out either, then i got a tip from one of the threads on here and i did it myself, and it workd just fine.....

apparently i need the new eps module. they didnt give us a reason and it is not covered by warranty due to the accident but the insurance company is going to cover it. one thing i remember is when we disconnected the battery i heard a zap. could this have shorted out the module? that is what im leaning towards..

^possibly.....imo i dont think you need anything besides a good cleaning, remember the connectors are right above the radiator, thus creating moisture and when moisture gets into the metal connector it start to rust over time....you get where im going with this?

yeah 100%.. we did have to spray water under the hood to get most of the sand residue from the repairs off. and the airbox was removed including the tray.

finally got the car back today and it does turn out that the dealer knew their business. the eps burnt up and with the replacement it functions perfectly. props to dean patterson of altoona, PA.

the other day after i let my car sit in the sun for around a half hour after i had driven it for a while i went to start and the power steering was out wiht the light on again. i drove to my destination, popped the hood, and removes the 60A fuse for the EPS next to the battery. i also unplugged and re-connected the 2 connections to the bottom right of the EPS module. started it up - perfect. parked it for the night then the next morning after i drove it a little and shut it down it wouldnt work upon restart. pulled the fuse.. wiggled it.. played with those 2 wires.. good to go.. now its every time i shut it down i have to pull that fuse and wiggle the wires.. suggestions?

http://www.rx8club.com/showthread.php?t=107481

Welcome to the power steering failure club

-incredible cleaning of connections with electric cleaner and then pressurized air
-some die-electric grease to the connection prongs
-new fuse

*took apart the fuse housing for the EPS (60A) and all its components and cleaned vigorously then added some grease.

yeah i was lost did not see anything about dsc either haha

-incredible cleaning of connections with electric cleaner and then pressurized air
-some die-electric grease to the connection prongs
-new fuse

*took apart the fuse housing for the EPS (60A) and all its components and cleaned vigorously then added some grease.

Good to hear... now we'll see for how long!
Sorry man... been there too where I thought I figured it out and it failed several days later.
I just hope this works out permanently for you!
Keep us posted!

Good to hear... now we'll see for how long!
Sorry man... been there too where I thought I figured it out and it failed several days later.
I just hope this works out permanently for you!
Keep us posted!


well you were right when you said well see for how long. its been good since 7/30/08 until the past monday. i drove about 15 minutes/20 miles, shut the car off for 15 minutes and upon restart it failed. moved the car 1000 feet to another parking spot, shut it down for probably another 15 minutes and it worked fine upon restart. a few days passed with no problems and then tonight i drove the car for 15 miles/ 20 minutes shut it down for probably a half hour and failed upon first restart, second restart and finally came back on third restart. checked the fuse and it seems good.. going to check connections if i have one more problem.:Eyecrazy:

Might be time to start looking at one of the other solutions.
Don't be like me and spend the first month with contact cleaner in the truck just waiting for the power steering to fail before I soldered the wires together.
If the fuse blew, the PS would never come back until it is replaced.

Hi, I don't remember who did I read this repair from, but I had my PS hard and followed someones instructions on how to fix it, and I did it 2 days Ago. TKS, Appreciate very much.
I followed this members to the letter and it was fixed. For Now of courser, I hoe it don't bother me anymore.
I cleaned the Racks Plugs, and that was it.
Tks

I have had problems with the connectors in the ECU case ( between the EPS control unit and harnesses ) as well...you might want to clean lube them as well

I have had problems with the connectors in the ECU case ( between the EPS control unit and harnesses ) as well...you might want to clean lube them as well



Will Check this as well.
Tks