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Power Steering Assist Failure

3K views 6 replies 3 participants last post by  sailor 
#1 ·
Got this message while stopped last night and did indeed lose the power steering. 45k miles. Drivable, just. This morning, problem resolved, system check normal. Going to dealer next week.

This problem, aside from being a $2k fix that may or may not work, is common enough for someone to have filed for a class action in CA and Ford does not seem to want to budge on recalls or out of warranty coverage...yet.

So, has anyone else experienced this. I'm surprised I'm not getting any hits when searching here and, be forewarned, this is happening to folks at speed.
 
#4 ·
I very much appreciate your prompt response. I'm at the dealer just now. There is no stored code on this issue (which I find odd in and of itself), they followed a procedure to try and replicate the conditions and prompt another failure, it did not happen again. I myself have put 400 plus miles on the car since the problem occurred, also without any problems.

At this point we can only hope it doesn't happen again and at least the problem has been documented in case the engineers are analyzing statistics. I understand the imperative of moving toward these types of systems but with something as fundamental as steering there should be more of a built in fail-safe in the case of anomolous readings from sensors. What would happen in the case of the newer drive-by-wire systems where the physical linkages are gone entirely?
 
#5 ·
Codes will not save once the engine is off; I'm not a technician, so your dealer will be in the best place to explain that. Regarding your question at the end, since I'm not a tech, I have no information on that. Should the concern come back, I encourage you to head to your dealer. Also, please let me know so I can look into some options.

Meagan
 
#6 ·
Codes most certainly do save once the engine is off, that is the entire reason OBD (On Board Diagnostics) was developed in the first place. Just try to get an emmisions pass with an active code. In fact the tech found an old one concerning the Sync system that had not caused a noticible problem and also thought it odd no code was stored on the steering fault. Nothing more to do on this end unless and until there is a reoccurrence.
 
#7 ·
As Meagan mentions, she's not a tech. & doesn't try to get into technical explanations.

Not every fault/failure sets a "code", and from empirical evidence of problems reported here alone not every "MIL" triggering event sets a stored one either.

Some faults continue & are detectable while the system stays powered on, and disappear once it's shut down. That's the type I assume Meagan was referring to when mentioning "codes won't save once the engine is off" as opposed to a general comment on ALL possible codes.

Every stored code is for a particular forseen event, with definite parameters/tests required to save it as pending, active or inactive. Other faults can be detected with diagnostic tools (computer for one) hookup only while they're active.

I share your concern about steer by wire systems, so far there seems to be enough pressure not to remove mechanical backup entirely that I haven't seen one without backup put into use in cars.
 
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