Steering Is Tight Problems of Ford C-max

For several months, at startup, power steering had a delay for a few seconds, then performed normally. Yesterday the power steering went out and stayed out. About 10 seconds into the failure, received an alert tone and a "service steering soon" message. Without power steering this car is much harder to steer than any car with power steering failure I have owned. I was able to drive it, but gingerly and with great effort. If this had happened on a highway it probably would not have been as bad, assisted somewhat by rolling of the wheels, but at higher speed I would additionally have to overcome the centripetal force of rotation. It would be most dangerous if it had failed in a turn. The dealership said the electronic power assisted steering module was shorting out and the entire system had to be replaced and reprogrammed. The repair cost is $2000.

See all problems of the 2013 Ford C-max 🔎.

This car has 57,500 miles and is inside the powertrain warranty period. The power assist steering felt sticky, not smooth like normal, so I took it in to the dealership. When almost there an error light came on saying there was a power steering issue. It cleared and nothing happened, then soon after a power steering fault message came on, but the performance was still sticky but functional. I pulled into the dealership lot and powered down, then back up to drive into the service bay. The power steering was non-operational at that point. The dealer service department states the steering rack needs to be replaced to fix this issue. They also state it is not covered under the powertrain warranty. This issue has been a recall on other Ford models, but not the C-max so far. This is a serious safety issue, and has occurred far too early in the lifetime of the vehicle for wear and tear. The first service interval for the steering is 60,000 miles and this car is not even there yet.

See all problems of the 2015 Ford C-max 🔎.