^ Next time the PS light comes on, use an OBD reader to pull the code. If it's a torque sensor error like everyone else is getting, then it's the rack. Otherwise you're just throwing money on parts that don't need to be replaced.

 

This weekend I had a buddy help me install a replacement steering rack--still no power steering! I forgot to mention in my previous post that i have cleaned connections and rerouted an extended coolant overflow hose past my connections.

I feel pretty confident that something outside main hardware must be the issue. I am going to have to call on some people with expertise in electrical engineering to help at this point.

It's a shame I don't feel like I can trust the dealership to do this. I'm so far invested to avoiding them at this point, I want to get that eureka moment & fix!

When it comes to troubleshooting the connections and measuring voltage, I'm guessing people pull out the air intake boxes to have clearance to reach the connections?

 

you cleaned the harness but have you tried replacing it?
for some cleaning helps temporarily or not at all.

 

1. I have cleaned connections and rerouted an extended coolant overflow hose past my connections and checked all fuses.
2. I soldered the wires, replaced the harness (soldered again) and tried a new Power Steering electronic control unit.
3. I replaced the steering rack.

 

^ You may have replaced the lower harness (which connects to the torque sensor on the rack), but there's also the "upper harness" that connects the lower harness directly to the PS control module. Might want to try splicing in new wires from the lower harness directly to the PS control unit (which will bypass possible faulty upper harness wires).

 

On Thursday, it was super humid outside. After the drive to and from work with no power steering (been doing that for 2 months solid now--It's been non functional for a year) I left for a happy hour and THE POWER STEERING CAME BACK ON!!! It's been two days now with it on. So, I'm back to calling it an intermittent issue.

Chances are the remaining stretch of wires are going bad; I checked them with a multimeter for continuity after installing the new steering rack (and seeing no improvement) and didn't locate anything.

 

High humidity changing things poitns to corrosion somewhere. I have consistently seen, across many cars, more corrosion related electrical problems surface on high humidity days than on dry days. You wouldn't think that the humidity would accelerate corrosion so much that it pops up on those days, but... it does.

 

I was just wondering. How many of you guys who have had the power steering issue (dead spot with overcorrection, or shaking wheel, or sudden jerk to the side, or failure without a sign) have filled out the safecar.gov complaint form? There are several claims on their website for power steering issues in the RX8 and they all have the same story; unpredictable steering which has nearly caused an accident. If you haven't made a complaint yet please do. As isolated complaints don't typically generate a response.
Mazda initiated a TSB on Mazda 5 and 3 power steering a few years ago, but they have hydraulic PS and the cause was metal shavings in the fluid.
https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/Vehicl...nt/index.xhtml

 

not really,

if it stops working the steering just gets heavy.. have you had this issue?

if any of the claims are by jmeteo, he has been outed as a scammer by more than on manufacture..

beers

 

I do have this issue and it's more than just going out and getting heavy. I could deal with that. The problem my car has is that when I start my journey. For the first few minutes the wheel shakes when I begin to turn the wheel and if I'm not holding with both hands it can spin all the way to one direction and then just shake and shake until I force it back. After that there is a large dead spot, which then over corrects - a gradual turn goes from no turning to turning too much.

 

 

dont know what to tell you. things fail.

that video is scary, i am sure it would have come up before.. and would have been reported.

you really should start your own thread about this, you will get help faster than buried in this thread.

beers

 

Hey lord et, I has the same problem as you're experiencing. Bought a new harness, reflowed the pscm, and eventually disassembled the whole entire rack & pinion. I posted a link probably a few pages back with a bunch of HD pictures of the disassembly. I ended up soldering cables directly to the torque converter and then running them to the pscm. That was over a ago now and haven't had a single problem with it since

 

Well I guess I am the next victim here, let me get the story going.

a couple of weeks ago I had the coolant boil over and out the reservoir



after doing a pressure check, I was leaking coolant, it seems that the radiator had deteriorated, and the hoses. im just very lucky, I had not driven the car. anyways I was on the look for a new radiator, I had seen something here about cleaning the coolant off the power steering connections, but I paid no mind to it, anyways about a week and a half after installing the new radiator, I was going up this very steep hill, then boom, my power steering light came on, and no power steering. I paused and turned off the car and re turned it on, nothing, no power steering. after reading the power steering cleaning thread, I bought all the tools, but it did not work I took it to a friend of mines tht pulled the codes:




After doing some research, im hoping that I wont need to replace the rack. im a little frustrated, hoping nothing too bad is preventing my car from having power steering. I have 4 steps:

*check all the fuses
*clean then connectors again
*buy a mazda subharness, hoping it will work,
* if all else fails, solder the wires.

any other suggestions?

 

Hey M8!!

How U going man?

Good to see U are still kicking back

Ash

 

no need, u just need to replace the rack AND the PS harness, if possible, break the original Main Harness connector and replace it with a new, u can keep using the old terminals but make sure u clean it good with a fine wire brush. After you replaced everything just re-locate the Overflow tank's stupid short 90 degree hose, replace it with a long hose and just leave it hanging at the oil cooler area(or just direct it to somewhere near the ground)


soldering the wires will NOT fix the issue completely, it will make it last a bit longer, but sooner or later it WILL fail and when that day comes, you gonna have to cut it and solder AGAIN cuz u cut the original connector.

