blue66 Posted December 9, 2012 Report Share Posted December 9, 2012 Has anyone else experience this? While driving, Service Power Steering red light comes on. Then when you stop and start the car again you get a yellow light stating Power Steering Assist Fault. This happened twice now, had to get it reset at the dealer's the first time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shaners Posted December 10, 2012 Report Share Posted December 10, 2012 Someone here has had problems with their power steering (amongst other things) when they backed up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurel Posted December 10, 2012 Report Share Posted December 10, 2012 ctford had the power steering issue, and I think someone else on the forum. You might want to pm ctford and ask what the fix was. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rfruth Posted December 10, 2012 Report Share Posted December 10, 2012 Wonder if the Fusion & C-Max use the same EAPS (Electric Power Assist Steering) system ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kayla349 Posted June 3, 2013 Report Share Posted June 3, 2013 My power steering went out on me 500 miles from home. The entire power steering rack had to be replaced. Ford was less that cooperative about it having ruined my vacation. Even had to pay out of pocket to fly back down there and then drive home AGAIN. They claim they will reimburse me for that flight and one night hotel stay, but it hasn't happened yet. MANUFACTURER DEFECT. I'm very upset about the whole thing. Don't get stranded somewhere. Make your dealership check this out if your light is coming on. Mine flashed once with the red light about an hour from my destination. Once I arrived and turned the car off, the yellow "Power Steering Assist Fault" yellow light came on and the car was undriveable at that point. MadMaXX 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
METROMAN Posted June 4, 2013 Report Share Posted June 4, 2013 That stinks. Sorry your vacation was ruined. Hopefully they'll take care of you soon. SOMD 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gatormax Posted June 8, 2013 Report Share Posted June 8, 2013 My power steering went out on me 450 miles from home, 1250 miles on my Cmax. Luckily, it failed near a great Ford dealer in Houston, Tx. It took 4 days to I the problem and to get the new part. The entire power steering rack had to be replaced.Mine flashed once with the red light about an hour from my destination. I pulled off the freeway and turned the car off, the yellow "Power Steering Assist Fault" yellow light came on and the car was undriveable at that point. Called Ford and they sent a tow truck and got me a rental car. It was my vacation as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurel Posted June 8, 2013 Report Share Posted June 8, 2013 Sorry to hear this gatormax, but thanks for letting us know. Something else to worry about. We seem to be in a phase of woes on the forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulieB Posted June 25, 2013 Report Share Posted June 25, 2013 Gee, this happened near Houston for me, too. I was going down I-45 Friday and got the same set of errors described in the original post. Fortunately, we were able to pull off in The Woodlands and found a safe, cool place to wait while the roadside assistance folks lost my ticket. Twice. The car should be ready tomorrow, and I'll go down and pick it up on Wednesday. The part was the "steering gear assembly." Sounds expensive, and I'm glad it's under warranty. Ford did cover a rental, though it was a very basic car and it was a squeeze getting three people and all of our luggage inside. I think the car is powered by a pair of hamsters. Two, you say? I think only one hamster might be against animal cruelty laws. ;-) The dealer in Conroe has been great so far. I finally called them after over an hour to expedite the ticket. Roadside assistance took all of my info, found my location via my phone GPS, and said they'd call back or send me a text in 10 minutes or so. Nothing. So I waited almost an hour (it was Friday afternoon and I expected things would be busy) and called back. The automated system picked up on my number and asked me if I wanted to restart the ticket that was on hold. Whisky Tango Foxtrot? Well, YES. The automated system said someone would call or text me in ten minutes. Nothing. So I called the local Ford dealer. One of my passengers was disabled, and we really needed to get back on the road. Someone gave the tow truck driver the wrong address, but fortunately it was within walking distance, so I walked over and directed the driver to the car. Once I got to the dealer, they got me in a rental car quickly and got me back on the road so I could go back and get my passengers and continue with our trip. I have another trip this weekend. Nervous? Yes. First time? Oh, I've been nervous lots of times. ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurel Posted June 25, 2013 Report Share Posted June 25, 2013 Sorry to read about your troubles Julie. You sound calm cool and collected over the issue. Good for you to keep your chin up like you have done. I hope everything works out well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulieB Posted June 27, 2013 Report Share Posted June 27, 2013 The dealer says it should be ready sometime today.I do hope to get the car back. This hamster-powered rental is giving me fits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erwhitham Posted June 27, 2013 Report Share Posted June 27, 2013 Good luck all of you. What a worry that I hope is alleviated soon and satisfactorily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jus-A-CMax Posted June 27, 2013 Report Share Posted June 27, 2013 (edited) Oh crap, sorry to hear about these issues. Any chance if people with issues can update us with their build dates? Hope yhis doesn't turn out like the dead batts issue, fingers crossed... Edited June 27, 2013 by