brandon569

hi have a 04 mazda rx8 that has been have some problems the power steering cut out and i had to manually steer so i toke to the dealership and told them all this and they kinda just sat there and thought about it gave it a quick look and asked if i needed power steering fluid and as you know it has electric steering and there is no fluid but then they said i needed a new steering rack and from the way they were talking i really didnt trust them and they sounded a little dumb and like they didnt know what they were doing and that they just wanted to take my money so i just kept driving it for a bit and then all of a sudden my steering started to work fine and it has been for the last 3 weeks but my windows stopped working as soon as my steering started to work again dose anyone have any ideas on why this happin it would be very helpful

Jedi54

iTrader: (7)

welcome to the 8club.
sorry to hear you're having issues but fortunately this forum has covered this topic (and just about every other imaginable topic) several times and there is a relatively simple fix if you feel like tackling it on your own.

I would imagine your power steering issue is similar to the rest of us who have experienced it and it is most likely due to a coolant overflow issue. If you pop your hood and look at the overflow tank, you'll see there is a small hose coming off of it that drips straight down.
Guess what's directly underneath it... Yup! The power steering harness...

Here is the most useful thread on the topic:
https://www.rx8club.com/series-i-trouble-shooting-95/power-steering-failure-107481/

Junirol

iTrader: (24)

i put gas in earlier, turned on my car... my power steering wasnt working. I drove it home, poped open the hood looked at the steering harness, cleaned and put some dielectric grease, worked like a champ.. i wonder for how long first time this happened to me.

Mazurfer

Cleaning it again a few times or even re-wiring to bypass the connector would still be WAY cheaper than a steering rack!

Junirol, you did it the right way, so hopefully it will last. If you haven't done so, extend you coolant overflow hose down past the connectors.

I actually extended mine down all the way and it just peeks out the slot in the under tray about 1/2 inch. Just watch the routing so you don't impede the fan.

Razz1

Yep, do a search to find out how and where the connector is to clean it.

https://www.rx8club.com/rx-8-discussion-3/power-sterring-sos-189690/