AlmostN0Numbers

Hey all. 3 days ago now decided to replace my negative battery terminal due to its wear. Had a persistent (probably 5 or 6 times now over 5 years) problem with terminals on my battery due to the previous owner mangling the terminals, and there never being a super easy obvious fix every time the issue rears its head.

Since the negative was off I thought I should be super safe and prevent arcing by removing the positive terminal as well. Positive terminal shows no signs of wear and looked almost like new after a year or so, which made me believe this wouldn't be a problem, and I'm not sure it even contributed to the problems I am now facing, but it is certainly possible.

Put the new terminal on, then re-attached the positive, fired up great and then.... no power steering, which was a novel issue I had never faced before. Did a bunch of research into EPS and PS failure; my crappy OBD2 temp gauge was not giving me any codes to work with, just the illuminated steering wheel light on the dash. Still; I did the recommended quick fixes for problems like this: Cleaned the 2 sensors under the airbox (twice actually just to be sure) with electronics cleaner, made sure to "reset" the DSC by moving the wheel all the way to both sides then turning off the car before turning it back on to check, did the 20 pump oil pressure gauge reset, forced a hard reset of the cars memory by leaving the positive battery disconnected for about 30min, and even checked things like the 60A EPS Fuse near the positive terminal (swapped in a working one just to be 1000% sure) ... and still nothing. Not even so much of a code to work with.

Decided from there to risk it and try to see if autozone or O'rileys code scanners would give me a code. In my research I found that B, C and U codes were the types of codes that should be thrown in cases of EPS problems. My guess is that my cheap OBD2 scanner that doubles as a temp gauge only reads P codes. Therefore it may be the case that an auto retailer may have some type of scanner capable of reading more advanced types of codes. Like I said I "risked" it and drove the very tight windy roads without any power steering to these places and ran the diagnostics, and I still got nothing. Autozones tool seemed a lot more basic then Orileys, but neither seemed anything other then "cheap". If my guess about cheaper OBD2 diagnostic tools being unable to read anything but P codes is correct, maybe I will need to find somewhere that will give me a free diagnostic check on a more advanced diagnostic tool.

From here, I am not sure what exactly to do. I still really think that the car is possibly throwing some code at me, but I just lack the correct tool to see it, and I am not sure what else to do other then either start calling local shops or fork out 150$ on tools which for sure read B, U and C codes, specifically: B1318, B1342, B2141, B2278, C1099, U0073, U1900, U2023 codes. I have also never had any issues with regards to power steering and its confounding to me that simply replacing a terminal would cause some cataclysmic failure all of the sudden; I have never (to my knowledge) had problems with coolant overflow since where I live tends to never get very warm and is fairly mild (30-70 degrees most of the year), and I have also had to replace the terminals so frequently that it makes no sense that things just fall apart now with no indication as to why.

What do you guys think is the best step moving forward? I really would like to know if there is some code I could read to figure out how to progress, but I guess it could be possible that I am just getting no unique codes? I am not sure.

AlmostN0Numbers

alright I didn't get any help with this, but the way I "solved" this for now might be helpful for someone in a situation like mine down the line.

between now and the OP, I made a game plan for things I should try.
1) Acquire a *New* "duralast top post battery harness repair splice" from autozone and then use that for my negative terminal, it is possible the terminal I bought and used is causing problems. (I will expand on this bellow)
2) If that doesn't work, start calling Mazda specialists locally and see if anyone would be willing to do a free scan so I could FOR SURE know that there was no code for this. (side note: I was fairly vindicated with even further research, any code that has its second digit other then 0 means its unique to the manufacturer and may not be read or scanned. still not clear on if they are universally readable but B1318, B1342, B2141, B2278, C1099, U1900, U2023 are all in this category and only U0073 isn't)
3) If the scan cost is abover 20-30$ buy an OBD2 mazda scanner for cheap somewhere and find out myself

something which I neglected to mention was that I had used one of these duralast splice posts for my neg terminal for about 2 years, and that as of recent it was fairly corroded. I didnt think I put the bolt for my terminal on very loose, but as of recent the car was having connection issues, and after cleaning it with baking soda, it was certainly able to be wriggled a little bit. I also couldnt tighten the bolt as for whatever reason, the nut is only able to be loosened if it is facing a certain direction outwards, which it was not. Since the terminal spliced was now necessary to make a connection and I didnt want to fork out 30$, I simply just bought a new universal zinc terminal and used the bolt and nut of the old duralast spliced post to form a connection. While this did work in my head with my limited idea of electrical engineering, and with testing the battery was outputting about 13.8V and cranked very quickly, clearly this did not work.

I knew the setup I had for my negative terminal might be the cause of my problems so I picked up a new spice harness from autozone when I got my codes scanned. Took the old one off, put the new spliced terminal on (with a little headache) and used the zinc terminal I put on prior to my OP now onto the positive terminal. Cranked up first time no issue, and now I had power steering fully.

