power steering light comes on and off.. any ideas why ?
 

i have 04 mazda rx8 with 32,xxx miles.


recently my power steering light cae on and my power steering dosent work


i dont mind driving without power steering but is challenging trying to parallel park in san francisco..


The power steering comes off and on.. occassionly.. im not sure what the problem is..

one of the forums mentioned.. try unplugging positive from the battery for 30 sec and i do try, and didnt seemed to help.



any ideas ???


any one else have the similar problem?

please help !!!!

I did a search (advanced search, titles only, the tech garage) for power steering and found 33 threads that cover this subject.

Or you can google it ;)

Take it to a dealership. The same thing happened to my friend's 8 a few weeks ago.

did your friend take it to the dealer yet? just in a tight budget after this holiday.. if its something i can reset ? or not a big deal? will just drive as is.. or try to fix it myself.

same thing happened to me last week -- '04, 47k. at the dealer now -- they are replacing *some part* that i don't know the name of. should get it today which means they had to keep it overnight -- covered by warranty.

The connector needs cleaning.

Clean it.

I second that. Worked fine for me. Hasn't happend again.

And, yes, the search function works wonders!:)

yup, try that and let us know what happens.

It should be covered under warranty

yeah, definitely a warranty item if you dont feel like doing it yourself.

clean connector?
 

Clean what connector? To the power steering?

Which connector? Power steering?

Power steering connector issues should be taken very seriously, loss of power is not fun, and worse, if you have a bad connection, the steering wheel can jerk left or right without warning, while the car is at speed.

Number one cause of the random steering light flash, is a loose battery terminal.

If the light just flashes as you turn a corner, the light is telling you that the rack isn't getting all the amps it requires. Can be fixed as easy as that.