2013 Ford C-Max: sudden loss of power

Filed Mar 23, 2023 · Steering · FL

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.

Filed Jan 1, 2022 · Steering · WA

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.

Filed Sep 14, 2021 · Transmission · MO

While my son was driving his / my 2013 C-Max Energi (on gasoline, the "battery only" range had been depleted), the vehicle lost power and shut down completely, and could only be coasted to the side of the road and not restarted or moved. Fortunately it was not on the highway at the time. The CEL was on, and unfortunately I do not still have the 3 codes which appeared, however the three codes were all for systems in the hybrid propulsion. When I did a google search on the three codes together, for the C-Max, I located a service bulletin from Ford showing that there are two low voltage wires which were improperly routed and insulated, in the back of the car behind the rear seat and under the steel cover over the Energi additional battery. Since the vehicle is a 2103, I had it brought to my home rather than the dealer, and I was able to remove the rear seat, rear carpet, rear seat belts, side panels and battery cover to get to the defective wiring. The "Ford Fix" involved replacing part of the wiring harness and rerouting the new harness, but with about 4 hours of my own labor, I was able to disassemble the rear interior of the vehicle, insulate the 2 defective wires and zip tie to another harness next to them so that they would not rub the steel housing over the Energi additional battery again. After thinking about this, after the fact, I realized that this should absolutely be a recall by Ford. **** Ford knows of the problem, Ford issued a Service Bulletin for the repair, and most importantly, the issue is incredibly unsafe because when the vehicle stops, it will only coast to a stop wherever it is, whether it is on a parking lot of the fast lane on the interstate, and cannot be moved under its own power. ****.

Filed Apr 4, 2021 · Acceleration, Brakes · 76,600 miles · PA

Turned the car on in a parking lot and saw the check engine light was on. Had totally lost power steering and acceleration, and braking was extremely difficult. Rolled down the parking lot and was able to stop the car with the parking brake and turn it off. Turned it back on and the power steering and brakes and accelerator were back. Drove the car home and tried turning it on and off a few more times. Power steering seems to be completely gone. Check engine light is on.

Filed Nov 14, 2020 · Electrical, Engine · 71,114 miles · MO

I was driving on the highway and the car stalled. Warning light came on that says, stop safely now. The car completely lost power on the highway. I was lucky because that put me in a dangerous situation. Finally got it towed to the dealership and module-engine control. Pcm get too hot and the ignition switch. The car has been in at the dealership since 10.14.20 and has not been fixed and there still is not eta. Part is on backorder. This car has been tag a lemon and it should not be able to be sold. I didn't know this prior to purchasing the vehicle.

Filed Aug 11, 2019 · Electrical · 58,000 miles · CT

Purchased 2013 cmax used from a car dealer with 39,000 miles on it in 2018. Been driving it for 1.5 years- now has 58,000 miles.. Suddenly warning red triangle appeared with audio alert to stop the car immediately. I was driving on I-95 in the middle lane at 60 MPH. Could feel the car had lost power, able to get to breakdown lane and had the car towed-to dealership. They found "nothing wrong." car returned to me- second incident 3 days later, while turning into shopping center, again, felt the car lose power, red triangle/warning. Stalled in lot- it was a sunday. Turned the car off- when I turned it back on engine warning light was on .I called the ford dealership, and spoke to a sales person who told me it was safe to attempt to drive the car- able to drive it home ( slowly)- then to dealers the next day- warning light still on. Dealership unable to find the root cause of the problem and ford giving limited support to the dealership. Car still in the shop x 1 week- service advisor states it would not be safe for me to take the car until they find the cause because it could do it again at any time. *tt consumer stated she would like complaint to be deleted. The ford fixed the problem, it was a wiring shortage in the wiring harness.

Filed Dec 3, 2018 · Engine, Transmission · 180,000 miles · CA

I was driving on the freeway and all of the sudden my car lost power and a "stop safetly now" warning popped up on my speedometer. I managed to get to side of the freeway and stopped the car. I looking online for a solution and I read that I can turn on and off the car a couple times and that will fix it. I read there was the same issue with the ford focus electric vehicles and there was a recall to replace a defective part. The ford c-max has the same issue but was never issued a recall. This is a very dangerous issue since it has happened twice while on the freeway and I have a sudden loss of power and acceleration. Ford should issue the recall to the c-max as for the "stop safetly now" issue on their electric vehicles.

Filed Aug 27, 2018 · Steering · 49,315 miles · MI

Before 50,000 miles steering went from intermittently having no power to continuously having no power. Usually power steering is absent at start-up. Vehicle displays "service power steering" message. Obd2/can throws a pscm - power steering control module u3000 cm control module code. Steering would occasionally not work under warranty - asked at ford if there were steering recalls and told there were none. I did not escalate because turning off the car one or more times would reset. Now that the car is outside of warranty, no action I can take, (such as restarting the car or clearing the error code) will reset the steering. Steering effort is much higher than any non-power steering car or old truck I have ever driven. The failed pscm (power steering control module) does not appear to exist as a stand-alone part. Ford tells me ~$700-$800 if steering column, or $2300 if rack and pinion need replaced. Hours spent searching for the part to do my own repairs has not given me a single part number that relates to the specific problem. This all seems to be part of fords trouble prone and hugely expensive epas (electronic power assisted steering) system. Epas has had recalls in more popular ford models, such as recall 15s18 beginning july 20, 2015. I suspect low production quantity cars such as the hybrid c-max likely have a similar failure rate, but it isn't noticeable due to the much lower quantity produced. Ford refuses to acknowledge the same flawed system on multiple models deserves the same fix. While I never lost power steering while driving, it would be catastrophic for small/weak drivers or those wha have never driven a vehicle without power steering. I've driven both cars without power steering and with failed power steering, but I have never had to use the level of effort it takes to steer the epas system whene it shuts down.

Filed Dec 1, 2017 · Steering · 52,000 miles · TX

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.

Filed Aug 11, 2017 · Electrical · 48,000 miles · FL

I have had a continual problem with my car battery going dead. It happens randomly every 4 or 5 months. I use my car every day, the battery drains overnight. The battery tests fine at the ford dealer. This last time the battery died, we trickle charged it and after gaining back power noticed we lost all power functions to all doors on our vehicle. After a week of diagnosis at the ford dealer it was determined that two of the door modules went out at the same time. Ford ordered new modules and one came to them defective. I have to go in yet again next week to have them change out that module for lack of the auto up feature. I think ford has a problem with these modules, I think they are causing the battery to drain overnight, and leading to expensive diagnostic/repairs bills at the vehicle owners expense. This issue is not caused by a vehicle owner, this is faulty parts from ford. I am not confident that the new oem parts will last long, this problem needs to be corrected. My 2013 ford cmax only has 48k miles and is taken care of and maintained regularly.

Filed Apr 4, 2017 · Steering · 50,000 miles · AR

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.

Filed Apr 7, 2015 · Acceleration, Brakes · 60,000 miles · NC

While driving on the highway, a warning light came on instructing me to pull over to the side of the road and stop. When I did pulled over, I set the gearshift in "park" mode, and turned off the car. I restarted the car and didn't have any more problems that day. Subsequently, I noticed that while driving down the road the engine ( both electric and gasoline) shut off suddenly and I lost all power momentarily, then turned on as if nothing was wrong. The car has been doing this more and more frequently lately and I discovered that when I position the gearshift just past the drive mode, the problem stops. In other words, when the gear shift is set just past park, the car never loses power. When I took the car in for repair in january 2015, I was told that the gearshift was not covered by the warranty and furthermore the part is not available until the beginning of march (it's on backorder).