general problems of the 2013 Ford C-max

Steering stopped working but after restarted it began to work again. It was fine for a few days and then dtc came up indicating "service power steering" and the power steering has quit working.

While driving car, power steering will fail and deactivate leaving the steering extremely heavy and manual. Can happen at any speed, and has happened on the interstate at highway speeds. Information cluster states, "power steering fault - service power steering immediately" when this happens it is highly unsafe and happens instantly without warning. Makes getting the car off the road and stopped safely very difficult and dangerous. Stopping the car, turning it off fully and restarting seems to clear the fault and makes the car power steering operate as normal again. But this has happened many times since owning the car and I can find no reason when or why it gets triggered. Online searches find many other owners of this car describing the exact same issue and they share the same concerns about it being unsafe.

Got a “power steering assist fault” message on the screen. It was very hard to steer the wheel. The case on the wheel was turning around it. Managed to drive 3 more miles to the dealership. A lot of other Ford models have same issues, even under 50. 000 miles. And many of the are in recall program, but not 2013 Ford C-max. Can’t afford 3. 400$ price for fixing it at the dealership. I’m a second owner, bought it for 5. 000 , 3 years ago. At least it didn’t stuck completely, and I didn’t die.

On the morning of 12/13/23 I got in my car to go to work. Upon starting my car the warning light for service power steering came on. I noticed the car was very hard to steer when existing my drive way. I drove the car back into my neighborhood to see if it was safe to drive in traffic. The steering was so tight and steering wheel would fight me wanting to return to center. With the fault code still present I went home and inspected the steering system and hooked up my scan tool to the obd port. I had a fault code of 3000-53 and 3000-49. The 3000-53 would not clear. I have found online other fford vehicles with recalls for the same steering system setup, but not on the Ford c max. If this had happened when I was driving on the road at a high rate of speed it would have caused a serious accident, as the steering was very unresponsive and actually fighting my input of direction.

I went to change lanes and all of a sudden the steering became difficult. I thought the car had lost power, but it was only the steering. The sudden loss came as a surprise and did cause me to loose control momentarily during the lane change. Shortly thereafter a warning light came on indicating the power steering needed to be serviced. I was able to arrive at my destination safely, but power steering was completely out. Upon restarting the car the problem went away. Returning home later that evening the problem returned about 5 miles into my trip. I returned home and shortly after brought the car to the auto parts store to see if there was a code on their scan tool. No codes, but this time when the car was started the warning light came on immediately and power steering has quit working 100% of the time.

I started the car and could not move the steering wheel without great great effort. “power steering failure” notice appeared on dashboard.

The contact owns a 2013 Ford C-max energi. The contact stated while driving approximately 30 mph, the steering wheel locked up. The contact stated that it was difficult to turn the steering wheel. The contact received help from her passenger to pull off the road. The contact stopped and turned off and restarted the vehicle and the power steering functionality returned. The contact stated no warning light was illuminated. The contact stated that the failure was intermittent. The contact stated that she had stopped driving the vehicle. The contact had not taken the vehicle to a local dealer or independent mechanic. The vehicle had not been diagnosed nor repaired. The manufacturer had not been informed of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 140,000.

Steering warning light came on after driving away from home. Power steering failed, no possible way to move steering wheel. Powered vehicle off. Next day, steering worked and took vehicle to Ford dealer. Upon inspection by dealer, the steering gear failed and needs to be replaced. Vehicle has less than 50,000 miles driven. In my opinion, this is a manufacturing issue that Ford needs to review and possibly recall. This could have been very serious had the failure occurred while I was driving the vehicle.

I started my car & put in reverse the service power steering light came on & my steering wheel locked so I put it back in park turned the car off waited a moment & started it again the problem stopped. I then got online to troubleshoot & see that there is many complaints about this happening but it worse situations when they were actually driving & almost had an accident due to not being able to steer the vehicle. Now I'm scared it will happen when I'm driving next time. This is a life threatening problem & the fact that its a know issue should be fixed by Ford at no charge or you will end up with class action lawsuits for putting peoples lives in danger !!!!!.

The message to service the power steering suddenly appeared and the steering wheel could not be rotated, when we were at our drive way. I felt to be very lucky for not being on the road when the loss of power steering occurred. After I turned off the engine and restarted the car one minute later, the power steering problem disappeared and I was able to drive the car again. About one week later, I sent the car to a Ford dealer for inspection. The test result showed the error code u300-49:08 and the internal electronic failure type. The dealer recommended replacing the steering gear at a cost of over $3000. We have just completed a 7-year service contract with the same dealer. Thus, the car should have been well maintained.