Jus-A-CMax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulieB Posted June 28, 2013 Report Share Posted June 28, 2013 Got the car back today. No charge. The car no longer steers like a cow. ;-) While they had it in the shop they offered to update to MFT 3.5.1. The touchscreen is totally messed up. While the displays are correct, the touch area is upside-down and backwards from what it should be. Made pairing my phone a real adventure. I've documented this in the 3.5.1 thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xanotos Posted June 28, 2013 Report Share Posted June 28, 2013 Got the car back today. No charge. The car no longer steers like a cow. ;-) While they had it in the shop they offered to update to MFT 3.5.1. The touchscreen is totally messed up. While the displays are correct, the touch area is upside-down and backwards from what it should be. Made pairing my phone a real adventure. I've documented this in the 3.5.1 thread.Hey JulieB, had the same problem when dealership updated me to 3.5.1 and just went to the diagnostic screen to fix it.Copied this from another site that worked for me: - Make sure there is no CD in the system- Set MFT to AM/FM- Press and hold the eject button and... - Immediately after press and hold the right arrow on the center wheel while still holding the eject button- Hold both buttons pressed for about 12 seconds- Screen goes black and MFT enters diagnostics mode Only hard thing to do is remember that your up is down and right is left. So if you need to click on a button on the top left, you need to touch the bottom right.Once you go to the diagnostic mode, I think the calibration section is found on the first button on the top left and then you should see the calibration button on the 2nd screen on the top right. Hope this helps!!!! PWBarrett, JulieB and JAZ 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PWBarrett Posted July 1, 2013 Report Share Posted July 1, 2013 Wow - that worked like a champ - it's fine now!The only strange part was at the end, it said press Enter to save or Esc to cancel. Finally tried just tapping the screen, which worked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JulieB Posted July 1, 2013 Report Share Posted July 1, 2013 Thank you, xanotos! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fastscot Posted July 12, 2014 Report Share Posted July 12, 2014 (edited) 2013 c max sel Happened to me on a road trip from Vegas to Park City, Utah. Dealer in Pk City is replacing the rack. Fault code was c102d excessive friction in steering rack. Here is how the steering assist system works - if a fault develops you will get a steering assist service message. The pwr steering will still work. On the next key cycle, I.e. Switch off and on again, the pwr assist will be disabled. Your best option is to keep driving to the nearest Ford dealer without switching off. The car can be driven without pwr assist but it takes a fair amount of strength to steer at low speed. Women may find that bit too challenging. Edited July 14, 2014 by fastscot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockwallRick Posted January 7, 2016 Report Share Posted January 7, 2016 We recently took our first Road Trip in the C-Max. I pulled into a Rest Stop about 150 miles away from home. When I tried to back up, it felt like the Car died. It didn't but the Power Steering Check warning was on! From that point on we had NO power steering and it was on a Sunday so there were no dealerships open. We were on our way up to my Wife's Sisters house in the Florida Panhandle so I ended up driving the last 300 miles without Power steering!! The next day I dropped off the Car at Gary Smith Ford in Fort Walton Beach. Later on that day we were told that the Power Steering Rack needed to be replaced and they would have to order the part. We got the car back Wednesday morning and headed back to our house in Lake Wales. On the way back we detected something rattling underneath the car! On Thursday, New Years Eve we dropped the car off at Weikort Ford in Lake Wales. The Service guy at Weikort said it sounded like a wheel getting ready to come off! Turned out it was some bracket that was loose, probably as a result of the Rack replacement. Needless to say I am NOT happy with Ford right now!!! This car only has 17k miles on it!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadMaXX Posted January 4, 2017 Report Share Posted January 4, 2017 (edited) To me, it also sounds like the power system in some Fords was designed improperly. With around 20.000 miles, I had to replace the fuel pump and completely change steering fluid and filter there (https://www.carid.com/power-steering-pumps/). I must say, noone needs these extra expenses, especially when many people seem to have similar issues. Moreover, when they refused to warranty the pump, I simply ordered a new aftermarket one to save at least a bit on the repair... Edited January 5, 2017 by MadMaXX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hatchman Posted March 12, 2019 Report Share Posted March 12, 2019 My Cmax has had the red power assist light come on twice. Both times I have been able to reset by turning off the ignition and turning it back on. I'm afraid the rack is about to go out and cost $1800 to replace. Any updates on this? Anyone have Ford cover a 2013 Cmax under warranty? Thanks for the info! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jestevens Posted March 14, 2019 Report Share Posted March 14, 2019 My HHR had this problem - Chevy had a bad batch of electric power steering motors from Delco - there was a recall for Cobalt and HHR in Canada but not for HHR in US. Eventually they did cover the cost of new power steering motor but then shortly thereafter thermostat stuck open in car and the cost to replace thermostat was curiously about the same as cost to replace power steering motor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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