Power Steering stops functioning while on track
 

This weekend I was at TGPR in AL. Weather/temps were sunny and 70deg. On my fourth 15minute session the PS disabled while on track. It did this luckily in a straight which allowed me time to slow down, but scary none the less. It also did this at RA last November in similar conditions. I thought it was a fluke the first time, but this reoccurring makes me want to find a fix ASAP.

While still rolling in the pit I cycled the key on/off and the PS returned. Has anyone else experienced this before? Does the rack or PS ECU overheat?

*** I got out and checked my overflow bottle in the hot pit. There was no coolant exiting the overflow hose. Though I may still make sure I have the most up to date replacement harness.

usually there's no single pinpoint issue. it could be the rack, it could be the angle sensor or it could be a simple connection issue within the harness.

most people start with cleaning the harness connections, because it's the quickest and it's free. and be sure the battery terminals are tight and the 60A EPS fuse is solidly inserted.

Mine does it sporadically at the track. It usually goes away with a cycle and wont come back for a while. I have cleaned the connectors and itseems to help. I think it might have been a voltage issue..I had a lot of extra loads over OEM...and since I installed a new higher amperage alternator it hasn't done it...but I just did it at the end of the year last year and only had a half day before my season was over

Basically I would clean all the connectors...including the ones below the stock ecu...and use dielectric on them....and then if it still does it go looking elsewhere

time to buy a new rack. takes about 3 hours to install

Reason? Before I spend time and money on a rack and new alignment I want to be sure and not just changing out parts

a new rack usually cures the issue but why is that.. i guess due to a buildup in resistance through the load internally which causes the voltage to drop enough during the self test that the EPS module determines a fault and shuts it down.

but can it be repaired relatively easily without spending the money on a new rack?

usually the problem comes during startup procedure on most cars, those that fail while driving might be due to heat soaking and the resistance issue i mentioned. most others are due to the self test being performed while the car is attempting too many other tasks while the charging system is not active yet to bring voltage up so the problem could even be tied to heat, rack wear and the alternator.

Interesting. Are later year racks (07-08?) less prone to the issue? Will changing the rack require special calibration other than the wheel lock-to-lock turns after battery disconnect?

I will attempt the connector cleaning/inspection. Has anyone compare the old vs new harness section to determine what was changed?

Wasn't the rack in mine...I have a spare and swapped it out....

the next point i could probably guess if it happens while driving would be a faulty steering angle sensor, but that is part of the rack, so... connection issue?

do it with a new harness,

its all because the rack design sucks, from what I found is , after a while (couple of years) the seal on the rack starting to go, moisture got in(or when u go over a puddle of water, water gets in) and slowly kills the sensor on the rack. it seems they changed the material on later revision (D) to something more beefy, but not 100% sure.



did u change it with the harness ? the harness also affects it, I trouble shoot couple of them before, the harness seems to have no issue, when I shake it with multimeter nothing seems wrong, but swap it with a new one everything works.

Start from the simple inexpensive fixes and work your way up, I wouldn't wanna for sure spend cash either, unless I know it's a for sure fix. Or unless I'm speaking to a rx8 electric power steering guru who works on power steering modules all day. Most problems pertaining to power steering are here on the forums, if cleaning ain't doing much and it keeps returning , solder the connections. Then if that don't work, atleast you narrowed your possibilities down, then you can start trouble shooting whether it's the harness, module, or rack and pinion etc.

This is not the old school power steering pump that last almost forever, its an electric powered motor plus a sensor. Both has a life span thats much shorter than the old school ps pump. So why people still treating it like its the old style pump?

And as the rx8 ages(now 10 yrs old), more and more failure gonna happen. It does sound expensive, but when u look at the rest of the market, all eps has failures just like our 8. Its a good way for them to milk us penny by penmy

because most of the parts that actually fail usually can be accessed and repaired for literally pennies. the main issue is taking the time to find the problem and a repair for it.

like a motherboard for a computer, a $.01 resistor failure can cause everything to work erratically or not function at all. if you know the part that commonly fails you can repair literally all similar failures for next to nothing, assuming you can actually get to it without more effort than worth. except in this case a rack is quite a bit pricier so there's more room to play with.

the unemployment rate is still sky high, yet there's plenty of opportunities like these to give people jobs to do.

Bought the new replacement harness (F151-67-SH0D) from Mazmart $98 and will be installing this weekend. I'll pay special attention to the connection at the torque sensor and possibly getting it tight with a zip tie or two, as one member has stated that helped his problem. While doing this i'll also give the other connections a good inspection.

There are a few yards around here that have 8 pretty regularly, so if I can find what looks like a good rack (newest part number?) in good shape I may grab it. Has anyone had luck with aftermarket reman racks? I'd be curious as to what they replace/change, since a lot of times our racks have intermittent issues and can test "good".

"D" is the newest version, if a locally whacked car has it, grab it.

but what they really changed (From what I can see/feel side by side between the 2) is the insulation material.

Don't bother testing the rack, like u said, intermittent issue is hard to diagnostic.

https://www.rx8club.com/attachment.p...1&d=1395198806

the above is a RHD (JDM) rack, old vs new. changed, everything good as new again. and mind u, I changed it with a new harness at the same time.