2013 Honda Civic: loss of power steering

Filed Jul 26, 2022 · Steering · CA

Electric Power Steering assist occasionally does not work when car is driving under a low speed, making the turning very diffcult.

Filed Mar 18, 2021 · Steering · 98,000 miles · CA

Two lights on my dash came on , one light is for electronic power steering and the other is for vehicle stability assist. These lights came on randomly while driving at less than 15 miles per hour pulling away from a curb. As a result, my power steering became heavy, although it still functions. Vehicle stability control is no longer usable. Further inspection from a code reader shows that these lights came on as a result of a ground to body short.

Filed Nov 9, 2020 · Steering · 79,490 miles · TX

Turned on vehicle, put in reverse backed out of the driveway and electric power steering failed suddenly. Wheel was tight and shaky. The power steering warning message and icon only appeared as failure occurred. I put car in park and turned off vehicle. Turned vehicle back on, power steering warning message was gone but icon was still there. I put gear in drive, wheel still tight and shaky and drove foward back into the driveway. Had it towed to mechanics, they said I need electronic power steering unit. I then drove it to dealership to get their diagnosis.

Filed Apr 9, 2018 · Brakes, Steering · 43,000 miles · CA · crash

I purchased a used 2013 civic sedan from a private seller on march 23rd 2018. The day I bought it, as I was pulling out of the parking lot of the credit union where I met the seller the power steering failed. A yellow warning light that looks like a steering wheel with an exclamation point came on on the dash, and it was very difficult to steer the vehicle. I put it in park, hit the hazards and turned the vehicle off for fear of hitting someone. I contacted the sellers and they came back. We discussed having it towed to the shop, and the previous owner got in it, to re-park it somewhere more out of the way while we waited for aaa. At this time, the car started up fine, no warning light was present and he was able to safely drive it into a parking spot. He suggested that he just drive it to the shop, and I ride over there with his wife. So we did, and they hooked it up to the computer at the shop, and informed me that it didn't throw any codes, and that "the computer doesn't lie" they told me that since it drove over there fine, to just take it home, and don't worry about it. So I did, and I drove it around for a couple weeks until on the 5th of april, again pulling out of a parking space it happened again, yellow steering wheel light and all. Except this time the brakes failed too. Not only could I not steer, I could not stop. I ended up dragging the front end over a flowerbed with a curb, and ripping off the bumper. The car was under warranty and is now at a honda dealership awaiting repairs pending processing of warranty paperwork. Thankfully nobody was hurt in either of these incidents, but it could've easily been different. These power steering failures are know to, and were investigated by the federal safety agency in 2013. No recall was issued. I know that this has happened to other people. I believe that this is a serious safety issue and a recall should be reconsidered.

Filed Dec 15, 2017 · Brakes, Engine · 50,000 miles · UT

I was making a left hand u-turn in the city on main street when in the middle of my turn my dash lights turned off my brakes wouldn't work and I lost power steering and acceleration. It felt like the car turned off. Lucky there was nobody coming the other way because I was stopped in the middle of the road and could not accelerate. Once I was at a complete stop in the middle of oncoming traffic the dash lights turned back on and I was able to accelerate. However when I was trying to park to check the car, any slight movement of the steering wheel would make my headlights almost turn off because it was like it was drawing a lot of extra power for some reason to turn the steering wheel. I then parked for about 20 minutes and turned the car back on with no problem. I went to a parking lot to see if I could re-create what happened but I could not. I went home and read a bunch of complaints with this same problem with nobody having a solution. So I have not taken my car to the dealership because I feel like I will get the same answer. Which is we don't see anything wrong and we cannot re-create the situation.

Filed Jul 22, 2015 · Driver assistance, Steering · 49,526 miles · NY

I was driving 5 minutes away from my home around a 30 mile an hour gradual bend. I suddenly had no power steering losing control momentarily ,I slowed down immediately trying to regain control of the vehicle while just missing going into the woods and almost creating an accident behind me. The check power steering assembly lights were flashing on the information board .this is extremely dangerous and unacceptable .my wife and daughter drive the car often and I'm not too sure the outcome would have been as good as mine and this truly scares me.this is my 6th honda ,I purchase all my car is new, and I've never have a problem like this before!

Filed Sep 26, 2014 · Engine · 8,000 miles · WA

Was driving on the highway at 55-60 MPH. Wanted to press "hazard warning button" and by accident pressed the "engine start/stop button". Because "hazard warning lights" did not start flashing I automatically pressed the "engine start/stop button" second time - the engine turned off. Since engine was off brakes stopped working and power steering stopped working as well. There is no way to turn engine on while car was moving - as you can do it only when the transmission on "p" (parking) - and you cannot switch transmission into "p" (mode) when car is moving at 60 mpg. By luck I was able to pull car over without accident. I understand that maybe I was stupid and that is my mistake that by accident I pressed a wrong button, however, there should be no way the engine can go off while car is moving under any conditions and any drivers actions because it directly may leads to a crash which could be avoid only by a luck. I consider it is as extremely serious safety issue which should be immediately investigated and fixed.

Filed Jun 12, 2014 · Steering · MO

2013 honda civic. Consumer writes in regards to vehicle power steering. *smd the consumer stated while driving, the power steering light illuminated. The power steering went out completely, and it was very difficult to drive the vehicle. When her husband arrived, the power steering was functioning properly. As her husband was driving, to the dealer, the power steering went out again. When he arrived at the dealer, the power steering light illuminated again. The dealer acknowledged there was a problem. The dealer had the vehicle for six days, where they replaced the rack and pinion. The dealer assured the consumer, they shouldn't have another problem. However, the consumer experienced power steering failure again. The vehicle was towed to the dealer. However, an inspection did not reveal any problems. The dealer called the consumer back and stated they believed they found the problem. They indicated the wiring going to the power steering system shorted out. The dealer stated the factory had not soldered the wires together and the wiring punctured through the skin and shorted out causing the power steering to out. The dealer re-wired and re-soldered the connection.

Filed Feb 4, 2014 · Electrical, Steering · 12,790 miles · CA

While driving on the freeway at 72 miles an hour my car all of a sudden lost power. The dash went completely black and my engine shut off. My steering was extremely stiff with limited range of movement, I feel the power steering shut down. I was able to drift into the open lane next to me and brake to a stop on the shoulder of the road. I attempted to restart my car and it started on the first attempt. Continued to drive to my destination with no further trouble. I took it to the closest dealership a few hours later, they were unable to find any reason for the car shutting off while I was traveling down the freeway. They checked the cars computer and found no codes stored. They test drove were unable to duplicate the problem I had. They checked the battery and battery cables he noted they checked "ok". The tech noted he placed the "board on snapshot to stall". Noting in case this problem occurs again they will have data to aid in diagnosis. They performed a software update hoping it helps to fix the problem. Im not very comfortable driving my car now! Very frightening experience!! I would hope honda can find a resolution to this problem before someone's loved one is injured or injures another in an accident due to the danger of the situation!

Filed Sep 21, 2013 · Brakes, Steering · 35 miles · CA

Purchased a 2013 honda civic on 08/31/13. On 09/02/13 car had to be towed back to culver city dealership. While pulling away from curb wheel felt heavy and the console lit up with red, organ and yellow lights, indicating that the power steering and breaks needed to be checked and low oil pressure. My son and I were going down hill and picking up speed with no power steering or breaks. He continued to pump the breaks but there was no response, he finally pulled the emergency break and turned the wheel extremely hard into the curb. Came three feet from hitting a parked bmw.