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| RX-8 Electric Power Steering Rack Swap into 1988 Chassis , Invisible! (Page 1/4) |
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anaverin
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OCT 05, 02:22 PM
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So, We have been using West coast fiero's Saturn vue power steering kit. As anyone who has done this swap knows, it kind of interfers with footroom. Given my Client 's is in his 70s, he has an even harder time getting in and out of the car. So we did some research and found that this 2007 Mazda RX8 EPS rack has the motor contained in the rack, and the rack is approx the same 24 inch length between the inner tie rods in the center.
We then made plastic pieces to mock up how we would make the brackets to hold it, and we came up with this design that we had waterjet just out of 1/4 steel.
I got the steel parts back from water jet and tacted them into place. You can see the old Bracket on the Driver side gets repurposed, and the passenger side one gets eliminated.
Here is what we have so far. I am going to explore controlling it with the Saturn EPS controller. Will update when i know more.
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86 SE FASTBACK T-TOPS
88 FORMULA 4.9
87 GT MEDIUM RED METALLIC stockish
EMAIL : Anaverin@gmail.com[This message has been edited by anaverin (edited 10-05-2020).]
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Spadesluck
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OCT 05, 04:45 PM
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Watching, looks very interesting.
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Rickady88GT
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OCT 05, 06:31 PM
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I love the idea of an electronic assist rack. If I do any more power steeing systems in a Fiero, I will look into an electric rack. I am not sure about the electronic controls of it tho.
I will keep an eye on this thread.
Thanks
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pmbrunelle
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OCT 05, 06:36 PM
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| quote | Originally posted by anaverin:
I am going to explore controlling it with the Saturn EPS controller. Will update when i know more. |
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If you have questions about that, I know a thing or two about EPS.
You can always post pics of the connectors and where they go, and we can attempt to figure things out.
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anaverin
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OCT 05, 09:34 PM
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I am just wondering if i can use the Torque sensors in the Mazda rack, (which i have all the factory service information for) and soder them into the saturn controller. Alternatively I could modify the mazda controller to work, but since we already have the saturn controller working, i would like to try that first. I am going to ohm out the sensors on the saturn rack, to see if they are similar to the 14 ohms of the mazda sensors.
Rest assured though, after spending money on getting waterjet cut parts, I will be figuring out a way to make this work!
thank you for your interest, i will try to upload the service manual stuff for the mazda in case you are curious. I have actually done more research then i was able to convey with the post.
If you have questions about that, I know a thing or two about EPS.
You can always post pics of the connectors and where they go, and we can attempt to figure things out.[This message has been edited by anaverin (edited 10-05-2020).]
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pmbrunelle
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OCT 05, 09:51 PM
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If the Mazda controller already normally works with the Mazda motor and the Mazda torque sensor, then it seems like it would be easier to work with the Mazda controller, but that's just my first impression.
To make the controller work, it needs to think it's in the Mazda. I think it would be easier to make the Mazda controller believe the lie that it lives in a Mazda. This would be telling it the proper lies via the CAN bus.
The other choice is to make the Saturn controller work with "major organ transplants"... the thing is that the Saturn controller can't reject its new friends!
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anaverin
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OCT 05, 10:15 PM
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| quote | Originally posted by pmbrunelle:
If the Mazda controller already normally works with the Mazda motor and the Mazda torque sensor, then it seems like it would be easier to work with the Mazda controller, but that's just my first impression.
To make the controller work, it needs to think it's in the Mazda. I think it would be easier to make the Mazda controller believe the lie that it lives in a Mazda. This would be telling it the proper lies via the CAN bus.
The other choice is to make the Saturn controller work with "major organ transplants"... the thing is that the Saturn controller can't reject its new friends! |
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I guess i am concerned about the mazda controller wanting to talk to the pcm via can bus. The Saturn controller has already been rigged to work via a dial that is nicely installed into the AUX pod. The owner would like to keep that if possible. As far as usability goes, the setup is amazing other then the motor intruding into the footspace and looking ugly. We will see how this goes. Anything is possible, but we will be working until the solution is satisfactory.
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anaverin
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OCT 06, 12:06 AM
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First tests are as follows:
Mazda RX8 TQ Sensor at rest =12 ohms
Saturn TQ Sensor at rest = 5 ohms
currently we use the PWR Steering at less then 50 % assist on the Dial. So being that 12/5= 2.2 maybe that means that we would get the same assist (assuming the motors draw equal power, which is a big if) at 110% on the dial. We will be doing some practical experiments this week but farther research indicates that it has proven very complex to replicate the Can signals needed to make the RX8 module work. so for now, we will be trying to make the saturn module (which is a Denso / KOYO product anyway ) work. will let you know how it goes.
 [This message has been edited by anaverin (edited 10-06-2020).]
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anaverin
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OCT 06, 03:08 AM
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Welded everything up, and painted it tonight.
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Will
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OCT 06, 08:45 AM
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Are you going to be checking for bump steer?
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