I bought my car brand new in July 2011. Its a 2010 R3 left over. It had 80 miles on it from day one. It now has 5,200. I took it back to the dealer once for this issue and they said they never heard of it before. (typical dealer response) They drove it and said they coundnt make it happen. They looked at my like I had 2 heads.

Here is the problem:

Ever since the day I brought it home there seems to be an issue with the steering wheel returning to center. Whats odd about it is that it 's very intermittent. It will happen about 2-3 times a week. And it will only happen given the right situation. But even if all that is right , sometimes it wont do it.

When it will do it:

3rd gear, cruising 20-30 mph. I come up to a 90 degree corner. I let up on the throttle just so slightly as to travel through the corner smooth slow and controlled. While in the corner the wheel will reach about 8-9 o'clock at the apex.

As im exiting the corner the wheel will self-streighten up to about the 11 o'clock position then stop. It will actually hold in that position and the car will continue to steer in that direction. I have to manually pull it "over a hump" it feels is the best way to describe it.

This "hump" I refer to is pretty easy to over power and it only lasts about a second. Once past it, it will continue to self level back to 12 o'clock like nothing ever happened.

I have purposely tried to mimic this situation with sporadic relults. Sometimes it will do it. Sometimes it wont. It seems to happen more often during left hand corners than right but it will do it for both.

I tried to do a search about it with no results. The closest someone came to a condition similar to mine was only at speeds below 5 mph. mine is fine then though. and his car had something like 50-60,000 miles on it

Has anybody ever experienced this or heard of anybody that has and come up with a solution?

Thanks

 

My car has recently been experiencing this. I have a car appointment on monday to get it checked out. The only thing is mine is quite a bit worse, tends to do it all the time now. The hump hits at about 10-11 and 1-2, I can overpower it but it will not automatically reset. Also have a number of other issues with steering right now but its possibly unrelated, it rubs to the left and knocks to the right. Ill post what my shop says.

Oh I have an 04 with 104k. Had the car the past 50K +

 

After you have it looked at, please let me know what they say about it.

 

My 8 is an 04 but I had a problem similar to this and it ended up being the wire harness for power steering from the coolant over-filling and corroding the connectors.

If it's an intermittent problem it's going to be hard for you to show them unless you some how get it on video.

 

Iv been hearing about the overflow location thing lately but I haven't looked into it yet. Shouldn't be an issue tho given how new it is i would think.

I was actually already thinking about the video thing myself but I didn't want to seem desperate.

 

If you own a Series II RX-8 then you already have the latest PS Cabling, I have heard of NO issues with this on S2's.

As far as steering not centering, I have no idea what you are really talking about, too many variables like road camber, stone on the road....

Self-straightening?..Sorry, again I have no idea what you are talking about.

Mazda steering is meant to have "feel" to it, not a sloppy mind numbing experience.

Always keep your hands on the wheel and turn it...how hard can that be, some resistance at a certain low speed is normal IMO?

 

Thanks ash for the response. Its good to know about the s2 ps cabling updated.

As far is the complaint im having, you're right there does seem to be a lot of variables. But regardless the issue is still there. If you felt it you would know immediately what im talking about.

It goes beyond the obvious factors like road camper or rocks.

 

What I can see from you explaining the issue that I could reproduce was if the road surface is uneven, you will feel the wheels folowing the uneven road and you have to fight with the sterring wheel to keep it centered. could this be?

 

Nope. Not it at all. I know what you are talking about. Being from canada I bet some of your roads have a crown in it that will self-steer the car. Some roads here in New England have that as well. Helps with drainage.

What im talking about happens on secondary roads that are even and level. The same roads that I have driven countless cars on all my life and have never experienced before.

Its easy to blame it on my "noob" status as a poster with only 26 forum posts. Or even the ever so popular "thats how mazdas are you just don't understand."

However,

Every day from 8 am to 5:30 pm I diagnose drivability problems and customer complaints about steering and suspension behavior. I work at a tire shop that specializes in chassis repair that is independently owned and operated by my family. Despite all that im a little embarrassed at myself that I cannot even diagnose my own problem.

This is why I look to the forum. In Hopes that I can find someone with and educated suggestion preferably from a previous experience.

If i wanted to be treated like a moron I would have stayed on the Honda forums. I don't mean to sound rude and I apologize if I am but I don't like being taken for a fool.

 

Despite the rubbing and knocking, did they come up with anything regarding the wheel returning back to center?

 

and you've looked over the suspension and rotated tires etc to ensure its not something there? everyone is considered a fool here until they show other wise it might come down to a programming issue of the rack or DSC but let us know that those other things have been checked.

 

Here's what your probably going to have to do....no guarantees.

Disconnect your battery for a minute or so. When you hook it back up, you need to perform the "steering angle sensor initialization" This sensor tells the EPS (power steering computer) and the (DSC/ABS) the center positions and the max left & max right of your steering.

You will also have to perform the auto power windows initialization as well since you disconnect the battery but that has nothing to do with the steering. The procedure is pretty easy, like roll your windows all the way down, hold then go up, hold. Or something. You can find the exact procedure in the owners manual.

