Citroen C3 Power Steering fault?

Hello everyone, thanks to this thread I found out it's a known fault instead of just taking it in and paying for it

I raised a case with Citroen, my car is over 10 years old and has done 82k miles. I wasn't hopeful so before taking it to be diagnosed I asked if they could just tell me if it was going to be an outright no due to the age or if there was a possibility they would pay. If it was going to be an outright no I would be taking it to whoever could fix it for the cheapest price.

I waited and waited and eventually they told me to go get it diagnosed so I did, they came back and said it was the known fault but they need to wait to see if Citroen will do anything.

Luckily they covered it all!!! I didn't even have to pay the diagnostic charge. So if you car is over 10 years old I'd say it's worth trying them out. A word of warning though, as I was chatting to the man at the garage they said they just had another lady come in which Citroen were refusing to cover even though this lady's car was not only younger than mine but had done about half the miles.

I think it depends who you get! - in case anyone is interested the Citroen garage said it would've been around £700 if it hadn't been covered.

Laurie W
September 2021

my power steering went on my 2011 picasso C3 but thanks to this site i found out that it was a known fault with Citroen (why is not a recall?). Anyway i booked into Citroen Nottingham for diagnostics and explained that if it is the power steering the likelihood is that it will be the 'known fault'. I had geared myself up for a fight with Citroen as although my car is less than 10 years old the mileage was over 100,000 miles. Anyway i had a call from Citroen to say that it was the known fault and that they were going to cover the whole cost including the diagnostics test. I was so relieved because otherwise the cost would have been £1,200.00 & not worth doing. Thanks to everyone who contributed to this thread.

Jon Rycroft
March 2021

Had the same power steering failure on my 2011 C3 Picasso, 59000 mls, on Tues, headed to google and found this wonderful site. Phoned my local Penton garage and asked if this was a known issue, they said that they hadn't heard of it before, booked it in on Thurs for the diagnostic test. Decided to print out some of the threads on here (well the first 54 anyway) to show them.
They phoned me on Thurs PM and told me it was known fault code and needed a complete new motor, they had contacted Citroens technical department and they had agreed to replace the motor and cover the labour costs as a 'goodwill gesture'. The car has its up to date service records but they were more interested in the 10 year rule and told me I was only just inside it. (I thought great because if it had gone a few months later I would be picking up the bill.) Texted me friday PM to say the car was ready, picked it up Saturday am and everything is OK again. So well done Pentons and well done Citroen my faith has been restored. No parts or labour charged but I did have to cover the diagnostics charge. Great site and my thanks to everyone else who has posted about this problem, it really does help others.

John
February 2021

THANK YOU!!! Citroen C3 Picasso (Diesel) 61 Reg, under 50k. Power steering went when I was on the motorway. Found this thread. Booked it into Robins & Day Citroen dealership in Walton-Upon-Thames after speaking with service team (mentioned that this appears to be a common fault). They phoned up later that day and said Citroen would pay for power steering replacement! SO glad I looked here first :)

Jonathan
January 2021

62 Plate C3 Picasso with under 50,000 miles on the clock suffered the dreaded power steering failure.

Dealer replaced steering rack and EPAS module free of charge upon producing service history (mixed Citroen/independent).

Tom
December 2020

We just had this issue appear on our 2012 C3 Picasso. Having found this forum I thought I was worth calling the dealer we bought the car from. We had to pay £99 for diagnostics but thought it was worth a try. A couple of hours later they called back to say the fault codes matched the codes for the known issue. A day later the car was fixed with nothing more to pay! A great relief just before Christmas!

Matt
December 2020

2011 reg; 63,700 miles. 2 owners. full service history though not all with Citroen. Power steering failed this month. Printed out a few success messages such as those on here. Took it to Worleys of High Wycombe Citroen dealer. Good garage. No questions re service history. Repaired with no questions & no cost, not even diagnostic charge. Be aware, however, that they had been told by Citroen that as mine was still under 10 years, it was covered. If 10 years + 1 day, it would not have been!

Dave
November 2020

The same happened for me. C3 Picasso, 2011 and just under 50,000 miles.

Power steering failure out of the blue. I took it to my local garage and they were looking at £800 parts plus labour and VAT. They suggested I took it to a Citroen Dealer.

It took several days for a booking, but Sportif Citroen in Aylesbury were brilliant. Up front at all times they told me it would be a £110 diagnostic fee initially and if it was what they suspected, then it would be covered by Citroen Good Will warranty.

Sure enough a phone call the next day to say, the fault was as expected and the work was complete and the car ready to collect. Total bill £110.

I think I was lucky and my dealer knew exactly what they were doing, but if others don't get the same offer, they should definitely push to see if the car is covered by CUK Goodwill.

Mart
October 2020

The warning light for power steering fault came up on my drive home. I looked on this forum and discovered this is a common fault and I may be able to get it repaired under warranty as it is under 10 years old. I am very grateful for all the advice as I took it to my local Citroen dealer in Croydon and the car is being repaired without charge. Thank you very much, very pleased!

