Mazda 6 (2nd Gen) PAS problem
Discussion
Hi all,
I've noticed a strange quirk in the steering of our 2011 (GH) Mazda 6 2.0 DISI. It's easier to turn the wheel right than it is to turn left i.e. the weighting is not even from side to side. I thing it's been like this since we've had it but I seem to be noticing it more lately. The effect seems to be regardless of speed - it can be felt when the car is stationary too.
I've also noticed a strange sensation in the steering wheel when manoeuvring. If I wind on a lot of lock quite quickly (imagine reverse parking in a busy place where you just want to get on with it and get out of people's way) I'm sure I can feel/hear a slight vibration through the wheel similar to when you experience low speed understeer in snow but more subtle.
I thought I'd check the PAS fluid level but couldn't for the life of me find the reservoir. From looking online I think it might have electric PAS, which explains that! There isn't a lot of info about. I found one thread on another forum where someone was complaining of uneven weighting, but the thread went nowhere.
The alignment has been checked on a Hunter alignment machine by a trusted and knowledgeable friend who made a point of checking that the rack was central before the setup so I've ruled out anything like that. As I say, the weight difference can be felt when the car is parked up.
It's an approved used Mazda with warranty until September so I'm not too worried at this stage. But I like to have a bit of background knowledge before approaching a garage.
Any ideas/experiences welcome.
I've noticed a strange quirk in the steering of our 2011 (GH) Mazda 6 2.0 DISI. It's easier to turn the wheel right than it is to turn left i.e. the weighting is not even from side to side. I thing it's been like this since we've had it but I seem to be noticing it more lately. The effect seems to be regardless of speed - it can be felt when the car is stationary too.
I've also noticed a strange sensation in the steering wheel when manoeuvring. If I wind on a lot of lock quite quickly (imagine reverse parking in a busy place where you just want to get on with it and get out of people's way) I'm sure I can feel/hear a slight vibration through the wheel similar to when you experience low speed understeer in snow but more subtle.
I thought I'd check the PAS fluid level but couldn't for the life of me find the reservoir. From looking online I think it might have electric PAS, which explains that! There isn't a lot of info about. I found one thread on another forum where someone was complaining of uneven weighting, but the thread went nowhere.
The alignment has been checked on a Hunter alignment machine by a trusted and knowledgeable friend who made a point of checking that the rack was central before the setup so I've ruled out anything like that. As I say, the weight difference can be felt when the car is parked up.
It's an approved used Mazda with warranty until September so I'm not too worried at this stage. But I like to have a bit of background knowledge before approaching a garage.
Any ideas/experiences welcome.
The torque sensor in the rack is the most likely cause - it used to require a complete rack at about £1600, but can be repaired now for less than half that. If you can find someone that can read the torque values from the EPS control module, they should be balanced - with your complaint, you'll find the torque sensor values differ left to right, fooling the control module into thinking the steering is receiving a turning force when it's not, hence it feeling heavier in one direction than the other.
Before getting it done though, ask a dealer to carry out a neitral position reset - if that fails, it's new torque sensor time.
Before getting it done though, ask a dealer to carry out a neitral position reset - if that fails, it's new torque sensor time.
Superhoop said:
The torque sensor in the rack is the most likely cause - it used to require a complete rack at about £1600, but can be repaired now for less than half that. If you can find someone that can read the torque values from the EPS control module, they should be balanced - with your complaint, you'll find the torque sensor values differ left to right, fooling the control module into thinking the steering is receiving a turning force when it's not, hence it feeling heavier in one direction than the other.
Before getting it done though, ask a dealer to carry out a neitral position reset - if that fails, it's new torque sensor time.
Cheers, that's really useful info.Before getting it done though, ask a dealer to carry out a neitral position reset - if that fails, it's new torque sensor time.
Hi, I have the exact same problem with my 2008 Mazda 6. As you describe, steering heavier turning left to that turning right and more recently a judder/vibration as you turn the steering left to extreme. Did you get your issue resolved? and what was the cause? I have read about similar issues with the electric power steering on smaller Mazda's some of which have recalls, but yours is the first identical problem to mine. The heavy steering to the left was noticed when I first acquired the car in 2010, only had 20k miles then.
Superhoop said:
The torque sensor in the rack is the most likely cause - it used to require a complete rack at about £1600, but can be repaired now for less than half that. If you can find someone that can read the torque values from the EPS control module, they should be balanced - with your complaint, you'll find the torque sensor values differ left to right, fooling the control module into thinking the steering is receiving a turning force when it's not, hence it feeling heavier in one direction than the other.
Before getting it done though, ask a dealer to carry out a neitral position reset - if that fails, it's new torque sensor time.
Before getting it done though, ask a dealer to carry out a neitral position reset - if that fails, it's new torque sensor time.
Hi guys I have Mazda 6 2011 and I had a problem with heavy steering for a while now but I fixed it .all you need is a new steering rack but don't buy it from mazda dealer because it will still have the same problem later on so buy it from Mazda & Mitsubishi Spares Ltd they are in Rochdale Manchester.
Hi guys, I still have this problem on my mazda 6 and it is getting worse. I have been told by my local garage that the power steering is permanently driving to the right when the wheels are off the ground. They tried the zero setting thing, but made no difference. It has got to the point now that if I leave the engine running for more than about 15 minutes while parked the power steering cuts out completely. If moving this doesn't happen. I am assuming here that it is over heating due to the continuous drive to the right and when moving it's cooled and doesn't fail. Personally I don't think it's an actual fault as it has been like this since the car had about 20k miles when I acquired it. Anyway I have bought an elm OBD device online for about £20 which allows you to access all the CANbus modules in the car. This device is specifically for Mazda and Ford cars. You plug this into your laptop usb port and run forscan software and you can see all of the devices. When you access the power steering module you can get readings from all of the sensors. You can do the zero setting here, but you can also do a full calibration of the steering system. I have not done this yet, but I intend to do it at the weekend. If this doesn't work I will go for the recon rack option. I will let you know how I get on with the calibration process.
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