My 2010 Kuga last week developed a fault on the dash "Power Steering Malfunction". Starts ok but takes ages to switch off. Once on, all of the dash lights (abs, handbrake etc) remain on. Steering is slightly heavier than usual but all works. Ford today have said the ECU needs replacing at £800. I had thought of upgrading it anyway, but cant now as cant seel it with the fault and also spending out that amount of money to not actually gain anything cost wise is a bitter pill. Can ECU's be bought and put on by independent garages I wonder? Or is this confusing as presume everything on the computer will need resetting? Sorry, I'm a tech novice and so confused.
A genuine Mk.1 ECU is around £400 plus fitting plus programming, so £800 is, sadly, not too far off the beat. A good independent will save you some cash but ensure that they have done a Kuga ECU and reprogramming before.
HOWEVER.....before you do anything, get the battery fully tested both idle and under load as a failing battery can throw up all kinds of weird faults including steering issues.
Hi Nigel - thank you for taking the time to come back to me - this is such wrong timing for me. The battery has been tested and was good I was told. I was going to exchange it for a new one, but actually now am stuck as whatever money spent on it wont be recovered.. really do appreciate your advice, thanks. Jason
That happens once to me when I had a focus estate,,I was coming out of a fuel station early one morning on the way to work,I could not turn the steering wheel,and had that message showed up,I turned the car off then back on again,the focus was six months old at the time,I had it for 8 years and it only happened that once.I mentioned it to a neighbour who also had a focus and he said it happened to him once as well.I took It to the dealer I bought it from,but couldn’t find anything wrong.both myself and the neighbour were going less than 5 miles an hour.The dealer told me that i was the second customer to tell them about the incident.I was wondering the same about it could be fatal as I was about to join the M4 motorway.I went slow all the way to work.as I said it never happened again.i would get it checked out ASAP.
Cheers Ross, thanks. Its had a a diagnostic test today and the ECU (?) Is the fault. Glad you only had the experience once - mine is constant. Thanks - Jason
No problem,,I was going suggest the same thing as NigelB but as you have already had the battery tested as it’s good,,not sure what else to suggest,,apart from getting a new ECU.
Ross
Thank you - that's a brilliant idea and anything is worth a go. 🤞 it works. Will give it a go. Negative off then positive I think is the right order of disconnection of the battery.
Got car back and tried the battery disconnect option overnight. Thought it was ok when I reconnected but then within a minute fault was back. So have taken it back to Ford and agreed the £800 to have a replacement ECU. Gutted at the cost but needs to be done even if I sell or part exchange - now the wait of a week for the part to arrive! Really appreciate your help and advise - have seen a black 2019 ST so need to see how it all pans out with costs! Cheers, J
Have you checked the passenger footwell for any signs of water leaking in.
This is a very common problem on the Mk1, you will need to lift the carpet to be really sure.
If water has got in through cracked sealant it causes lots of problems as it can get into the fuse box.
Just an update - Ford had my car for 3wks. They said it was a power steering module issue and quoted £800. I had to agree. I collected my car Saturday - Sunday the Power Steering malfunction light was back on and now garage suggest the car goes back for further tests as after all it could be an ECU issue and have quoted another £1,250 to have this replaced. Is it me, or is someone taking the Mickey?
No, they are taking the p*ss, get the car to a decent independent who will not empty your wallet by throwing parts at the problem in the 'hope' that they fix it.
Yes I think they are taken the urine as well,if they diagnose one thing,then they say it’s another thing after you have paid out once someone there is not doing a proper test.they were at fault for not doing it correctly in the first place.I would tell them o.k it if costs £1,250 I would pay the extra £450 cause it was not my fault you got it wrong in the first place.not pay an extra £1,250.Or as NigelB as suggested take it to a good independent garage.Good luck which ever you choose.
I bet they never done a proper test,,you told them the problem so i would take a guess and they fixed the said problem by what you told them and what it said on the display and assumed that was the case,and not done a test,,I might be wrong,,but I think that’s what had happened...so no test carried out.they should have checked the ECU.as well.
I trust my local independent without question, although in London we are a tight community and if he started the 'throw parts at it approach' then he would soon be out of business. The fact that they are still trading after 75 years (founder sold it to his son, who sold it to the head mechanic who, in turn, sold it to the head mechanic). shows that there are competent independents out there and I hope that you can find one locally if the dealer insists on spending your money for you.
I trust my local independent without question, although in London we are a tight community and if he started the 'throw parts at it approach' then he would soon be out of business. The fact that they are still trading after 75 years (founder sold it to his son, who sold it to the head mechanic who, in turn, sold it to the head mechanic). shows that there are competent independents out there and I hope that you can find one locally if the dealer insists on spending your money for you.
Thanks Nigel! I've got a guy from clickmechanic who seems good this evening. Has tried replacing the battery so far, which cleared a couple of faults but then they came back again - he is talking to his pal from Ford tomorrow so 🤞 thank you.
I had this problem and it was the steering box...only that a had no other lights on whatsoever, only the steering malfunction on the dash and the hard steering wheel(sometimes was working better but still hard).
Hope it helps👍
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