Brian
September 2020

My power steering went on citron c3picasso 11 plate.. Read up in forums and decided to take to a citron dealer in Harrogate.
Glad I did.
Just citrroen diagnosed problem and told me it was still under warranty. Apparently 10years,so just covered.
The guy from service department told me they don't replace motor now,, the do full rack instead. Great.
All done within in 24 hours at a cost of £90 diagnostic charge

Ade campbell
June 2020

An update from me, Paul Briggs. I went to collect the car today (30 Oct 19) expecting to pay £600.00. Kim at Chippenham Motors told me that Citroen had reconsidered its rejection of the claim and were now covering the cost. I think this may be because I had emailed Citroen using their customer comments form on their website to ask them to reconsider. It certainly paid to challenge Citroen's original decision - my opinion of them has gone up as a result.

Many thanks to this website, those who began it and maintain it and to all who contribute ideas and answers to it.

Paul Briggs
October 2019

Same thing happened to me on mine. Kim at Chippenham Motors was very sympathetic and helpful but, having checked with Citroen 'customer care' told me that citroen refused to contribute towards the cost of replacement of the steering motor module. Kim suggested I ring citroen on 08000939393 to see whether they might offer a goodwill contribution. The woman who took my call simply repeated several times there was nothing they would do as the car is 10 years old. This, despite my telling her the car has a full service history and has done only 60,551 miles. This is the second refusal I have had from citroen to assist with known design faults in the C3 Picasso. Five years ago the entire wiring loop had to be replaced at 30,000 miles because of a corroded fuse box due to water ingress through the wiring (the maroon fuse connection at fault). I won't be buying another citroen again as electrical problems have let me down twice at a cost of £2,000 or so. Despite excellent assistance from Chippenham Motors, it's going to be a Ford or Vauxhall car for me next time.

Paul Briggs
October 2019

Just here to add that I've had success with this at the Morecambe Vantage Citroen dealership.

Our 62 reg C3 Picasso with 45k miles on the clock and little to no service history suffered the power steering fault fate last week. Local garage quoted just under £700 to replace the whole rack so I had a search around and found this thread. Decided to try my luck and took it for diagnosis yesterday.

Today I've had a call back, the part has already been ordered and I'm booked in next week for the free repair. No questions about service history or anything of that nature, just straight through. Would have been a £1,200 repair at the dealership had it not been accepted for free repair.

I can't thank those on this forum enough for sharing their experiences. If anyone suffers a similar problem around the Cumbria/Lancashire area, Vantage in Morecambe should be top of the list to call.

Davros
July 2019

I have a c3 picasso 62 plate 111k on the clock and the power steering packed up. I took it to my not so local citroen dealer, armed with print outs from this thread and that it was a known fault, they had it for a day and they fitted a new steering control motor at no cost to me whatsoever and they even gave my car a full wash and valet looks like new. I can't thank this forum enough what a result!!

adrian
July 2019

just been told to get citroen diagnostic check before citroen would comment .after test showed steering motor fault I contacted bcitroen to be told the criteria for replacement by citroen is age of car, service history and mileage. my car is one owner on 10 plate with 72000on clock.with full service histort. customer services promised to contact me back after looking into my case with possible [good will]gesture. both ash and elija never even had courtecy to call me back consecutively after 2 days each. finally contacted heather who confirmed I didn t qualify seems it depends on local dealers attitude . disgracefull after care with no explanation .wont have another citroen

terence brown
June 2019

My C3 Picasso 2010 55k suffered sudden Power Steering Failure approaching a roundabout. Was very dangerous with sudden heavy steering making it almost impossible to steer at low speed. Got back home with care and then Googled the fault.
Common fault it seems for this year of car and was very encouraged to find that Citroen usually are very generous and cover the cost as a Gesture of Goodwill. Contacted Citroen and followed their instruction of taking it to the local Citroen garage for Diagnostic. Garage very good and helpful and confirmed that the Power Steering Motor needed replacing at £512.
However, when contacting Citroen they state that as car is over 8 yrs old (only by 2 months) ''your vehicle exceeds our limit for contribution and we'd be unable to help with the cost of repair.'' We are appealing their decision and now they are asking for proof of ownership, service history etc. The Power Steering Motor is not serviced under the service schedule, apart from checking steering operation, it either works or it does'nt work.
Not very happy about this as on the Forum many have said Citroen covered the cost for cars up to 10 yrs and 80,000 miles. Now the criteria changed to almost exclude all the affected model years of this dangerous Power Steering Fault.
Waiting to see if we have any joy with our claim from Citroen. If we had known about this dangerous common fault, we would not have bought the car in the first place.
We are quite disappointed with Citroens attitude, as we have owned and driven Citroens since 1993, we thought that our brand loyalty would be recognised and suitably rewarded - we will just have to wait and see.
It would be interesting to find out if this fault has been fixed in C3 Picasso models after 2012? We love this car as it is so good in all other respects. We were thinking of buying another newer model but not if this problem still exists.

