2011 Honda Fit Steering

ELECTRONIC POWER STEERING (EPS) CUTS OUT AND BACK IN AT UNPREDICTABLE TIMES CAUSING STEERING TO BECOME STIFF AND UNSAFE. THE EPS INDICATOR COMES MOMENTARILY WHEN ASSISTED STEERING IS NOT AVAILABLE AND TURNS OFF WHEN POWER STEERING IS RESTORED. IT HAPPENS PERIODICALLY UNDER ALL DIFFERENT DRIVING CONDITIONS. THIS LOOSING AND REGAINING ASSISTED POWER STEERING HAPPENS WITH IN SECONDS. IF CORNERING WHEN THIS OCCURS, THE LOSS OF POWERING STEERING CAUSES SEVERE UNDERSTEERING FOLLOWED BY SEVERE OVERSTEERING WHEN POWER STEERING IS RETURNED (ALL WITHIN THE SAME CORNERING MANEUVER). FIRST NOTICED JUST PRIOR TO GETTING THE TAKATA RECALL PERFORMED; HONDA DEALER STATED THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE STEERING BECAUSE THEY "COULD NOT FIND ANY CODES". DID NOT NOTICE THIS PROBLEM TOO MUCH AGAIN TILL RECENTLY WHEN IT STARTED OCCURRING SO FREQUENTLY THE CAR IS UNSAFE TO DRIVE. THE OWNER'S MANUAL STATES THERE IS ONLY A PROBLEM WITH EPS IF THE WARNING LIGHT STAYS ON. HONDA DEALERS ARE 'UNAWARE OF ANY ISSUES' ALTHOUGH HONDA HAS HAD EPS ISSUES WITH THE FIT AS DOCUMENTED IN NHTSA COMPLAINTS AS WELL AS HONDA SERVICE BULLETIN 14-058 (DEALING WITH EARLIER MODEL FITS). WHEN I RECENTLY CONTACTED HONDA AND ASKED ABOUT THE PROBLEM THEY STATED THEY HAVE NO INFO ON DEFECTS AND BASICALLY IT SUCKS TO BE ME. BECAUSE THERE ARE SUPPOSEDLY NO STORED DIAGNOSTIC TROUBLE CODES (DTC) WITH THIS KNOWN ISSUE IT CANNOT BE RULED OUT AS A CAUSE OF ACCIDENTS. IT SEEMS ANY AND ALL HONDA FIT ACCIDENTS (ESPECIALLY INVOLVING FATALITIES OR SEVER INJURIES) IT WOULD BE CIRCUMSPECT TO CONSIDER THE UNPREDICTABLE LOSS OF POWER STEERING, WHICH CAUSES OVER AND UNDER CORRECTION IN CORNERING.

LOST POWER STEERING WHILE DRIVING ON THE HWY IN MY 2011 HONDA FIT WITH ABOUT 58,500 MILES DRIVEN.. HAD CAR PARKED IN THE SUN FOR SEVERAL HOURS WITH AMBIENT TEMPERATURE OF 92F, GOT IN AND DROVE HOME, HAD RADIO ON, A/C ON, GAS LEVEL CLOSE TO THE EMPTY INDICATOR ("E")., AND WITHIN 5 MINUTES OF DRIVING, WAS ON THE FREEWAY AT THAT TIME, THE ELECTRIC POWER ASSISTED STEERING FUNCTIONALITY FAILED. I ALMOST LOST CONTROL OF VEHICLE, STEERING WAS HEAVY AND DIFFICULT, NO LIGHTS ILLUMINATED TO INDICATE A PROBLEM, WAS ABLE TO STAY IN # 1 LANE TILL I REACHED HOME. WHEN I STARTED THE CAR THE FOLLOWING DAY, AND POWER ASSIST FUNCTIONALITY WAS MAGICALLY RESTORED. I VISITED THE LOCAL HONDA DEALERSHIP SERVICE DEPARTMENT AND SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE CLAIMED THAT HE HAS NOT HEARD OF SUCH PROBLEMS WITH THE HONDA FIT, EVEN FOR EARLIER YEARS WHEN I ASKED SPECIFICALLY. SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE WAS NOT EVEN INTERESTED IN HOOKING UP ANY DEVICES TO SEE IF INFORMATION CAN BE RETRIEVED FROM THE COMPUTER IN THE CAR.

RECENTLY MY 2011 HONDA FIT HAS BEEN HAVING INTERMITTENT POWER STEERING FAILURES. IT HAS HAPPENED 3 TIMES IN ONE WEEK TO DATE WHERE I HAVE STARTED THE CAR TO DRIVE TO WORK IN THE MORNING AND THE STEERING IS VERY HEAVY FOR A FEW SECONDS LIKE AN OLD MANUAL STEERING CAR. THE POWER STEERING KICKED BACK IN ONCE AFTER CONTINUING TO DRIVE THE CAR AND ON THE OTHER TWO OCCASIONS AFTER STOPPING THE CAR AND RESTARTING IT.

THE STEERING BECOMES REALLY HEAVY OVER SPEEDS OF 50 AND THERE IS NO INDICATOR SHOWING ANYTHING WRONG WITH THE SYSTEM. *TR