HELP! power steering loss after sways install??
 

i just got my rb sways put on. they are awesome!! but i'll talk about that later. so, i got them installed, front and rear, went for a nice 20 minute drive, got home, parked it for a few hours, then went out again on a 10 minute drive to the gym. after an hour or two, when i was leaving, i started pulling out of my parking spot and couldn't turn the wheel hardly at all!! then i saw the power steering loss indicator light on. i pulled back into the spot. got out, looked for a leakage, didn't see anything, so i started 'em back up and the light was off ... so i pulled out, drove about 200 feet, and the light came on again and i couldn't steer. i sat there for a minute, debating on whether or not to tow it ... turned it off, turned it back on and it was off -- i live about 2 miles from the gym, so i drove around the parking lot for a couple minutes and the light stayed off, so i started to venture home -- the drive went fine from there on.

so, not knowing a lot about cars really, is it possible that we screwed something up with the front sway bar removal/install? there were two obvious cables down there -- one for the brake line, is the other for the power steering?? that "other" cable is towards the front of the wheel well, it got jacked around a bit and pushed on for sure trying to pry that sway bar out and in. is that possible? also, the fact that it went on, then off, then on, and now off again tells me it's a sensor issue or something, maybe the cable got pinched or loosened?? any ideas? i have to drive 200 miles on sunday morning, so i'll try to call the dealer tomorrow.

side note: i've driven older cars w/o power steering, but this was impossible to drive!! very scary to think if this were to happen on the highway, i mean i could barely turn the wheel an inch or two!!! wtf?!

Well the RX8 has electric power steering. The problems have all been connector related. Try a search on power steering failure in the issues and problem section.

Edit: I'm about to install my RB sways so I'll have to watch out for this issue...

Here's a start
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...light=steering

thanks darkbrew. i'm searching around right now. hadn't seen that thread though. here's another where this guy "alnielsen" says specifically it happened with his sways install too .... here

I'll bet the connector or wires on the drivers side. Did you get pissed and start yanking the sway bar a little bit? It's kind of a bear to get in and out as you well know now.....especially if by yourself(as I was). It just takes time and a lot of manuvering, but it can be done. Look for any areas where you know that you turned or pried when taking the sway out, or putting the new on in. It probably happend when you took the old one out. (my guess)

yeah, we definitely yanked it! we were careful with the removal, but less careful getting the new one in. i was just unsure if the power steering cable even was in that area ... in other words, there's some stuff down there, and some cable that we couldn't identify, so i'm curious if the sway bar could have even affected the ps or not.

i just drove about 30 miles, no problems. installing the new sway bar, there wasn't any powerful yanks per se, more like we'd slowly pull to one side, and then try to slowly power it up and over, so i'm sure at one point there was a lot of pressure on the surrounding areas, just not sure if they could have/did affect the ps ... ?

boy, even after reading around, it was still just a pain to get that front bar in!! and i had a helper...

the dealer here in dallas couldn't fit me in until next wednesday. i'll just keep an eye on the car in the next 2 days and hope my drive home to austin is safe!! i'll post when i can get my car in to the dealer in austin...

I'll try to take some pics tomorrow and maybe show you right where the possible places you should look are. The dealer is gonna charge you an arm and a leg once he sees that front sway bar!

thanks. if you can do it by tomorrow night i would really appreciate it man! i have a 200 mile drive first thing sunday morning so if there's anything i can check myself i'd like to do it by tomorrow.

i thought about just saying i've had that sway on for a while and the two can't be related! they may not be related, but who knows!

well, just drove 200 miles, from dallas to austin (all highway). about 20 minutes into the drive, i lost power steering again. just cruising on the highway, i noticed the ps wheel icon come on -- wasn't too bad b/c i was going 70 in a straight line, but i could feel it in lane changes for sure.

so, about 75 miles after it came on, we made a pit stop. once i restarted the car, the power steering was working (light off)!! wtf? i don't know, but the remaining 100 miles of the trip were power-steering-loss-FREE! hopefully i can get it to the dealer this week, but seems weird for it to cut in and out after shut down/start-up...