J.B.
March 2019

Hi. Fault came up on the dash and lost power steering on way home one night. Next day I tried it and it was fine. I was going to leave it and chance it being a one off? But having seen this and the fact I live very close to dealer I went and spoke to them . The guy said yes you have a problem with a great deal of certainty. He said he would check if Citroën would cover the bill but would have to check when car was hooked up to diagnostics. He called to say that it was covered as under 10 years old (2012). Got back today with nothing to pay.

MWI
January 2019

I had the same problem recently.
Spoke to the Main dealer in Stoke who said I would have to pay for the diagnostic and the repair.
Provided a copy of this forum and although it took 3 weeks (which was not an issue for me), the repair was done and no money was requested or given.

Thanks guys.

Chillers
October 2018

It does appear dealer specific as to the outcome - wife was driving on Motorway Monday power steering failed thankfully she avoided an accident and managed to get off. Green Flag moved it to our usual garage - they said they couldn't sort it, it would need to go to Citroen Dealer. Paid £70 to have it moved on a low loader to Chapelhouse St Helens. They said it's the Power Steering Pump and wiring loop and would cost £862.91 plus £106 for the diagnostic check. I mentioned these and other threads on the 2011 C3's and he said as it had no service history and it was over 60,000 miles it wasn't eligible for support. Said I would speak to Citroen but he seemed a bit put out. Spoke to Citroen Customer Services they said i had to ring the dealer back and ask them to raise a "technical ticket" which would then go to a Citroen Customer Care manager who would determine if any contribution would be made by them. Said it would take around 48 hours for a response. Rang the dealer back spoke to the person there and he seemed a bit miffed that I was asking him to do it - along the lines of I will but it won't make a difference. So that's where I stand at the minute. It was only afterwards that I forgot to mention that having a full service history wouldn't have made a blind bit of difference as they don't test the PAS as far as I'm aware. Anyway I have my fingers crossed that Citroen will make some form of contribution - even meeting us half way would be a help.

Brian Roberts
September 2018

Thanks to this forum I was able to get my 2011 Citroen C3 Picasso sorted. Power steering fault warning came on and I googled the problem, finding this and other forums to be surprised to find this is a common fault! I initially contacted Citroen UK who told me to get the car to a Citroen garage asap where they would do a diagnostic. I tried to book into Swindon but they were unhelpful and 'busy'. Next Chippenham Motors in Chippenham. Extremely helpful and sympathetic to my issue. I told them this appeared to be a 'soft recall' fault and that many people had had the power steering fixed at no cost. My car fell outside of the warranty bracket but Candice at Chippenham Motors checked for Goodwill and...bingo, Citroen agreed to do it as a goodwill gesture. I only paid for the diagnostic rather than a hefty service bill! I was given a courtesy vehicle for the duration of the fix. I cannot speak highly enough of Chippenham motors. Good luck to others having this issue with their Citroens!

Fin Dalzell
August 2018

https://www.gov.uk/vehicle-recalls-and-faults/report-a-serious-safety-defect

My 10 plate is doing the same. I have reported it to DVSA as a defect. The more people who report it the better. The car about threw me off the road today!

Chris
August 2018

My power steering just suddenly went on my 2011 C3. Took it into main Citroen dealer in Hereford, where I bought the car, they rang this morning to say the car was ready to collect, no charge. They rreplaced the motor but they told me that the payment from Citroen ends when the car is 8 years old. I was fortunate, hope this helps others

Relieved July 2018
July 2018

My 09 plate citroen x3 picasso also had a power steering failure a few months back. I went to my local citroen dealer and mentioned reading online about citroen paying for the repair on similar cars out of warranty.

Citroen paid the full cost and I didnt even have to pay the diagnostics fee.

This afternoon my wifes 61 plate c3 picasso just had exactly the same problem. So we are taking it back to the same garage and hopeful of another repair funded by citroen.

Steve
May 2018

Like Dawnie Y, I used this post to help myself get my problem sorted so I thought I should give something back to try and help others.

I am a retired engineer and I have a 61 plate Citroen C3 Picasso that I have had since new with almost 65.5k on the clock.  On Tuesday afternoon (3rd Apr 2018), I heard a bleep and got the message "Power Steering Faulty".  I drove home carefully and looked up the problem and found this site which helped me a great deal. 

I rang the Citroen garage in Shrewsbury but they couldn't even look at it until the middle of the following week.  I then rang the Stoneacre Citroen Garage in Wrexham and Neil from their Service department couldn't have been more helpful.  He took immediate "ownership" of the problem and asked the age and mileage of the car and how long I had owned it.  He said the fix was almost certainly going to be covered by Citroen, but he could not guarantee that without an inspection first (which is a fair enough comment).  He went on to say that I would have to agree to pay £90 for the inspection, but if it was covered I would not have to pay the fee, so I agreed.

