DIY: Power Steering Wiring Fix
 

i know the power steering issue has been covered at great length over the course of the past several years but i wanted to take a moment to share my solution, hopefully it'll remedy a few headaches for those 8 owners struggling with this problem.

i spent a lot of time cleaning the power steering connections to resolve my intermittent power steering issues, sometimes i would get weeks of driving, sometimes only minutes.

i tried nearly everything, i even replaced the entire wiring harness with one much newer. took the time to clean it and wrap it all nicely. very pleased with how it came out, but it didn't fix my issue.

finally, i decided to bypass the notorious connector that sits just below the radiator overflow using some wire taps and a little 16 gauge wire. problem solved!! this fix only costed me a couple bucks.

all i did was cut back the insulation on the harness a few inches on each side and use the taps to bridge an extra set of wires over the connector. leaving the original connecter intact.

...obviously you don't need wires quite this big, but it's what i had laying around.

then a little wrapping and some zip ties... and voila!! power steering for everyone!!! :wiggle:

edit: the connector i bidged is in the foreground, the larger power connector in the back is not relevent.

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...ac9380956f.jpg

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx8...674cfd2628.jpg

I'm not exactly sure what harness you bypassed, the large two wire connector with the 8AWG wire is the one on the left wrapped in electrical tape and zip ties right? The other connector goes to what?

the one in the foreground is the connector i am referencing (torque sensor, i think??)

six blue wire taps in the foreground bridge over the connector using three short pieces of 16 gauge black wire.

the large power coupling thats wrapped and zip tied in the background was a prior troubleshooting effort to keep the connection clean and dry, it's in the picture only cause it's nearby, not part of the project.

the connector i bridged is wrapped and zip tied only in the second picture.

Okay so the one that goes to connector on the round part of the steering rack where the steering shaft connects?

yes, i believe that's where it ends up.

the connector shown here, just below the overflow tank, is the only one that i bridged. from what i've read it seems to be the most likely culprit in these situations.

Gotcha I replaced the harness and replaced and rewired the 8AWG power wires with new wire and connectors and I am still having intermittent issues despite swapping out the noise filter and the EPS ECU.

Moved to DIY. Good Job.

why not just cut the connector out all together? I guess my question is What’s the point of bypassing it and leaving it there when you could just splice the wires together permanently?