Problem solved right?

Two problems since then. One reconfirmed my problem, while testing things out at around 7pm today I drove to wendys, and it was fairly hot out. The wait was maybe the longest I have ever had, and took about 30min in the drive thru, and my RX8 with its bad motor mounts does NOT like to sit in idle behind another car pumping its hot exhaust into it, and will audibly and physically rattle when the coolant temp gets anywhere close to 210 degrees F or more. After about 25min of waiting while my car embarrassed me, I noticed I lost power steering, AGAIN while I was on my phone. My immediate thought was the car put coolant in the overflow hose after getting too hot and fucked up the connectors. The drive wasnt too far home, but after checking, the coolant clearly wasn't the issue, one of the main connections of the splice for the negative terminal came loose (there are two "main" connections secured via allen wrench screw and one auxiliary smaller connection made via heat shrink in the duralast splice battery post). I put it back in and made sure it would be secure this time, and it fired right back up with power steering again no problem.

The second problem I am unsure about. I did put in half a quart of oil since it was low yesterday, so that may be the cause, but on initial startup at around noon today, the car sputtered while cranking and behaved odd on warmup, throwing the CEL code P0336 code and a bunch of oil was burnt on startup. It was no longer an issue after it started up, but I'll keep my eye out for anything and keep this thread updated if anything significant happens.

Loki

iTrader: (1)

I can't comment on the terminals, hard to tell what's going on there, but the rattle is probably your rad fans. They turn on high speed around 210F. You probably want to make sure they're turning free and remove whatever is rattling there.

What do you mean by "a bunch of oil was burnt at startup"? I'd clear the code and see if it comes back.

AlmostN0Numbers

do you have any links you would know of that would give me an idea of how i could access those fans? im very interested in solving that but dont really know where or how to.

idk what else to tell you about the oil on startup, the car sputtered and took a couple seconds longer then normal to startup, and when it did it ran very rich for a couple seconds while oil fumes (far more then normal) came out of the exhaust. it smelt like burnt oil and it was a cloud that smelt like exhaust. i should also note i hollowed out my cat so this wouldn't happen had i a catalytic convertor.

Loki

iTrader: (1)

Check the DIY radiator replacement section here or foxed.ca/rx7 for manuals that describe it. But if you can get the battery tray or intake tray out, you'll see them.

Is there oil in your intake accordeon? Did the car restart fine after this occurence?

AlmostN0Numbers

I'll check out the manuals, was hoping you knew of a yt video guide so I could know where exactly you were referring too. I did take out the air intake box and tray to inspect and clean the EPS connectors that are prone to fail due to the coolant overflow hose potentially spraying onto them, is the fan(s) you are reffering to under those connectors? I did see one when I was there.

I don't know what you mean by the "accordeon" but I doubt there is any oil in any part of my intake. Car started up fine several times after that, have not had the chance to drive (the real reason I have had my RX8 last 5years ongoing with a near 0$ budget is probably due to the fact my college has always been within walking distance so I put under 8,000miles a year and they are overwhelmingly highway miles driving to Vancouver/Seattle/Portland/Spokane) as I have been very busy, I will lyk if this error occurs again.

Loki

iTrader: (1)

Yes the fans are where you say. They're side by side, one under the battery, one under the intake tray.

The accordeon is the ribbed rubber portion of the intake tube that looks like an accordeon. Just before the throttle body. I would strongly suggest checking for oil there and cleaning it if present. The car didn't just smoke on startup for nothing.

AlmostN0Numbers

It actually has done something somewhat similar to this once before. Last year had this problem almost exactly when I had to leave for a trip. Was in a rush and didn't scan for codes but yeah this maybe something random. I feel like something is wrong with a ton of the sensors in my car, the coolant light will turn on randomly (unplugged it now, only fix is to change the reservoir), TPMS has never worked, will be on when my tire pressure is way to low, but when there isn't a problem it will begin blinking after 10min or so of driving and then never go away until the car is off. Low oil sensor will always trip in the same exact place for about a year; on the way back from running an errand after 15min or so as I am 2 min away.

I could go on but the car has been fairly reliable when it comes to the common layman's idea of RX8 issues, that being "the apex seal". The engine has worked pretty great and given me no issues is what I am saying. But anything to do with a sensor or electricity... it feels like the car is haunted. Rarely will it result in anything but an annoyance, and I personally think this is one of those examples. I will check for oil in the accordion but after years, I can say that probably this is just some weird thing the car decided to do once and wont happen again for another year or so

AlmostN0Numbers

before I forget Loki, I totally forgot I had a video I recorded to see if my third brake light was out the other day. This video was BEFORE I threw the weird code and had the sputtered startup. While the car doesn't start since im just checking the brake lights, I do turn it to "On" and you can hear a distinct whining noise that is and was novel. You can even see I pause and observe, waiting to see if something was wrong. Take a look:

Loki

iTrader: (1)

Secondary air pump bearings I'd say.