Neil said they had the part in their Doncaster branch and would have it sent down to Wrexham in time for the inspection.  He said that if I left the inspection till the parts came then he could complete the work the same day meaning I only needed to drive there once (14 miles).  He then booked me in for 8am Friday (6th April), which surprised me how quickly I could get in.

On the Friday I turned up at 8am and was asked to sign a form for the inspection, and to leave my locking wheel nut adapter (presumably they need to remove a wheel to get at something) and my keys.  He showed me a chart he had from Citroen which had years on the X Axis and miles on the Y axis.  On the chart were three coloured squares over-imposed on each other.  The greeny-yellow box was for cars within manufacturers warranty and they could be repaired without needing to contact Citroen head office.  The orange box was for cars outside warranty, but within average annual mileage (which mine was in).  For these they had to run the inspection diagnostics and send the results to Citroen Head office and wait for approval before changing out the faulty parts.  The final box was red and was for cars with a high annual mileage or many years outside manufacturers warranty.  I don't know what that meant, but I suspect those owners would be out of luck.

Neil then apologised that all their courtesy cars were taken and arranged for someone to run me the two miles into Wrexham to save me taking the bus.  He said everything should be sorted and completed by 2pm, so I went off to Wrexham to kill time as it would take 2 hours to get home and a further 2 hours to get back by public transport.  At around 10:45 am I received a call to say approval had been given by Citroen and everything was completed, could I be ready to be picked up to return to the garage in 10 mins?

When I got back to the garage I was told what work had been done and that there was no charge whatsoever as it was being done as "A Goodwill Gesture".  The ECU they had fitted was priced at just over £500 and there was the inspection charge and labour costs all wiped out, so I was very pleased.

I would like to thank all the previous contributors to this website posting because without them I would have just gone to my local garage and paid to have the car repaired. Everything they have said below is incorporated into what happened to me. It was only through printing out 11 pages and going through it carefully that I had the confidence to contact the Citroen dealership directly, so once again a big THANK YOU to all previous contributors  I hope that none of you reading this are unfortunate enough to have power steering failure, but if you do this website gives you the confidence to query whether you qualify for a Goodwill Gesture - it costs nothing to ask. Finally, if you live within the North Shropshire/North Wales catchment area, please consider giving Stoneacre Citroen Garage in Wrexham your business.

Alan R
April 2018

Thank you to everyone on here, I was having the same problem with my 61 plate with 60k. I rang citreon and told them the problem and I mentioned that I had been reading these comments. They said they would contact me after looking at the car they phoned me back and said that there was a problem and needed new power steering bracket, and they said that citreon had authorised it so it will be repaired free of charge.

Dawnie Y
March 2018

Hi. I felt these posts deserved my experience after they helped me so much! I have a 60 plate (2011) C3 Picasso, diesel, 57k miles. My car has had none Citroen service history, but has been maintained in a VAT registered garage. My steering failed having negotiated a right hand turn and having gone over a speed bump. Instant light and 'dead weight' steering. I returned home and found various forums including this. Slowly it dawned on me that this could be really, really expensive. I journeyed to my local Citroen garage the following day, and very chilled, explained my plight. I was asked if it had full Cit service history (no), and was told it was unlikely to be done under warranty however, only a diagnostic check(£96) would determine the extent of damage. Suddenly hating the car I had actually quite liked, I left, expecting to eat rice and beans for Xmas. The following day I received a call to say it would be done under warranty(!) and would be ready in a couple of days. Materialises the power steering pump and ECU had failed, very expensive! I collected the car today and wasn't even charged a diagnostic fee. My tip would be to make sure that you let them know, that you know it is 'a known fault!' I have owned the car for nearly 4 years and have had a DPF bag type thing fail too, (£200), I think I will take this good fortune and now sell it with peace of mind it will probably be as good as gold for the next owner! Good luck with your troubles fellow C3 owners and thank you to this forum for saving me serious dollar!

Citorbust
November 2017

Hi there folks.
My c3 picasso power steering has just died as described here by many others (sharp turn on mini roundabout). Will take it to dealer tomorrow for diagnostic. These posts have been very helpful and hopefully will be repaired/replaced at the cost of Citroen like many others (2011 72K miles). any tips or suggestions on how to approach dealer with this to increase chance that Citroen will pay would be greatly recieved.
cheers in advance

Rodney Pearce
November 2017

My power steering went on my 2011 C3 Picasso, I contacted Citreon UK who told me to take it to a main dealer and for them to do a diagnostic check, then they should contact their customer care manager at Citreon. I took it into the main dealer and explained that to them, they said I would be charged for the diagnostic if the problem wasn't covered by Citreon.
They called me back later that day to say the car had been repaired and was ready for collection with everything being paid by Citreon.

Martin
October 2017

Mine went on a 51k C3 Picasso on a tight bend, the car swung out onto wrong side of road, luckily nothing coming the other way , fault code from my local garage confirmed a dead motor and ecu. Garage advised me to contact Citroen dealer as it should be replaced as a 'Safety component'. Had to pay £79 for diagnostic which again confirmed the problem. Dealer has accepted known problem but will not repair as the car wasn't serviced with Citroën and is 7 years old. I'm £79 out of pocket with a useless car.