 

I disassembled some failed rack a while ago, Forgot to take pictures tho.

the cause is some o-ring/rubber seal in the rack Failed, water/moisture got in, plus the hot coolant **** keep pouring from the top.

It looks like the newer Version has better seal inside the rack, I opened one before, but it's just gonna make it last "longer", it's still gonna be a wear and tear item. I'm trying to find out if some parts can be replaced, like the sensor part. cuz most of the time it looks pretty ugly inside.

next time when I open one up I make sure I snap some pictures.

 

doing well.

had a track related motor scare, but turned out to be ok.

so i am backish, suffer.

beers

 

So, my RX-8 is doing something weird. My check engine light came on, so i checked everything and everything checked out okay. I disconnected the battery for about 30 seconds and then reconnected only to find the power steering wasn't working. The next morning after driving it for a bit, all the gauges on the dash started flickering on and off. I've checked all the fuses, all are intact. I've cleaned my connections, and even bought a new battery. Nothing works still. It drives fine, sounds fine, no noticeable power loss, but the gauges still flicker and the power steering still doesn't work.

 

If nothing works, try this. you might just get lucky. i had the same prob as on the vid. now all is perfect.

 

Have any of you guys had this condition....I haven't seen it listed in any of the power steering related threads, but sure someone has experienced it:
My steering has become noticeably worse (choppy, jerky) only when turning to the left, and only with the engine running. With the key in the 'on' position, but with the engine off, the steering turns from stop to stop both ways without issue. Start the engine and the steering is jerky/choppy when only turning to the left. I'm trying to figure out if that is the sensor/motor on the rack, or the PSM. Do you guys know what component only sees power with the engine running? I hate to yank out the rack if it is not the problem. Ive already 1) cleaned contacts, and 2) replaced upper steering harness and 3) checked fuses. Any thoughts? No PS light or codes, either.

Thanks,
Rod in NC
2004 RX-8

 

Hey all, I've been having this pesky problem as with everyone else with my 2005 8's power steering. Disconnecting the connectors worked for a little bit, but then I disconnected the connector that leads to the torque sensor while the car was running (idk what I was thinking) and I haven't had PS since. My light is on, but I haven't had the code pulled. I've read through this whole post and did the following.
1. New lower harness
2. Soldered the wires directly
3. Tried splicing in a new harness

And nothing so far. I've read a couple times people mentioning to check for voltage and continuity in the circuit, but I'm not completely sure how to do that? Where do I put the leads? And what readings are normal for every point I'm testing. I'm really trying to avoid the dealership at this point.

 

Add me to the list of failures.

The issue popped up about 3 weeks ago. Pulled the car out of winter storage, replaced the battery (Group 35 like OEM), and had no issues. Drove around for about a week and a half, then put the car in the garage for about 3 days. Turned it on, and an EPS light came on - no power steering at all. And it hasn't come back since - not intermittent, total failure from day 1.

First thing I did was clean the connectors on the intermediate harness, which did nothing to fix or help the problem. I also checked the code on the EPS module and had a B1342 code. I bought a new intermediate harness and a used EPS module from eBay for good measure, figuring that at least one or the other would fix the problem. No torque sensor codes or any of the others from the FSM.

Yesterday, I went and changed the intermediate harness - no EPS. Then I changed the module - still no EPS. Checked the fuse on the positive terminal, that's fine, too.

I was working on the car with a friend who also has an RX8, with working power steering. I put his module in my car - no dice, EPS still not working. We swapped over both of my modules to his car - both work fine. At this point we are stumped.

We start tearing everything apart and checking continuity of all the wires we can - intermediate harness, noise filter, upper harness to EPS module, power to positive battery terminal, and grounds. All are closed. We checked the resistance at the torque sensor per the FSM and it's within spec, but barely - 12.9 ohms from A to B and from B to C. We also checked the continuity across the two terminals on the EPS motor that's on the rack, and that is closed as well. These two factors make us think it isn't the rack, but that seems to be the only thing left to change and/or check.

However, there is one big thing that leads me to think the rack needs to be changed, which is that if I clear the codes from the EPS module and cycle the key, the fault light goes away. As soon as I touch the wheel, it throws a code. But I can reset the system, let the car idle for 10-20 minutes without an issue, and then it will immediately fault once I move the wheel.

I hate electrical and don't know a lot about it, so I'm looking for any thoughts or confirmation that the rack is the problem here. I don't want to spend any more money on things that won't fix the problem, but I'm not sure if I missed anything.

 

It's a retarded design, PITA and expensive to fix (labor alone will rape u if u are not doing ur own work)

I am gonna open one up this week and post pictures ...

 

Been going thru the exact same thing , checked all the same items, including the EPS module. I haven't changed out the intermediate harness but did swap out the steering rack as the torque sensor was the identified and most likely item based on process of elimination. Sorry to say that fix was also temporary. I installed a known good used rack this came with its own short harness from the steering rack so even that's a different one
Currently I'm looking at the connector between the intermediate harness and the harness from the rack. Ill Let you know if I see any change in the near future. If this doesn't work...it must not be broken and a isolate case

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