won't start after power steering died
 

2004 MT w/ 55k miles (2k miles on reman). When I last took the car out a couple of nights ago, the power steering was out when I started the car. I know that that is common on this car, so I figured I'd keep driving the car for awhile until it was convenient to bring it in to the dealer. So I just tried to start it, and it won't start. There is no power to the power locks. When I turn the key to Start, the immobilizer light comes on solid, and all I hear is a servo or pump which sounds similar to the sound of the windshield fluid pump.

I'm thinking that both symptoms may be related to either a dead battery or dead alternator. The battery is an 18 month old yellow top. I've never had flooding to wear down the battery, but I did have a decarb and then the reman installed 2k miles ago so that may have wore out the life of the battery some, plus in AZ batteries don't last long. Given that the power steering went out first and then the power locks along with not starting w/ the immobilizer light next, any guesses what is the most likely culprit?

I'm charging up my portable battery jumper. I just gave my trickle charger away last week, so I'm going to have to borrow that back tomorrow.

Battery is my guess..............you need a new one...............or your terminals are really dirty.
Next, clean the power steering connectors. Do a search on where and what to clean.
The two should NOT be related and alternator does nothing until car is started.

A 'dead alternator' can kill a battery, the diodes can let current go to ground.

I'll have to give you that one, but most diodes tend to blow open and not short.

Thanks. I took it in to Autozone and had it tested. I had to wait for over 3 hours for it to cool down before testing (when I brought it in they said it was unusually hot), and then charging (they said deep cycle batteries take awhile to charge). They ended up giving me a replacement yellow top, and after install it works fine and the power steering is back. However, after letting it sit for a couple of days I took it out for a canyon run in the rain and after a few minutes I noticed that the clock display started wigging out and throwing a bunch of random stuff for a couple of minutes--looked like the code from The Matrix. So I turned off the wipers and headlights but left the running lights on, and slowed my speed. The display went back to normal for 20 minutes until I drove over a rough metal grate. I'm going to clean the connectors on the cables and remount the battery to make sure it's locked down tight. Has anyone experienced something like this before?

Regarding the Matrix code on the display, I found another thread addressing this issue:
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-tech-garage-22/rx8-center-console-display-goes-crazy-198736/

I have just experienced the exact same issue. My car will not start, and my power steering light (and steering itself) has been coming and going for about a week. I was just about to take it into mazda until I was not able to start it. Does anyone know the cost of this repair? I'm sorta freaking out lol, my knowledge on cars is not too in depth

Its most likely your altinator ground danmaged in some way or not grounded correctly