The Sole man
October 2017

I have had exactly the same problem as other C3 Picasso owners. Driving down M6 in outside lane and power steering felt like I was driving on ice and then locked. Really scary situation but luckily the M/way was quiet. Took it to Chapelhouse in St Helens and paid £106 for diagnostic. They said that Citroen customer service had refused goodwill saying that the age of the car (2011) meant it didn't qualify and gave me an estimate of £488.00 to fix it! After reading these reports I feel like a visit to trading standards will be on the cards

Patrick Walsh
September 2017

Hi, the power steering light on the dashboard came out suddenly and the steering wheel became too hard to turn.

After reading the comments here I took my car to my Citroen dealer in Salford/Manchester and the steering wheel rack was replaced free of charge. I would like to thank everybody here for saving me a lot of money!

my car is Citroen C3 Picasso 2011, 61k miles

Ameer
August 2017

Howards Citroen in weston-super-mare are refusing to acknowledge that this is a known fault on my Picasso C3 and insisting that I will have to pay for repair!!

Sue
August 2017

Hi my case was slightly different but I had to change my wire loom due to water ingress in purple connector (common fault) c3 picassco 2010, but after replacing I get a power steering error and doesn't work but was fine before changing the fuse box appreciate if anyone has any advise on what I can do/check.

update : Just fixed this it was the number 7 fuse for PSTEERING changed and all OK now :)

eilz
July 2017

hi, mine went on sunday, took to citreon garage who knew about the issue, replaced for free, not even diagnostic charge, very pleased with service. it a 2011 c3 picasso

Helen b
July 2017

Just had my power steering rack replaced and paid for by Citroen after mine suddenly went whilst driving down a country lane (I'm in Cornwall.) Obviously this is a known fault, just glad mine didn't go on a motorway....

Jo Chaplin
July 2017

Citroen c3 2010 69k power steering fault, happened when i was driving very frightening, took car to my local Citroen dealer, had phone call this morning, they are covering all the cost even the diagnostics test, so happy i found this site, so thank you all, for saving me hundreds of £££☺

sarai
July 2017

My power steering failed so after reading comments on this website contacted Citroën customer care. They said that if a Citroën diagnosis showed a manufacturers fault they would contribute towards the cost. Make sure you get a case number. I took the car to my local dealer and after diagnosis showed a faulty power steering motor they said that Citroën were giving full warranty on the power steering motor up to eight years old. All I had to pay was for the diagnosis.

Robert Neville
June 2017

I have had it confirmed by my car's original supplying dealer that (a) Citroen ARE aware of this issue, and (b) they WILL carry out a no-cost repair on cars up to 80k mileage (following a £45 diagnosis check to confirm that it is this specific issue with the power-steering motor).

Peter West, you shouldn't even have to threaten suing (provided it is a premature failure of the PS motor), but - should it come to that - you will almost certainly win.

Devs Ad
June 2017

My wife was driving her C3 round a corner when suddenly the power steering failed, she narrowly missed a head on crash. Have just taken it to a Citreon dearler.I Shall sue Citreon if they charge me for the repair.

Peter West
June 2017

Hi all.

I've just had this fault appear on my 2011 48k mile C3 Picasso, and my local dealer here in North Devon is suggesting to me it is NOT a common or recognised issue.

I'd find it really useful to know the names of the other HELPFUL dealers which have been referred to in the posts below (eg: Howards Taunton and Citroen Poole) so that I can point out to them that they may have got this wrong...

Many thanks :-)

Devs Ad
June 2017

My power steering on my 2011 C3 Picasso 37k miles also suddenly stopped working as I was driving (Which can be very dangerous) but I was able to drive it home and then researched the fault on the net and was very concerned to find so many had had the same fault.
I took my car to my local Citroen dealership ( Howards Taunton) and told them my research shows that Citroen are aware of this fault.
They were brilliant, 2 days later I had my car back with no charge,not only did they replace the faulty steering rack motor, they also made a claim with Citroen to cover the cost.

jennifer
May 2017

I had the power steering go on my 2009 c3 picasso, 80000 miles. See these posts and mentioned that it was a common fault and others had had the work done free. Left the car and got a call an hour later confirming it would be done at no charge as a goodwill jesture so thank you!

mel
April 2017

I also get this power steering but only when i start the car.
The steering becomes heavy but as soon as i move the car forwards or backwards for abit the power steering goes back to normal.

(Citroen C4 2006)

Shane G
March 2017

It is a very common problem and changing any part won't guarantee that it's fixed. It is a factory bug that has never truly been dealt with.
Best thing to do is as follows... ( My wife worked this one out on her own.. Good European stock she is.. ) Engine off, put the coffee on, drink and enjoy, get back in car, unlock steering wheel, turn steering with engine off to a new position, then start in that position ( could try to move you but hold tight ) should work now ( for now )

Nils Eriksen
January 2017

Just done the same to my Picasso 2011 ,did not read this forum until too late .£550 pounds to replace pump.Citroen have known this DANGEROUS fault for years ,time something was done about it before someone is killed.Had it repaired today but have the part to explain to trading standards.