Drive it around and see if it is any better. Not any better?

Since it does not sound like a mechanical issue (it would be present at all times) it seems more likely a control/computer/electrical issue. Your going to have to (or get a Mazda tech if you can convince them there is indeed an issue!) get a scan tool that is capable of monitoring your EPS inputs and outputs. You want to drive around the vehicle and be able to watch the values and make sure your not having some random values/hiccups every once in a while. Basically data logging your sensors in other words. Good luck!

 

I have disconnected my Battery many times and never had to do the 'auto power windows initialization' up/down procedure, only the normal wheel lock to lock (left to right)...?

 

Disconnected an R3 battery just about a week ago and had to do it. Also had to do it's steering initialization.

The windows is easy to miss. Maybe you didn't really notice? If you tap the button down, you'll see it doesn't auto roll down or up all the way, either driver side or passenger. Once the "learning" is done, it's back to one touch up and down. I assume your S2's in Australia have this same window feature that was not on the S1s?

 

Thanks for the advise. I have already tried the battery thing to reset the steering. Once on purpose early to try to eleviate this particular issue and once after to do the foglight rewire. Both times seemed to have no affect on the issue I'm hunting down.

On a side note I did have to reprogram the auto-power window switches. I was able to find that info in the owners manual. Its the type of thing you don't realize you would miss till its gone.

I really like your idea about data logging the ESP. I hadnt even considered that as an option. I have a snap-on scanner at work that can map data log but I highly doubt it will work on the 8. And besides that I think it only does engine data. Im going to look into it any way.

Have you heard of a specific computer on the aftermarket that does this sort of data logging that will work on a series 2 rx8? Id rather not go back to the dealer just yet. I dont want them to see my test pipe . Not to mention I doubt they will do that kind of procedure voluntarily.

 

Thanks for the response.

Sorry I should have mentioned this earlier.

I have rotated the tires once so far. I like to do it every 5k miles. The tire rotate didn't make any difference. I briefly checked over the tie rods and ball joints (they are still new) and I even checked the alignment personally. All the alignment geometry was well within spec.

 

Besides the factory scan tool, anything that has "enhanced" Mazda access.
I have an autoenginuity myself but have never needed it for this type of work yet . I bought it mostly for my Ford truck as that thing is almost like maintaining an FD RX-7!

http://www.autoenginuity.com/

 

Intrigued. Looking at the example 06 rx8 they have listed i see the option for steering angle sensor initialization option for on and off. I wonder if it has the capabilities to monitor whats happening with the steering angle sensor live as it happening.

Perhaps a question for autoenginuity tech support themselves.

Thanks very much for the help. Im going to look into it.

 

Intrigued. Looking at the example 06 rx8 they have listed i see the option for steering angle sensor initialization option for on and off. I wonder if it has the capabilities to monitor whats happening with the steering angle sensor live as it happening.

Perhaps a question for autoenginuity tech support themselves.

Thanks very much for the help. I just sent them an e-mail

 

You didn't look hard enough

http://www.autoenginuity.com/Mazda-A...tems-List.html

http://www.autoenginuity.com/Mazda-A...ingCAN_sensors

 

Perhaps the Aussie Initialization is different?

All I know is when I ever reconnect Battery (about 5 times) I have never had to do the Power Window up or down initialization, the auto up/down is only on the drivers (Right Hand Door) Switch and works in auto mode up or down from first Battery connect.

Our passenger (Left Hand) Window Switch does not have (and never has) auto up or down for all Aussie S1 or S2's.

Steering Wheel turn full left and right lock initialization..yes.

 

It sounds like you might not have the auto windows up/down. That's too bad, it's a nice little convenience feature over the S1s. Try this....does your auto window have an "anti-pinch" feature, like if you put your hand in the way while the window is going up does it auto reverse?

Also here in the US, the S2s are able to lower the power windows using the remote and close the windows using the key cylinder. It doesn't have to be card key style either as mine has just the regular flip key & remote.

 

The RX8 requires it's own extended data set, a number of model specific items are not included in the generic Mazda extended data set

 

Subscripting to this thread... Godesshunter any update?

I have noticed a similar steering issue with my 2011 R3, 4200 miles, that Godesshunter described in his original post.
At parking lot speed, while returning the steering wheel from a left turn there is a momentary reduction in power assist, maybe 5%- 10%.Or the need for more assistance at that very narrow point.

This issue only accurse between the 10' clock and 11'o clock steering wheel position after a 90 degree left hand turn.
It has happened to me roughly once every 250 miles at speeds below 18 mph on any type of road surface.

I checked the battery connections, they were really loose, but tightening them had no effect.

 

Kinda forgot about that issue. My car now has roughly 8,500 miles on it now and as weird as it sounds the problem just kinda stopped and fixed itself.

When I first got the car it was very seldom. Id say once a week. (around the 2k-3k mile mark) Then it graduated to several times a day (around the 4k-5k mile mark) Then it dropped back down to seldom around the 6k-7k mile mark.

Now at 8500 miles and I cant remember the last time it did it.