Was driving my 2013 Ford cmax and heard a noise in the front. I took it to the local belle tire and they replaced the upper inner front tirod. Still had issues and heard noise. Took it to a repair facility and they claimed they heard no noise. Two weeks later my steering assist warning light came on and I lost all steering capabilities. Luckily I was not injured. Ford has recalls for this same issue on other years and models. Due to the severity of this problem and possible casuality Ford should issue a recall for this part. I had to pay $2100. 00 to repair this problem.

After making a stop at a rest stop traveling from portland, or to the dalles, or, when we got back into the car and started it, a warning light came on saying “service power steering. See your dealer. ” from that point forward, we had no power steering and had to drive home that way. We know after doing research that Ford has a recall (15s18) for this exact problem but because there weren’t as many cmax vehicles sold, they did not include it. We had to drive home almost 60 miles at highway speed to get home.

As with many complaints listed in forums outside of the NHTSA my 2013 c max is experiencing the same steering issues that have been resolved in other Ford models under recall 15s18. The electric steering rack needs to be replaced at an approximate cost of $2,000. Issues are scraping and minor seizing steering intermittently when turning and progressively worsening. Currently noting noise when leaving turning the steering wheel. No issues driving straight, at this time. Many state their steering seizes completely and clearly I do not wish this to happen, particularly with kids in the car. I have no on board screen errors illuminating at this point and have valid fear of driving the vehicle. This car and others should be covered under the 15s18 recall and why others are complaining outside of NHTSA I don't know but this affects many more cars than listed in the original recall. I am requesting this vehicle be included in recall 15s18 before death occurs. This issue began in winter and has progressed. 40,000 miles on car.

Backed out of driveway to drive to a spot on the cul DE sac. Started to pull up to the curb and could not turn the wheel. Saw a light that said service power steering soon. No warning until power steering stopped completely. Got stopped just a couple of feet from the light post. Ford charged $2200. 00 to fix. Car has just over 50,000 miles.

My vehicle has approximately 105,000 miles on it. I got in my vehicle to leave and a red message appeared saying, "service power steering system". The steering wheel became very hard to turn left or right. In fact, I wasn't able to turn it at all. I shut off the car and then restarted it. It appeared to be working again and I drove it for an hour without any issue. When I returned home I looked on a few forums and this is a very common problem in the cmax and other Ford epas systems. A lot of people in the forums say it happened in the middle of them driving. Apparently this is a known issue for Ford. Because of what I read, I am scared to continue driving, but need the vehicle to get ot work. I want to get it fixed, but do not have the approximately $2000 it costs to do so. I do not want to risk my life or the lives of others. Ford, if this is happening in this model and in similar models, and you know about it, will you please cover the cost?.

While vehicle moving at ~15miles per hour in a left turn at a t intersection power steering turned violently the steering wheel to the right, without a possibility for me to keep it in my both hands. Rotation rate of the steering wheel was very rapid and required immediate and heavy braking so as not to hit parked vehicle on the outside of the turn. My wife described two other instance when it happened to her in her work parking lot where she lost control of the steering wheel and had to immediately slam the brakes to prevent the car from hitting another vehicle. This happened to her while turning to the right. This issue is new. We had the gear box changed at 75,000 miles and the 3 instances have happened since then. We are bringing the car back to the dealership for repair hoping they can fix this issue.

My car would not turn. A notification to check power steering appeared. I was parked and could not get out of the space because the wheels would not turn. There are multiple reports on line about the same issue with cmax cars. The repair will cost me $ 2,600 to fix.

I was pulling out of my drive way and turned my steering wheel when my car's power steering stopped working instantly and it became impossible to steer, there was also a message that displayed saying "service power steering". When I stopped an restarted the car, the message and steering were fine, however this repeated a few days later. When I took it to Ford to be serviced, they said it was 'probably a battery issue", which was replaced, however the next day, the same issues occurred.

Received warning "power steering requires service" while driving. Shortly after, we pulled over and turned off the engine for several minutes. Upon restarting the car the power steering was gone--almost impossible to turn the steering wheel and the message said "power steering fault". Our local dealer said this was not covered by warranty or recall. Research shows multiple recalls on 2013 Ford vehicles for this problem, but not for the cmax energi (perhaps because it's not a very popular car and there weren't enough sold to trigger the recall threshold).

Driving on highway when the steering wheel assist fault alert light showed up and the car start getting very hard to control. Took it to the auto shop and they found code c102d. They recommended replace the steering wheel rack. $2325.

The power steering was occasionally failing but after reading the manual I saw that Ford suggest DE powering the car and restarting it. After wrenching my back from driving with the power steering not working I started doing that. Then the power steering shut down completely. When I went in they wanted to charge me over $2000 to replace the steering rack. After doing some research I found that Ford had recalled similar models of that year range for a similar issue but hadn't recalled the cmax. The steering was nearly impossible to drive without the power steering and my car wasn't even at 100,000 miles. I also had been taking the car in regularly to the dealership for checks and repairs and no one indicated this might be a concern.