Jimmy C
December 2016

The same happened to me 2 weeks ago. On a quiet road driving slowly and the power steering just went. We had to drive 30 minutes to get home - slowly! The car is a 2011 Picasso C3. We saw this thread and it is obviously a common problem. Our local dealers diagnosed it and contacted Citroen and fixed it for free despite it being out of warranty and having done almost 60,000 miles. The dealership said they had fixed the same power steering problem on a 2010 car for free 2 weeks previously.
I love this car and am so glad to still be able to recommend Citroen to other people.

C B
December 2016

I too have a Citroen c3 1.6 diesel 39.000 miles power steering failed
Rang Citroen and they said it's not a common fault
Otherwise I love the car but won't be buying Citroen again

Eileen
December 2016

same problem with my c3 picasso steering went, luckily for me it was on a quiet road .Managed to get a local garage to collect who have told me steering rack and ecu needs changing. Car has less than 40,000 miles on clock on an 11 plate.
Emailed citroen customer service because I have read since that this seems to be a problem, citroen will not do anything because car out of warranty and I have not taken it to a reconised citroen garage.

Lindy
November 2016

My 10 plate C3 Picasso VTR power steering went today. Currently looking into it. Is it worth contacting Citroen direct?

Craig Fulton
November 2016

Citroen have just paid for all parts and labour to replace the power steering rack on my 2010 C3 picasso. All the dealers know there is a design/ component fault, but Citroen Poole were brilliant in pushing it and Citroen were honourable in dealing with it. Restored my faith in Citroen generally.

John Rampton
November 2016

My 2010 Picasso c3 power steering stopped working. Main agents told me it would have to go on analyser. I was told Code P0606 showed the electric motor had packed up and it would cost £454.00 for the motor and module. I said OK and they took a deposit of £300.00 and made an appointment to have the part replaced two days later. As I left the showroom I asked them to retain the parts they were going to replace as I wanted them...... The day the job was to be done they said they had asked Citroens to help. The vehicle was collected later that day and steering was fine. There was no charge at all and the deposit was refunded. .
Always ask for the old parts - they are yours

Picasso customer
October 2016

Hi there
I have a C3 Picasso and steering power just went. I reversed with a hard left hand side down on the steering wheel and bang, steering went. Hard to control. Grinding sound and feel on steering wheel.
Drove in carefully to garage and just as I got there it cleared and all ok.

MikeB
July 2016

I have c3 2008 1.4 8valves. Now over 160000 km. First owner. This electro power faulty is constantly happening, but no rule. Could be wet or dry. Its always on slow moving. Once my wife almost hit a wall exiting garage in 45' corner. Mostly recent on roundabouts or parking in our garage, in or out. It happens aproxymatl 3 to 6 times a year to quit fully, and more showing signs as something is rubbing in behind a driwing wheel, moving it, generating strange noise, but does not quit. This start to happen when it was only few years old. I found a solution to reset it this way: turn key, press acceleration pedal 5 times, turn off the key, start the engine and it always work, servo is back.
We love this car, aside of that problem that can not be diagnose as no sign of error is present, and gasket leak, but that is another common problem. Asside of that no other issues. I am surprised citroen can not solve it so long for newer models. Not good...

Zdravko
July 2016

Got a 2010 VTR same problem as everyone else, driving along fine then boom, power steering faulty, no power steering!! In local garage at the moment as the ignition on/off 3 times hasn't worked. Not looking good!!!

DR
July 2016

C3 picasso VTR 10 plate ..fine yesterday ,switched on today to find display reading' power steering faulty'local garage advised this is a common expensive fault on these cars ...main dealer in Norwich investigating whether help may be given by parent company under warrenty T.B.C

Peter
April 2016

I had the same issue, parked the car up last night, no problem, them started it this morning and no power sterring, tried the 3 times on off and started the engine on the 4th and it worked. happy days..
C3 2003

D
March 2016

Hi all c3 owners iv a 2010 last of the 2009 model it's a 1.1 vtr same things as you's all iv been to Citroen iv under warrenty had to get two bottom arms replaced new ecu new tyres iv had rack looked at they say it's fine iv had motor looked at its fine today iv put new drop links in cars starting to feel some what better I really think Citroen should have the lot called back running out of things to replace lol any other help on where I can look next would be great

Gavin c3 owner
March 2016

I had a problem with my Citroen C3 today with the power steering! I have a baby and cannot afford these problems. I just tried the 3 times turning the engine on and it works again! Citroen need to sort this clearly ongoing problem.

