2016 Tesla Model S: loss of power steering

Filed Oct 8, 2026 · Steering, Suspension · MN

Rear left control arm failed while driving causing loss of steering and suspension

Filed Feb 22, 2025 · Steering · CA

While driving on the highway at maximum speed limit, I had a series of error messages that covered the complete screen. At the same time, my MPH dropped to zero although I was traveling probably 70 miles per hour. I had no control over the vehicle, no steering, I had no brakes. There was no way to control the car. Fortunately, I was traveling in a low populated area of the [XXX] between Los Angeles and Las Vegas in the far right lane, as I was preparing to exit less than a mile to a Super Charger Station. I was able to get off that exit but since the odometer had a 0 reading, I had no idea what speed I was still traveling at. When I reached the end of the freeway exit, I was unable to stop the vehicle at the stop sign, running it while attempting with all of my strength to veer to the right on to a desolate road. The only thing that saved the car from running the stop sign at what I can only guess would have been 60 mph was a slight incline in the off ramp which slowed the car to about half that when I managed to make the turn. From there, I coasted to a rolling stop about 200 ft from exit, half on shoulder, half stilI on road. I was not able to put the car in park nor see what gear the car was in due to the flashing warnings blocking the display screen. I could not use the hazard lights, the gear shift, power off, open glove box, turn off display, open trunk, as if it was in D. Once exited, no way to get back in the car. Tesla ER Service only able to tow next A.M. to nearest S C, 85 miles at my expense. Sat in car as getting dark, cold along desolate road with no services, until my ride could get me over 4 hrs or stay in car overnight with temps of 20°. After 2 days at Tesla, told steering rack failed, $4,900. Any other time, I would have plowed into the car in front of me at 70mph with no way to stop or steer away. Only prevented by the empty freeway I just happened to be traveling. Tesla claims to have no idea why this part failed at this low mileage. INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMAT

Filed Feb 13, 2024 · Steering · CA

Power steering failed suddenly and without any alert on the dashboard. I called Tesla support & they said this is a known problem for which the immediate but only short term fix is to fully power off the car, wait at least 2 minutes & then restart the car. They advised me to do this and then drive the car to a Tesla service center for analysis and repair.

Filed Aug 1, 2021 · Steering · NY

Steering became progressively stiffer over the course of a few days as the steering wheel turned to about 15 degrees. Turning the wheels became erratic, almost causing me to lose control on the highway when changing lanes and entering or exiting the freeway. It felt like there was no power steering. I felt it was unsafe to drive and putting me and others at risk of an accident. I had the car towed to the Tesla dealership and the STEERING I-SHAFT LINK LOWER (1060802-00-B) was replaced. It was completely rusted and stiff. There was no evidence of any lubricant on it. The dealership told me that this was a known issue and said they had replaced it with an improved part that would not fail again. A search for "STEERING I-SHAFT LINK" on the Tesla Motors Club forum (Teslamotorsclub.com) reveals that numerous other Model S cars have had the same problem.

Filed May 25, 2021 · Steering · CA

Update to complaint # 11418220 May 22nd 2021: I stopped the vehicle to make a turn. The steering wheel locked up and was not able to drive the car. I contacted Tesla, I was instructed to reset the computer. However this did not resolve the steering issue. I was then instructed to completely do a power shut down using the LCD control panel. This resolved the issue. It took several minutes to regain control of the steering and I was able to drive to a safe location. I am very concerned about the loss of steering and the vehicle requiring computer reset and power shut down before being able to safely drive the vehicle. I am also concerned that this issue may arise while the vehicle is in motion. May 25, 2021 Tesla service department informed me that they were not able to find any issues with steering. I insisted that they look at the vehicle logs to identify the root cause. After further investiagation they informed me that they have located a "loose wire". I am concerned that "loose wire" may be indicative of a larger safety issue.

Filed May 23, 2021 · Steering · CA

I stopped the vehicle to make a turn. The steering wheel locked up and was not able to drive the car. I contacted Tesla, I was instructed to reset the computer. However this did not resolve the steering issue. I was then instructed to completely do a power shut down using the LCD control panel. This resolved the issue. It took several minutes to regain control of the steering and I was able to drive to a safe location. I am very concerned about the loss of steering and the vehicle requiring computer reset and power shut down before being able to safely drive the vehicle. I am also concerned that this issue may arise while the vehicle is in motion.

Filed Jul 20, 2020 · Brakes, Driver assistance · 60,838 miles · CO

Tesla mcu (media control unit) has well known and documented emmc chip that will fail on all model s and x cars from 2012 to summer 2018. This was a result of tesla engineering writing their logs to the emmc which has limited number of write cycles, tesla has since resolved where logs are written but the damage has been done. Tesla refuses to accept this mistake and will charge users $1300+ to replace. When this issue occurs the following safety issues happen blinkers do not work. Drive after a 30 second timeout no aeb (advanced emergency braking) no controlling suspension height no manual control of headlight lights no blinker sounds steering mode defaults to some setting (e.g. If I have it set to sport, during reboot of mcu is changes to standard or comfort, not sure but I can feel the steering wheel take less effort to turn than my normal sport mode) no HVAC (heat, cool, vent) no defrosters no seat heaters no steering wheel heaters no radio/streaming no app connectivity to control the car no ability to see the car charge status from app trip a/b profiles user settings homelink bluetooth pairings no rear view camera this issues happening to all models world wide reference this post to see the hundreds of users that are affected by this and force to seek alternative methods of repair that is not tesla approved. At which at any point tesla could remove features from cars for not using one of their approved service centers. Which appointments are over one month out, forcing most users to drive their car in unsafe manors

Filed Nov 28, 2018 · Body, Steering · CA

The vehicle was in service for warranty issue. Tesla burbank service center denied to done the recall. Regarding to them, the recall is unnecessary and did not need to be done until raining. However, this recall is in needed for the power steering gear assist motor may move, causing the transmission belt to slip, and result in reduced or lost power steering assist.

Filed Jun 15, 2017 · Steering · 12,000 miles · NJ

I had my wheel turned and I put the car in park, then I swiped my card to get into my parking garage. After I put the car back into drive my power steering assist failed and it was extremely difficult to turn the steering wheel. There have been multiple reports on power steering assist failures on the tesla forum while making turns.