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Okay, so I got in my car this morning and as soon as I pulled out of the drive way I lost powersteering and my radio cut off. I got a steering wheel warning light, the headlight adjustment light, ABS light, and a battery light. I shut the car down and restarted it and all the lights were gone and everything worked fine. I just figured this was yet another RX8 quirk and made my 50 mile drive to work without an issue.

But when I came out of work the larm on my key didn't unlock my car so I knew something was up. No one was around to jump me so I snagged the battery out of my company van (2006 MPV) and swapped it in the RX8. My car started fine but all the same warning lights from this morning were on now and I had no powersteering, sunroof, radio, or radar detector.

My car drove fine with the exception of the lack of power steering but all the warning lights stayed on and my car went through a half of tank of gas (or the guage is screwed up). But then when I slowed to enter my subdivision I noticed that if the rpms dropped below 2k the warning lights shut off and the radio and everything else worked. So sitting in my driveway I learned that at exactly 1750rpms the warning lights kick on and things go to ****. So before I take it to the dealer, any thoughts? No CEL by the way.

 

I got no f-ing idea on this one. Sounds like the computer might be f'ed up or you got some serious electrical problems. You didn't drive it thru a river or something did you?
I know that doesn't make you feel any better, and I try to think what it could be, but damn.............get it to the dealer.
You might want to check all your major ground tie points coming off the negative side of the battery??????? Look that over real well and make sure it's good and solid at the negative terminal. BTW.....I remember a few days ago when you had what I think was the coolant light going off and on right? This sound like it may have been the first symptom.

 

there have been a few problems with the power steering harness.

the rest is wacky like something that happened to me today..

just for fun.. check to make sure your bat is tight..

beers

 

same thing happened to me. Seems when One of the local dealers changed my battery, they damaged the ground to the battery. This eventually became worse with vibration (racing etc.) and then broke. Power steering would shut off and pretty much the rest of your symptoms. Check there. I had to replace the connector and then found a good excuse to replace the battery with an odyssey.

 

I went out an cleaned the connectors and the terminals. There was some dust like corrosion but everything was shiney when I was done and the symptoms still remain. When the rpms are low everything works great but when I rev it past 2k all the lights come on and ther is even static from the speakers even though the radio is off. Then when I turn on the headlights the static goes away. I went to Dallas for the Corr truck races so my car sat for 3 days but other than that...........there has not been any work done on my car and no rough weather driving or anything.

 

It just really sounds like a grounding issue.......I could be wrong, but that's really what it sounds like to me. Look at the wires and not the terminals on the battery. See if they look like they are good and solid. Trace back some of the wires off the negative side and if possible, see where they go. I know a few of the major ground points on the car, but not all. Look around the engine bay and everywhere you see a bolt with a wire to the chassis, loosen it slightly, turn the wire just a bit, and tighten back down. If it cures it, then go back and really clean the points you just messed with.

 

I will check all that in the morning I guess just to make sure. Sucks because I just went over warranty too and I doubt the extended warranty will cover.

 

Aye aye ... *cough*

 

Well, This morning the battery was dead so something is draining it. I swapped in my charged battery and it started and ran but still with no powersteering and the other electrical issues. I drove her straight to the dealer and they had her all day and could not figure out what is wrong. I guess I will know something tomorrow.

 

What, are you a pirate or something?

 

the same thing happened to me and it was just a wire that came loose.

 

I really wanna know what this was okay?
I'm with that other poster and I really believe it's a loose wire.
It really makes sense to me. BTW.....a loose wire can short to something at time causing excessive current draw.

I may have already asked, but have you done any mods or any work on the car over the last month or so? What about before that coolant light was flashing at you awhile back?

 

Okay, So the dealer said it was the fuse block connected to the positive terminal that ha sthe 60A fuse for the power steering. This caused the battery to overload and caused it to be ruined, They wanted $115.00 for the battery and $60.00 for the positive cable fuse block and $100+ for labor and they said it would take 2 days for delivery. I picked the car up and limped it to my office. I bought an battery from Autozone and ordered the fuse block so I will report back when I install the new fuse block and battery. Just from the short drive back to the office my worn out factory battery was leaking water/acid into the battery tray. I don't know **** about batteries but my dad said it was due to the battery being overloaded so I am not 100% sure about that fuse block but we will see.

 

Oh, and no work has been done on the car other than oil changes by me and cleaning my K&N. Weird thing is that I drove to Dallas and back without issues right before I left town and the car sat for three days. And I took the fuse block apart and it was fine, nuts were tight, no corrosion, melting, or anything and the connectors seemed fine but I guess we wil see. If it's not that then I wasted $85.00 at the dealer for the "diagnosis fee."

 

you might search power steering and mazda maniac.

a hint..

beers

 

Searched for power steering befor ebut let me search for MM. Thanks.

 

Okay, so I read MM's thread regarding the powersteering failure and I will check those connectors but that problem doesn't explain the battery light, the headlight level light, or the traction control light blinking. Plus non of those guys have a new battery overheating and boiling over. I get the part tomorrow and I sure hope it works. Thanks.

 

you have multiple issues.. i have helped on one. i hope..

beers

 

Okay, so I got the fuse block part in, installed it, started the car up, let it idle for 5 minutes, and the brand new battery boiled over. I shut it off immediately and unhooke dteh battery cables. So my dad thinks the alternator is screwed. Well he was right. I took it to an alternator shop and teh guy said the alternator was overcharging instead of under charging like usual. So $110.00 ($510.00 for a new one) later the alternator is rebuilt and I take it back to the car an install it.

I turn the ingition and nothing. Everything else works (radio, windows, etc) but the car will not crank or anything. So we check all the grounds, cables, bolts, etc. and everything looks okay. So after some trouble shooting we determine that everytime I turn the key, the 15A fuse labeled ENG in the engine compartment is blowing. Any ideas? Could the alternator overcharging have ruined something?

 

Get out a Multi Meter if you have to. I'm with everyone else on this, there's a short somewhere.

 

I vote we change your name to 2krpmrx8

 

No ****.

 

Okay, so after a tow, a day of troubleshooting, and another tow I am still without a car. After a day of pouring over schematics and getting familar with a multimeter we know what circuit its on and unfortunately that 15A ENGINE fuse feeds the pcm, powersteering, DCS, ABS, and the vehicle immobilizer so we were not able to figure it out. There is definately a short on the other side of the 15A ENGINE fuse.

There is something called a coil (not the ignition coil) located behind the dead pedal somewhere but I was unable to locate anything other than a number of connectors and relays. Though the picture showing where this coil is located is very vague. The only weird thing is that my driver side power window does not work. I gave up and had the car towed to a guy who is a behicle electronics expert specializing in late model imports so hopefully tomorrow I will know something. But I definately think that if the dealer had figured out the alternator was overcharging this situation would have been avoided. I think the alternator damaged something.

 

Still reading!
Thanks for keeping us(or at lest me) up to date!
If I was there I'd help narrow it down fairly quickly.

 

Okay so they finally figured it out after three days. There is a short in the ABS unit. When they disconnect the ABS, the car starts and runs fine of course with the lack of DSC and ABS and the power steering light is on but at least the car starts. Now they are telling me that they cannot replace that part because it will require reprogramming that only the dealer can do.

I have not seen the car so I do not know exactly which part they are talking about but hopefully I can get it outside of the dealer from a vendor and save some cash. I still will have to pay for the reprogramming and a trip to the dealer. Thsi sucks, I was hoping they could just get it running so I could trade it in but I guess trading in will have to wait since this will likely cost me a grip.