Janegrz1981
February 2016

just had my steering rack replaced on my c3 picasso(2010)
free by citroen

james moran
January 2016

My partner has got a c3 pluriel on an 04 plate. Today after lots of fault searching removed steering motor and opened it up. The carbon brushes inside have worn very unevenly resulting in a poor connection to armiture. I removed the brushes from holders and with fine emery paper sanded the profiles flat on each of the 4 brushes. Touch wood so far the steering has been good. But then it can be very intermittent as any citreon owner knows.

jason
January 2016

We recently experienced the same problem with the power assisted steering as identified in the responses below. Initially, the full service with Citroen didn't pick it up, however, only once i pushed the matter did they check it further. The result is an error code on the ECU with the steering column that causes this to happen, allegedly only at slow speeds, and Citroen are aware of this. The cost of replacement, inc of labour is in the region of £900. The cost of the repair is somewhat immaterial because my wife who is the main driver is irreplaceable. Not happy that Citron have not carried out a recall because this is dangerous.

Graham Baldwin
January 2016

wife complained of steering jamming when she turned slowly into our drive. Restarted car and it was fine. But today it did it again. We have a 2010 c3 Picasso. Surely too many people have had this fault. What is citroen doing? We should complain to Watchdog.

turbotel72
June 2015

The steering on our C3 1.6 2007 has seized up twice at low speed and miraculously freed itself. The first time Citreon replaced the computer under warranty. The failure recently occurred and we are looking for a solution.

Gill
April 2015

c3 Picasso 11 plate 4 years old
power steering stopped
cant get to reboot - disappointed in otherwise good car

rtlewis
April 2015

I had the same problem today (for the first time) on my Citroën C3 (2007, 90,000km on the clock). The steering was extremely stiff. However, once I read the comments on this howtomendit site, I did the whole switch the ignition on and off three times thing (without starting the engine) and, yes, it worked. I am worried of course that it may now keep happening!
Does anyone know if the fault has yet been acknowledged and resolved by Citroën?

George
April 2015

I've had the same problem with my C3 2008 plate Loads of times. I turn the ignition on and off consecutively 3 times and it frees it,we need to know WHAT THE FAULT IS !!

Hazel
October 2014

My C3 Picasso went on me whilst stationary. I turned the car off restarted and it was ok. Until yesterday when my wife was parked again when it went as described by by everyone. However mine is a 60 plate and did not fix itself this time. We managed to drive it home. Hence the research and this forum. I will try later this morning to see if your suggestion work. Has any had this problem on this year of car or newer?

ollynjulie
May 2014

For the first time today the powerstearing went on my c3 1.4 54 reg ! It scared me as I was comming out of a car park and couldn't turn the wheel ! Managed to drive it home and called a mechanic out ! As soon as he came the wheel was working again !!! Sooo annoying, I'm thinking I might have to sell it soon :( which is a shame cause I love this little car ! I want to complain to citreon

Rissa
April 2014

I also have faults for Power Steering and also for speedo display (shows 0 km all the time). I have a C3 from 2005, went to 3 different services but nobody seemed to realize the problem. Will try the 3 times ignition tonight.

Diana
March 2014

scrap yard best answer

nicholas green
February 2014

Same problem. Citroen need to recall these cars!!! They know it is a common fault they have told us. Go on their Facebook page, complain. Go on VOSA site and complete a dangerous fault form. Enough of us can do this. Please do it.

Worriedaunt
January 2014

speed sensor need to be replace thats all

mike
January 2014

This anomaly applies to C2's as well, In this case, C2 1.4 diesel turbo. 2005 in the year. No probs until took it for MOT today. When car came back off the ramp, the MOT engineer said the steering was very stiff and he took it for a test drive. No let up in the stiffness. Back inside garage , car was hooked up to Solus diagnostic. No faults found or, history of. During diagnostic, ignition has to be on and off, several times. When car was started (as in all above cases and on may other forums), fault disappears. For how long? That, we will find out.. Regardless, this IS a dangerous fault and one that appears to be right across this range of cars. Citroen garages appear NOT to find fault, in many cases reviewed? Why? So, perhaps its time to stop complaining about what IS happening and turn the subject matter to "what are CITROEN doing about it?" Too many instances of this fault occurring to just keep the topic live for reporting purposes. Anybody got any RECALL history details to hand? Better still, a response from Citroen in this venue!

Twanny
January 2014

My daughter's first car is a 10 yr old Citroen C3. The power steering often is 'locked' and is only 'freed' by switching on an off the ignition 2/3 times. I'm fearful that this will happen whilst driving ( see BBC 'watchdog' 30/09/13). Richard E Grant recounts same problem with daughter"s mini and highlights the real danger of attempting to drive a car with this issue. He is making the manufacturers own responsibility..... ! Pls watch as it highlights the danger of continuing to drive your car if it has this problem....am taking my daughters car to a very local garage today.... Maggie

Maggie
September 2013

Try checking the altornater charge rate as this can cause problems as well

Pimbo
July 2013

My c3 55plate did the same thing for the first time 3 days ago, RAC rebooted it and said if it keeps happening its a very expensive problem to fix, I drove it today for the first time since and guess what?????? It did it again! I'll try the 3 times starting trick, but I think it's about time for a trade-in. :-(

Paula
July 2013

I have had the same problem for the second time... Power steering becomes heavy, and speedo stays on 0 and km's don't move. The dodgy caryard that fixed it last time said that it was a loose wire to the speedo transducer??
Does this make sense to anyone? Hoping the ignition trick works. I'm in Australia too....

