Steering problem advice needed

[NR_RX8]

Hi guys, this is my first post so excuse if its in the wrong forum!
I bought an RX8 back in january from a large dealership, unfortunately the extended "Gold warranty" I bought seems to be worthless as I keep getting told there is nothing wrong. So here is the main issue, (I wont bore you with the rest lol). When driving and for example crossing the cats eyes in the middle of the road the car pulls severley to the left, if you drive on an uneven road you are constantly fighting the steering with corrections as it pulls across to the left. Now I have noticed a clunk from the car when the left wheel hits a bump. If you are stationary and turn the steering it makes a sound like click click click, almost like a ratchet?? Any ideas what this could be? Tyre pressures are fine but the left hand front tyre has zero mil tread left on the inside of it. It seems like bad tracking but all of the noises I have mentioned make me think it is something else. So something is wrong and before I fork out loads of money it would be good to get your opinions!
Thanks
Nick :WaveBye

[rossonza]

Cv joint? checked the front end for play.

[rx-dave]

Hi Nick, a mechanic friend called me today with an RX8 with the same problem, the RX8 also belongs to a mate so i did some research. This seems to be a common problem on the American RX8 site, i\'m not a mechanic so if my comments are not 100% don\'t shoot me down for trying to help :Thumbs-up.
It could be one of two things, the first is the rack itself but i also found that the EPS relay, i think it stands for electronic power steering relay, is to fault. This is situated behind the airbox and has the coolant overflow pipe situated above it. Apparantly coolant can spill over the relay corroding this and also the socket it fits into, it can often be cleaned out then solves the problem.........worth an hour of your time :cheers
Dave.

[Arnie_O]

Many have also bypassed this connector and simply hard wired the two joints together to prevent this problem happening again, THough if its the EPS playing up then should it not just lead to heavy steering?

[spoddy]

Hi mate

I too have suffered from the heavy steering problem, more so at slow speeds turning into a road etc. I had no eps light on in the dash, but managed to find the source of the problem.

The steering knuckle or U joint into the rack seems to be prone to rusting and seizing up slightly, so the handiest thing to do is ly underneath her after turning the steering allt he way to the right and using WD40 with a straw attachment the red one comes with the can, lean in and spray where the joint goes into the rack.

give it a good clean, turn the wheel full lock either side and once done you can get a spray can of grease and bung that into the joint.

you should find the problem gets a lot better or goes away.

also check your battery levels are topped up ok, use deionised water from tesco or motor shop and top up. ensure your alternator is ok too as the steering uses a bit of power being electric variety.

if it is still heavy, try unplugging and cleaning the harness under the air box,  using electrical contacct cleaner or WWD40, its two plugs, you need to take the air box out.
some people take the plugs off and solder the wires together as the problem is the coolant overflow pipe is too short and hot coolant can overflow and spill onto the plugs and corrode the connections.
A new torque/power harness is about £82 from Mazda, it plugs into the connectors under the air box and the other end into the rack.

I bought a harness but didn\'t need it, I had no warning light for the power steering just very heavy turning slowly. going over a few bumps must have jigged it loose, the U joint and after WD40 and greasing it, it has been fine since.

I would recommend the WD40 approach if no warning lights. You can remove the battery as the joint is underneath it, so you can clean it all first and regrease and then reconnect your battery.

hope that helps.