Power Steering Failure on brand new 2012 Focus

[FordCustomerService]

Originally Posted by NYCZPlan

This problem occurred again yesterday. I will be taking the car to a Ford dealer Wednesday for repairs.

NYCZPlan - Sorry to hear it happened again. Resend me your info and I'll escalate this.

Originally Posted by mike41stoller

"Steering Assist Fault Service Required" power steering seemed to shut off. Somewhat unbelievable...this is suppose to be our new reliable car. Taking it to dealer.

Hi mike41stoller,

Welcome to the forum! Please send me a private message with your VIN, contact information, mileage, & servicing dealer name/state so I can help.

Edited to add - Glad you were taken care of! Let me know if you have any questions.

~Natasha

[NYCZPlan]

Hello Mike Stoller,

The Ford dealer that has my car informs me that there is no software update available from Ford, so I am curious as to what software update was done to your vehicle. The dealer here will attempt to reproduce the issue, but that will probably be a waste of time, as they weren't able to last time they had the car for service. The issue occurs randomly.

When the power steering failed on your Focus, did turning off the car and staring it again restore the power steering? This is what occurred both times with my car.

Also, could you send me a private message with the name of the dealer who serviced your car(and phone if you have it). I'd like to speak with the technician who worked on your car. Maybe he has some information to share with the dealer that has my car.

[focus2k12]

Happened on my dad's focus, they replaced the steering module. This was a few months ago and he has had no issues since (knock on wood). Request that the steering module get replaced.

[NYCZPlan]

Thanks for the information. It would be good if they could pinpoint the cause of the problem, but otherwise replacing the steering module makes sense.

[FordCustomerService]

Originally Posted by NYCZPlan

The Ford dealer that has my car informs me that there is no software update available from Ford, so I am curious as to what software update was done to your vehicle. The dealer here will attempt to reproduce the issue, but that will probably be a waste of time, as they weren't able to last time they had the car for service. The issue occurs randomly.

Glad your CSM is working on your situation!

~Natasha

[mike41stoller]

It happened again today...not fixed. It did not do it for 6 days after taking it to the dealer, but, got same fault message today, and power steering was out.

[NYCZPlan]

Originally Posted by mike41stoller

It happened again today...not fixed. It did not do it for 6 days after taking it to the dealer, but, got same fault message today, and power steering was out.

Sorry to hear about that. My car is in the shop right now. I'm supposed to hear something tomorrow.

[NYCZPlan]

Update:

Ford was unable to find anything wrong with the car. Further, they aren't willing to do any work on the car until they can reproduce the issue. Since the power steering fails at random, Ford will not be able to duplicate a failure, hence will never attempt a repair. So I'm stuck.

I just noticed that Ford dropped 10 spots this year in the Consumer Reports reliability rankings. I can see why. Too bad I didn't read this before I purchased the vehicle.

[yl1]

NYCZ I would demand that they at least replace the Power Steering module control bd. You have an intermittent dangerous problem. They need to replace the board and see if the intermittent problem goes away. If it does not they can return your old board. i was a electronic copier tech for 33 years. I always trouble shot difficult electronic intermittent problems by trying a board swap. Electronics is electronics demand they try the board swap before someone gets hurt!!

[foci3]

The module and motor are part of the steering rack. Only replaceable as an assembly so they cannot just "replace the Power Steering module control"