Di
May 2013

I left my C3 Pluriel, after the power steering locked on. It was so tight I couldnt even turn the wheels. My bloke went later on and drove it bacl home for me. We then read about the 3 ingition turn trick. Yippee it worked.. But I am abit scared of it happening again. But at least I will know what to do. Thanks for all your comments

Paulette
April 2013

I have a Citroen C3 reg 54 and have never had a problem before but today while going round a roundabout turning right felt steering tighten and lock up, ok on the straights although still felt steering tight, but when a corner turn came steering still locked, parked car up and was going to leave at mates until could get someone to look at it but when leaving went to move it up a wee bit and everything seemed sorted managed to drive it home (with mate following for safety) with no issues....not sure if safe to drive though as scared it will happen again but reading other posts its not clear what is really going on here. is something on its way out?

shirley
March 2013

After recent battery problems seem to have lost power steering on my 53 plate Citroen C3 1.4 petrol. Read comments above and switched ignition (not engine start) on and off 3 times in quick succession, then started engine and my power steering is working. Thanks all for great tip.

Steve
February 2013

My C3 started having this problem on Monday. Drove to Sheffield from Leeds with no problem, parked up, popped into a shop and BAM, could hardly turn the wheel to leave the car park.The AA had to come and, after about half an hour of unsuccessful attempts at diagnosing the problem, located it to the ECU and reset my ECU, causing me to lose my radio code, but getting me back home.

The AA recommended immediate garage attention, but the garage could not find a problem. The next day it happened again, this time on my driveway. I turned the engine off, went inside to ring the garage, and when I went back out to take the car to them, it was working again! I still took the car, but again they found no fault.

Today this has happened for the third day in a row, so I tried turning the ignition (NOT the whole engine) on and off three times and VOILA, i felt the power steering come "free" right in my hands!

If this saves me money on a new ECU, great, however I do have concerns about other people saying their steering locked up mid-drive. That sounds very dangerous to me.

sheree
December 2012

We have the same problem with Citroen c4 Picasso KN10 reg, happened about 4 times this year (the steering wheel refuses to turn left but ok to turn right), but the Citroen garage couldn't find any faults and told us it was probably caused by driving too slowly!!! You have to slow down to turn or park, right?

Nancy
November 2012

Thanks to all who have posted answer helped me in my hour of need, the turning the engine on and of a few times did the trick power steering back on. Saved me two days of hell without car. Thankyou !!!

Karen B
September 2012

Lost the power steering and speedo reading at same time Put on machine that read fault is speed sensor,replaced this no different ??Still reads speed sensor fault,no power steering and speedo ??any ideas anyone cheers Sean

Sean
August 2012

Just tried turning on/off the ignition 3 times and it worked. Thanks..... :-)

colshie58
April 2012

The steeering on my C3 in the recent cold weather became very stiff and it ws really difficult to turn the steeering wheel. Tried turning ignition on and off three times...it worked!! Although I did start the engine not having read the blog properly ...still worked!

Diane Lyon
February 2012

Hi people,

My mum's C3 has developed a steering issue, unfortunately it's hard for me to help her as I live in Australia and she is in the UK, just a quick question that I hope might shed some light on all of this, did anyone notice when it went e.g turning left or right or just randomly going?

Thanks in advance.

Terry
January 2012

power steering failure on my c3 2003 only covered 52,000 miles fsh turned ignition 3 times cured the fault saved me a lot of time money and stress

kenny m
January 2012

Recently tried the turn the ignition on (do not start the engine) 3 times in a 10 second period trick - cured the problem.
Suspect this resets the pwer sterring ecu somehow - beats a £1200 rack replacement (or £100 ecu) anyway.

Give it a try

Citroenhead
August 2011

did you ever get his problem sorted?

neil
December 2010

Just had the same prob with a 2003 C3 diesel luckily under a citroen warranty, after reading codes logged in memory they went on to change- speed sensor in gearbox, new power steering ECU and yet another sensor that logged a code after it had been test drove and re-checked on computer.
repairs cost well over a grand (Warranty thank god)

TEZ
November 2010

I had the same problem with a 2007 C3. It was really hard to drive round a roundabout, turn corners and park. It happened twice last year within a 6 week period and I had to get it towed to the Citroen garage both times - they kept the car for a week and couldn't find the problem. It happened again earlier this year and luckily I was near the garage so just took it straight there. They ended up replacing the ecu.

MM
August 2010

i have been having the same problem with my 55 plate citroen c4 vts and the steering locked up when i was turning a corner it nearly killed me. i think its to do with the electic system and might need a new ecu or brain

tony
July 2010

Hi there, I have the same problem and mine is a 54 reg as well, havent been able to find fault yet

MC
June 2010