Our daughter has a 2014 CX-5 Touring AWD. She called today and said steering became very difficult and there were several lights on (check engine, traction control, etc..).

We had the Mazda Roadside Service folks come and tow the vehicle to a nearby Mazda dealership.

Does anybody have any suggestions about what may be happening? The car has 51,000 miles on it. I called Mazda and they said it was still under the Powertrain warranty and the towing was free. I am hoping that whatever this is is also under the Powertrain warranty.

If you could give me any tips or advice it'd be REALLY appreciated.

Thanks!

Mike

 

It's not the steering, that's just a result of the car going into "limp-home mode" as a result of an cylinder misfire or other drive train issue. The dealer will read any codes off the engine computer which will point him toward a solution. Don't worry, these things happen to modern cars. Not the end of the world.

 

Thank you very much for your reply! I hope it's not too bad and REALLY hope this is covered under the Powertrain warranty (it expires in mid-September). Not sure why the steering got sluggish but my daughter was pretty upset by it all. Is that usual for this "limp-home-mode"?

The Mazda roadside assistance folks came and got the car and towed it to a dealership. We should hear tomorrow what they think it is and I will post for you.

Again, thank you for the help!

 

I've never experienced limp home mode, but since power is cut drastically and the car generally won't get out of second or so gear, it stands to reason that power to the electric steering assist would be reduced also. Often times, from what I've read, if you pull off the road and shut off the engine, it will sort itself out after being restarted. At least until it happens again. Don't worry, there is usually a pretty straightforward resolution for this sort of thing. Whether it's covered by the power train warranty, I can't say.

 

Sounds like a low voltage issue, either a dead alternator or near death battery.

Diagnostic code check will show alot.

 

Thank you for your response!

After a week at the Mazda shop, we finally heard from them yesterday. They could not determine what was wrong. They said they cleared all the codes and had their mechanic drive the car to and from his home for 2 days but could not get the problem to occur again. Service Manager was not sure what was happening and apologized -- also didn't charge us.

When my daughter picked up the car today she got about 1 mile from the Mazda shop and the steering wheel locked up again / lights came on. She took the car right back to the shop and they will try to replicate the problem so they can fix it.

My daughter said when she was trying to get back to the dealership the car became incredibly hard to steer so she stopped, turned it off and restarted. She said the lights weren't on and the steering was ok again.

What do you think is going on?

 

The Mazda shop could not find any issue. The Service Manager said they cleared codes and have driven the car a lot but cannot re-create the problem.

My daughter had the same thing happen after she picked the car up at dealer this afternoon. She took it back to them.

What do you think might be going on?

 

I have no idea what the problem is, but restarting temporarily resolving the problem is pretty common in these types of cases. I've seen it time and again on these forums, so don't read too much into that.

 

I just happened upon this on the web:

When I start the car all the dash lights illuminated and stayed on as I drove the car. When I turned on the right turn signal all the warning lights flashed rapidly the navigation, electrical system shut down and the car started to die. The service engine light stays lit the warning about a power steering failure, brake failure and keyless entry problem, abs, speed monitoring tire pressure all comes up in the warning area. The power steering does fail making it hard to turn. In doing research on the issue it comes from a faulty ground cable issue on the right side of the car. I have had this occur 3 different times now on this car.

Do you think this could be a grounding issue? Do you know where the ground cable is on the car?

 

I don't know where the ground cable is, but this sounds like a good lead and you shouyld definitely take a copy of this with you to the dealer.