Power Steering loss! (and much more!)

I have had my 52 reg, 57000 mile, 1.4 Citroen C3 diesel for just over a year now and i am beginning to see a lot of faults creeping up on me, it started with the loss of power steering every so often but it would disappear once i turned off the car. I recently had the car MOT'd and unsurprisingly it failed on quite a few things (wipers, rear brakes, anti-roll bar) i had all of these repaired and everything seemed fine until now..

When i turn on my car everything seems normal, then it'll beep three times and the handbrake light and ABS light come on, the power steering doesn't work and neither does the speedo. This can vary, sometimes the power steering will work for a couple of miles and then cut out, sometimes the speedo works, kind of jumpy i must admit, but its still basically working, and then sometimes the air bag lights will also come on!

I have been through so many threads to find an answer and i am yet to find someone who has got to the bottom of this! Will someone please just give me a clue as to where i can go from here.

Hi, first thing might be to try a BSI reset. Google will yield many results on how it's done.

I'm new here so I don't know yet if it has a list of locations where forum members have Lexia interfaces, but it sounds like a session with the Lexia would help.

My C3 has just decided to show the ABS light, and the fault reported is that the ABS pump has failed. I'm going to check supply voltages to the ABS module first before condemning it. And the passenger airbag is open-circuit so I've got a colourful instrument panel now with so many lights on (that is, after removing the three blobs of blu-tac someone had filled the holes in front of the LEDs with to hide the faults)...

Hi nataliehobson, welcome to the forum

Chapster wrote:Hi, first thing might be to try a BSI reset. Google will yield many results on how it's done.

BSI Reset procedure https://citroenc3owners.com/citroen-c3-t ... 3-t69.html

nataliehobson wrote:it started with the loss of power steering every so often but it would disappear once i turned off the car.

Diagnose with Lexia clone tool, its a learning curve and will take time to pinpoint intermittent faults, but much cheaper than a trip to the dealer each time the fault appears.

Our lexia topic is here https://citroenc3owners.com/citroen-c3-t ... -t655.html

nataliehobson wrote:I recently had the car MOT'd and unsurprisingly it failed on quite a few things (wipers, rear brakes, anti-roll bar) i had all of these repaired and everything seemed fine until now..

Wipers should never fail, change them before they get bad enough to fail brakes should be inspected while the car is serviced so it should never fail an MOT on brakes

nataliehobson wrote:When i turn on my car everything seems normal, then it'll beep three times and the handbrake light and ABS light come on, the power steering doesn't work and neither does the speedo.

Diagnose with lexia. Have a look at the road speed sensor and its live data, along with the ABS ECU faults.

nataliehobson wrote:I have been through so many threads to find an answer and i am yet to find someone who has got to the bottom of this!

Its not a common problem. Power steering, ABS and Speedo are all common to the road speed sensor

nataliehobson wrote:Will someone please just give me a clue as to where i can go from here.

Connect up lexia, read codes, take a screen shot and save each one. Delete any which will clear and drive the car around. Read the codes again and take a screen capture of each one. Follow the fault diagnosis offered by lexia (if any), check live data for road speed. Upload the second set of screen shots to your topic.

Chapster wrote:And the passenger airbag is open-circuit so I've got a colourful instrument panel now with so many lights on (that is, after removing the three blobs of blu-tac someone had filled the holes in front of the LEDs with to hide the faults)...

Oh check the switch on the door shut is OK

I just bought a citroen c3 LX 1.4 as my first car and I am having the same problem with the speedo saying 0mph and the car being extremely jumpy. This tends to happen towards the end of a long drive and is starting to become dangerous! When the clutch is down it is fine but once the clutch is off it is very jumpy and doesn't feel safe to drive. Seeing as this is my first car, in simple terms is there anything I could get checked out?
Also i got a black box fitted, do you think that could affect it?

I had a problem whereby I had complete power steering loss and complete failure of the speedo but this worked for me, try turning the ignition on and off three times (do not start the car) within ten seconds and then start the car.
After this all has worked fine for me problem has not came back.

rosie111 wrote: When the clutch is down it is fine but once the clutch is off it is very jumpy and doesn't feel safe to drive. Seeing as this is my first car, in simple terms is there anything I could get checked out?

It could well be mechanical. Nothing easy to check there

rosie111 wrote: I am having the same problem with the speedo saying 0mph

You can diagnose this with lexia as it sounds like an electrical problem, but nothing in simple terms, its a steep learning curve.

You can fin out a bit about the lexia clone tool in this topic
https://citroenc3owners.com/citroen-c3-t ... -t655.html

Disclaimer: This is a theory, an akward theory and not to be taken seriously, at least untill I can prove it or replicate the simptoms and cure...

I'm not a mechanic. I'm just a curious and creative Citroen C3 owner who felt the effects of the Power Steering failure very often. For the last twelve months I watched the malfunction show itself a few times a week and during the last 30 days, almost daily. As this Forum teached me (thank you gentlemen!), I applied all the tricks in the catalog - 3x key, whole reset, you know what I mean, to get Power Steering back. As I said, during the last month, it got worst. The only way to get Power Steering back was to wait a couple of hours. I never really believed in replacing the Power Steering motor (your stories about that replacement were not very conclusive about the failure fixing...).

So, with a MOT inspection coming my way, I decided to give my C3 a general check for the simple things I can manage myself like oil, filters, brake pads, wipers, etc. I replaced a cracked headlight (and oh boy I was proud) and polished the other one (I could quit the Gymn...).

I had a few blown lamps. Most of them were low cost (chinese), some of the bulbs who were still in working condition but a bit dark, so, in a moment of sheer courage, I replaced them all...

I used Osram bulbs for the whole set. (This maybe weird but you will understand my reasons in a minute).

Went to the MOT inspection, the car passed it in flying colours, and returned home...

The first thing I noticed on the following days was that the Power Steering was completely OK...

As I am not a mechanic, I was puzzled... Could the Power Steering fault be originated by a lamp "poltergeist"? That makes no sense at all, even for a non-mechanic...

Armed with a huge dose of patience, I refitted the old rear lamps (benefits from not cleaning my garage often...). Went for a test drive and the malfunction came back!

My theory started to gain life on that moment. On the first oportunity I installed the new Osram bulbs and the Power Steering was ok...

I know this makes no bloddy sense, but it's my experience. 15 days have passed since this, and I never saw the problem again...

pedroaniceto wrote:Disclaimer: This is a theory, an akward theory and not to be taken seriously, at least untill I can prove it or replicate the simptoms and cure...

Duly noted

pedroaniceto wrote:I know this makes no bloddy sense, but it's my experience. 15 days have passed since this, and I never saw the problem again...

It would be interesting to gather more evidence from other owners with similar EPS problems too thanks for the information.

I have just bought a 2002 C3 1.4 Diesel, the power Steering failed then came back then stopped working again.
I took off all the connections in the under bonnet fuse box, sprayed them with WD40.
Then carried out a BSI reset, that did the trick, try this before spending money on diagnostic tests or expensive parts.

Tony247 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 01, 2018 6:15 am I have just bought a 2002 C3 1.4 Diesel, the power Steering failed then came back then stopped working again.
I took off all the connections in the under bonnet fuse box, sprayed them with WD40.
Then carried out a BSI reset, that did the trick, try this before spending money on diagnostic tests or expensive parts.

Hi Tony247, thanks for the information.

I suggest you also:
Have your alternator output tested. This can affect the power steering.


The ePAS will reset after disconnecting the battery.