got an rx8 here, and i just noticed that when the cars stationary, and you turn the wheel a little bit either way, the wheel trembles, like its got ALS.

anyone else noticed this? lights not on, car drives ok

 

You're thinking of Parkinsons. With ALS your muscles atrophy and you become effectively paralysed.

 

 

yeah i stand corrected (i'm actually sitting) its like michael j fox, it trembles a little

 

Mine doesn't do that. I tried it at lunch. Are your brakes on or off? What tires do you have?

 

Undo the ownage. Original poster's analogy was correct. Fasciculations (muscle tremors) are a hallmark symptom of Lou Gherig's disease (ALS).

 

Speaking as an co-author on a paper in the journal Science specifically on ALS, and as a husband of an MD, I can speak with some authority on the topic. While tremors may occur in ALS, the hallmark, as you say, is motor neuron death, starting in the extremities and moving proximally, with concomitant muscle wasting. This leads to effective paralysis, first of the extremities then, eventually to the muscles of the trunk and lastly, the diaphragm. Death is often from respiratory failure. Typical time from diagnosis to death is only 2-5 years.

Parkinsons, a disease of the brain, whereby excititory processes lead to the death of a specific area of the brain called the substantia nigra. Death of these neurons is a direct cause of the "cog-like" motion and severe, debilitating tremors. There is NO comparison of the tremors of Parkinsons and shaking of ALS.

Please go back and relearn your neurobiology before arguing with a researcher that works on the specific areas you are trying to show your knowledge of. I intended no pwnage earlier. I was just edjumakating.

I intend pwnage now.

Consider yourself pwn'd.

 

Excuse me Dr.'s, while we get back to the original question ,,,
No I have not experienced this problem before.
Do you have warranty? If you do, talk to the dealer and see what they say.

 

I'm sure you know more about the diseases than I. But your error is in interpretation of the original post, which states only that the steering wheel "trembles". There is nothing in that statement to suggest that the motion is any more reminiscent of Parkinson's tremor than ALS fasciculation. In fact, to me, the word "trembles" suggests a rapid-fire, short-distance pulsation which would be more in line with ALS than the lower-frequency motion of Parkinson's tremors. Of course, this is semantics but that was my point. Simply, that telling the OP that "You're thinking of Parkinson's" presumed too much. He could very well have been thinking of ALS. If you've placed your hand over the affected muscles of an ALS sufferer, I'm sure you'll agree that "trembles" is a suitable description.

 

Maybe the motor mounts?

 

Ugh! Talk about thread-jacking!

It sounds like your steering torque sensor harness is failing.
There is a replacement bulletin for this. If you are warranty, it is covered.
If not, the replacement part is $11, or you can do what I did to fix it (which is free):
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-trouble-shooting-95/power-steering-failure-107481/

 

MazdaManic pwns all! He answered and then helped the OP while all the others did is bicker about which human diease his car was suffering from

 

Personally, I thought it was some kind of palsy...

 

Don't get me started.


Thanks for that link. My car's got a bit of left-right bias that I haven't been able to figure out. The harness sounds worth a try. And definitely will point that spit tube away from the connectors.

 

One of the symptoms that mine developed was gradual and subtle - the assist was slightly greater in a left turn than a right.
When it would actually fail, the assist would be infinite for a second, which could be scary at highway speeds.
Turns out, the left bias wire was intermittently higher in resistance than the power and right bias wire.

 

i like it! https://www.rx8club.com/showpost.php...0&postcount=11
we did add a little coolant last time it was in too..... light was coming on, but the system held pressure *shrug*

it is warranty, i'm just wondering if its worth looking for, looks like it is