What happens, is the radiator overflow hose dumps directly on the power
    plug and control signal plug for the power steering, and in time, the
    contacts in the plug corrode.  One guy said that he lost his while
    doing
    70 on the expressway!  Another said that he lost the steering in only
    one direction!

    The fix is to simply clean the contacts. One guy recommended extending
    the overflow hose so that it exits below the plugs instead of on them.

    So, I cleaned the contacts on mine with a spray contact cleaner, and was
    back in business.  Some have recommended soldering the wires to the
    contacts, as they are only crimped, and may have corrosion there as
    well.  I just cleaned them. We'll see how long that lasts...so far
    so good.

    The plugs can be easily reached...they are under the tray (two bolts and
    two nuts to remove it) that is under the air cleaner box when it is
    removed (one hose clamp and a couple of hoses and plugs to disconnect to
    remove the air cleaner box).

    The two plugs are gray in color, near the front of the car, right under
    the radiator overflow hose...it points at them!  Took me less than 30
    minutes.

    Harley Dixon


    Thanks for the heads up Harley. I'll check my RX8 over flow hose today.
    --
    Paul Lamar ...No rotor no motor.

    I just checked mine. Somebody cut the hose off at about 4 inches
    over all
    length. Two inches below the 90 degree bend. Far from the electric power
    steering. I would think you would now have to worry about all the
    salt water
    on the roads up there. I would wrap it with electrical tape to keep out
    the salt water.

    --
    Paul Lamar ...No rotor no motor.

Ideally you could wrap it in Goretex or something water proof but vapor
permeable.  If you wrap it tightly it will never dry out (because it
_will_ get moisture in it), so mostly you just want to keep the spray
off - want it to be able to drain/vent.  Even potting in epoxy may
eventually allow corrosion if the design of the connector wasn't up to
par.  Coating the contacts in the connector with a water repelling
lubricant may also help.


Matt-

Spreading a little RTV around the plugs would also probably do the job.
But, it took 50k miles for mine to act up, so another 50k and the rest
of the car will probably be ready for the scrap heap!

The "corrosion"  actually wasn't even visible on the contacts...I
encountered situations like this on electrical plugs back in my control
system days.  They looked clean, but spraying contact cleaner (Cramolin
that I rescued from work when I retired) on them, made them function as
good as new.

Don't  have any Cramolin left, so I used some Radio Shack cleaner I had
sitting around...worked fine.

Harley

Never buy a used car from the northern states :)