Light came on saying service power steering. Almost impossible to steer it. Was told by the Ford dealer it is a $2,000. 00 fix. Research showed me that othere models have had the same problem and were listed as a recall but there isn't enough docomentation yet on the C-max's to warrant including them. At 55,000 miles that seems very early to have this kind of problem. We love our C-max but this is a definite concern when your on social security 2,000 is a big expense for a fox at 50 somr thousand miles. Respectfully sumitted. [ any help would be appreciated] tim oliver.

Power steering computer module went out while backing out of parking spot. Luckily no cars were parked next to me and nobody was walking in the lot as I lost control of the steering. This car has 40,000 miles on it. This also happened after driving less than 100 miles after having the transmission and front axle replaced.

Out of nowhere, the car pops up a message to service power steering. After turning the car off and on again, the message disappears. I drove 1 day with the steering as normal, and then the next day the electric assisted power steering stops and it is extremely difficult to steer. It's almost like the car decides each time you start it if there is a steering problem and then gives or doesnt give electric power steering at your start of trip. Its frustrating that other models of Ford with this same steering system have recalls, but this lower sales quantity C-max gets ignored.

The contact owns a 2013 Ford C-max hybrid. While the vehicle was stationary, the battery saver warning indicator turned off and the following message displayed across the instrument panel: "911 assist is disabled, contact dealer". Immediately afterwards, the shifter indicator displayed on the instrument panel. The contact turned the key in the ignition, but the motor did not indicate that it was ready to drive until approximately one minute later. The contact placed the shifter into reverse and attempted to reverse, but a sudden loss of power steering occurred. The contact placed the vehicle in the drive gear and depressed the accelerator pedal in an attempt to stop the vehicle; however, the vehicle accelerated beyond 35 mph. The contact attempted to stop the vehicle by depressing the brake pedal, but the vehicle would not stop. The contact was able to drive the vehicle to bob moore Ford (8948 s I-35 service rd, oklahoma city, oklahoma 73159) where it was diagnosed that the inner cell of the battery was faulty and needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failures. The failure mileage was approximately 73,000.

Unable to drive care due to sudden loss of power steering (happened when parked for just a few minutes -- went in building to pick up son from daycare, came out and no power steering when I restarted car). This has apparently been a problem on other Ford models of the same year and there are recalls for those, but not for the C-max. Unsure if this could happen while driving, but it could be catastrophic if it did. Car has 52000 miles and has been dealer maintained.

For the past couple months the steering sounded like it needed lubrication, but I couldn't find any lubrication points everything is sealed, then the other day while my wife was driving the steering went out and a warning message appeared service power steering assist now and the steering wheel locked up ( it would only go straight not right or left) luckily she was going into a turn with a turn out next to it so she could get it stopped. She re started the car and had manual steering and got the car home. Later I started it got that message and an advance trac warning and couldn't turn the steering wheel after moving forward and backward a few times and restarting the car several times I was able to drive it to my mechanic who experienced the same problems and suggested we take it to a Ford dealership. So we loaded it on a car dolly and towed it 60 miles to the nearest dealership and recommended a $2400. Repair replacing the power steering assembly the car has around 75000 miles on it and is only 4 years old. I have read online that Ford has had recalls for the power steering assembly for 2013 car but not the C-max. Please help before someone dies.

2013 cmax should be included in the 2014 cmax steering box recall. Same issue is happenig. . . Loss of power steering, hard to control at times, car wobbles when switching lanes.

Steering has been hard to control. Problem started when switching lanes - we noticed a wobble when going from one lane to another. Turning the wheel at low speeds you can clearly hear grinding / slipping in the steering components. Feedback to the wheels has been increasingly more jerky. Today, power steering completely went out. This appears to be a problem many are having with many complaints on this website and others. Ford should cover this issue as a recall because losing steering control on the highway would be extremely dangerous to owners of the 2014 C-max as well as others on the road.

The contact owned a 2013 Ford C-max. While driving 60 mph, the service advance track indicator illuminated and the steering wheel became inoperable. The vehicle crashed into a divider. The air bags deployed. A police report was filed. The vehicle was destroyed and towed. The contact sustained injuries to the left knee and lower back, and burns to the forearm. The passenger sustained a sprained left ankle and wrist, and burns to the right side of the body. Medical attention was required. The manufacturer was not notified of the failure. The failure mileage and VIN were unknown.

Driving on the interstate freeway at night. A light warning of power steering problem came on. Exited and went to a truck stop. Restarted car but the power steering didn't work. Very difficult to steer. Had to have car towed. There was no apparent cause.