Check the connectors......the wiring harness between the steering rack and the control unit sucks.....a few have re-wired them..and there is an updated part from Mazda if you are still under warranty. Don't tell them you did the sway install...cause it is easy to pull on the harness when you do the install if you're not careful

^ that's exactly what i was wondering. the ps loss wasn't immediately after the install, but it was within 1 day, so i figured we must have tugged too hard on something, i just didn't know with the location of the sway bar if that ps loss COULD be b/c of the install ... i guess it can! thanks.

with the way it comes and goes, it's must just be the connectors are loose, i don't see why else it would be on, then off ... seems that if it were a problem with the system itself, it would be off for good until it was fixed. hopefully they won't notice the new sway and they can just update that part.

"the connectors" ... are they easy to "get to" to check myself?

Okay.......sorry I didn't get to the pictures, but I want you to go here and do some looking. It will show you where the connectors are and stuff. I not sure the link will take you deep enough, if not go to the sterring section!


http://foxed.ca/rx7manual/2003mazdarx8/


Click on all the steering stuff, go to EPS and then look for pictures containing the sway bar and wires with connectors so you will get and idea of where to look. Here's an example, but there are more. You need to jack up the car, put it on stands, block the wheels, put on emergency brake, remove the bottom cover and start looking around. I still think you just have a loose connector hit by the sway bar removal/installation.

no problem maz, i really appreciate you taking the time to help. i'll call the dealer tomorrow b/c i have to get my check engine light looked at anyway, and i'll probably just throw in there that the ps loss is occurring, but if they can't fit me in tomorrow i'll jack it up and look myself. i too think it's a loose connector we hit. thanks again, i'll check out that link too.

side note: just out of curiosity, do you know what that second cable is in the front wheel well? no big deal, just next time your front wheel is off, there is a cable towards the front part of the wheel well, right near the sway bar -- just curious ...

There are 2...brake/ABS/wheel speed sensor wire and the headlight leveler wiring on the drivers side. Plus I think the fog lights come off the harness somewhere near there as well...

Correct.....and you are far more informed on this car than I am! :)

I've probably had damn near the whole car apart at one time or another ....a lot of those areas 4-5 times for suspension/brake upgrades....

Yep............I know........I read a lot!
I'm catching up but not near as serious.

lol ive had my car apart SO many times for repairs and upgrades... plus completely stripped three cars so far... i cant believe how much i learned just from tearing crap apart... kinda like when your a kid and you wanna take the VCR apart to see how it works and you can never get it working again except this is a little more serious!

If you need any parts in that area i should have them all so let me know what the dealer says! thanks

thanks! i'll try to take a look myself tomorrow, but i'll post as soon as i get word from the dealer. i'm anxious to go b/c among this issue, i have to get my left taillight replaced, and i've head a finicky engine light for about a month!!

it's great to have you guys that are so knowledgeable about cars, makes my life easier!

cool. didn't think about the headlight leveler...

mazda's findings
 

i'm sort of double posting this in another thread (here), but i'll leave the comment in this thread as well.

The lady said they are replacing a *something i can't remember now* that has to do with the power steering -- box, harness, something, i'm blanking on the word she used -- AND then she said they were NO stored codes for my cel and that they are thinking the ps issue was causing the cel. fine by me, except my cel has been coming on for numerous weeks, and the ps loss just occurred last week -- i guess it COULD be true, it just seems like it would be unrelated.

also, if this means anything, right before the ps loss (right before = about 3 or 4 days), the cel would come on at start-up, but it would also come on at highway speeds (>68mph). once i got below 65mph or so, the light would come off. don't know if anyone can comment on why the cel would be on at high speeds but not low speeds. also, why would there not be a stored code for that?

ah, i remember, the "power steering control unit" is being replaced, whatever that is...