2009~2013 High jump in RPMs when turning steering wheel

Hi everyone,

I'm experiencing a strange issue with my 2010 Mazda6 that is extremely unsettling on a day-to-day basis. When I'm at very low RPMs and foot off the gas my RPMs jump insanely high when turning the steering wheel causing me to panic brake. I have no idea what's going on.
  1. My regular RPMs when idling is around 700
  2. When I'm in Drive or Reverse with my foot off the gas, RPMs go up slightly to around 750 (normal expectation)
  3. But if I turn my steering wheel in either direction, very often the RPMs spike up to 1500 causing the car to jump. Although this NEVER happens if my steering wheel remains straightened out.
  4. For some reason this is more prominent when the car is on an incline (ie, hill, parking garage...etc)
  5. This has also occurred when I'm in Neutral as well and I start moving my steering around, spikes up to 1500
I understand that it is entirely normal for the ECU to increase RPMs a bit when turning the steering wheel, but not to this insane level. Anyone have any advice/suggestions for me? Thanks!
 
I wonder...Could it be related to the power steering pump/system?

Anyone familiar with this issue please chime in as well, thanks!
 
I think you need to get this one checked out with Mazda as revs do usually raise slightly when steering pump under load same as when you are stationary in “drive “ for instance but they should only be around 900 / 950 rpm max - could be your power steering pump beginning to fail or requiring service - steering action overloading it - what sort of mileage has your motor done?
 
Thanks guys. Looks life if I disconnect the power steering pressure switch, the issue disappears completely. I think my first step is to replace the power steering pressure sensor, for now I'm driving with it disconnected.

I'm at 140k miles right now.
 
That would be a logical thing to do - sensor is a relatively cheap against the whole unit and you might be lucky - if not you might find a reconditioned pump online at a reasonable cost as at 140 K it is still worth doing.

Let us know how it goes -
 
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