Turn signals, wipers and steering wheel controls stopped working.

[Osofast]

This only happened one time and of course it was the first time my wife drove the car. But all of a sudden the steering wheel controls (the 2 directional pads) and both the wipers and more importantly the turn signals all stopped functioning.

 

We pulled over and put the car in park and shut if off and turned it back on, but still they did not work. We drove for maybe another 5 min. and went to pull into another parking lot and when she tried the turn signal to turn into the lot it and everything else suddenly started working again.

 

I do not know if voice control buttons or cruise control was affected, but we found this because my wife wanted to change the screen on the right to the leaves and not the radio screen and I was telling her to just press it to the left and when it didn't work of course I tried it thinking she was just unfamiliar with it and then when she tried to pull over we noticed the turn signals didnt work and so on.

Thanks for reading.

[murphy]

Take it in and report the problem to your dealer.

All of the steering wheel controls are interfaced to the stationary steering column via a coil spring assembly that winds and unwinds as the wheel is turned. That includes the connections to the air bag in the steering wheel. They don't break very often. It has happened to me once on a Thunderbird. In that case I got an air bag fault light on the dashboard. They had to replace the coil spring assembly to fix it.

[dbsmall]

Similar experience, here. Picked up the car on Monday. Today, randomly, none of the buttons or levers on the steering column work. I can't control the screens, turn on the wipers or turn signal.

I've tried stopping and starting, driving, etc. It hasn't cleared for me.

 

I'll call the dealer, tomorrow, to see what they have to say.

[acdii]

Sounds like the connection on the column is loose. I believe all those buttons and levers connect to one harness on top of the column.

[itschris]

This happened to me on one drive about 2-4 days into ownership. I talked to a tech at my dealer... he told me that the car will do all sorts of crazy shit the first 300 miles. They get this a lot and it never repeats itself. Another common "bug" is that the key isn't recognized. It happens once, goes away, and doesn't happen again. I had both happen to me within around the 200 or so mile mark. Nothing's happened since.

 

I talked to another owner at the dealership just 2 days ago when I had to bring it in for a bad caliper which totally destroyed my rotor. She said the second day she had it, she lost the column controls on the way home and was really upset obviously. Later that day, everything was working again, however. She's had the car 3 months now with zero issues.

 

There might be something to that seemingly stupid response from the tech.

Edited May 16, 2013 by itschris

[djminfll]

I continue to have a problem with the Express-up window controls - they work just fine approximately 80% of the time, but then, for no apparent reason, they won't express UP. I brought it into the dealer twice to correct it. The first time, they said they couldn't duplicate it so there is no way to find out why it is happening. I got a call from the Service Manager who asked me to bring it in again, but they still could not duplicate it. Since then, it has continued to happen about 20% of the time. As I told the Service Manager, I guess I'll just wait until it fails completely and then have the entire system replaced.

[corncobs]

@ djmifll

 

Do you have anything plugged into the 12V outlets? I had the issue early on that with the USB charger still discharging the battery causing the one touch up to get reset.

[chrispal]

I also have the problem with the express / one touch windows. Usually it is the front passenger window that won't go up with the one touch but we have also had problems with the driver side window. It has been to the dealer 3 times now. One time they were able to recreate the problem. They replaced a part but it still has the problem. At least the window will go up and down but the express feature should work. Another symptom is that opening all the windows with the remote sometimes works for all but the front passenger window. FYI - Nothing is plugged into any of the outlets or ports.

 

I would be real interested to hear if anyone gets this problem fixed for good and can share the fix.

[jeff_h]

I would be real interested to hear if anyone gets this problem fixed for good and can share the fix.

 

Well I don't know how to do a 'permanent' fix, but cycling the sensor will probably get it to behave again for undetermined amount of time (though mine has stayed that way once I cycled/recalibrated the sensor)...

 

1 - Roll window all the way down, continue to hold button down for 3 seconds

2 - Roll window all the way up, continue to hold button up for 3 seconds

3 - Roll window all the way down, continue to hold button down for 3 seconds

 

That is generally enough to do the trick, have you tried that?

[fusionTX]

I never saw the problem, but when I tried having all windows open using the key FOB, all opened except for the driver's window.

I did the cycling thing and tried again, and next time they all opened and closed, upon FOB commands.

 

I've never had any battery issues or messages.

[airbusguy]

Refering to the original post about steering wheel and column controls inoperative, this happened to me 3 days after I took delivery May 30. No turn signals was the the most bothersome. I drove to the dealer 40 minutes away, and luckily nothing still worked. The tech advisor tried all the switches and no steering column functions worked - until he tried the high beams , flash, low and high. Mysteriuosly, it all started working again. They scanned the car and verified a bunch of modules had reported an error, however, with no firm data in place as everything was now functioning, the work order is still open and I am driving the car for the last 2 weeks with no problems.

However, yesterday, I tried to reset the long term history for fuel use. When I bring it up on the left hand side display, there are no numbers - just labels. When I push OK for 2 seconds, I get the moving bar and "resetting" but still no numbers. The screen that appears for long term use after the trip data hasn't changed from about the same time I did the reset which was about the same time I had the controls problem. I think this is all connected.

 

I am visiting the dealer tomorrow as the original work order is still open.

 

I will report the out come.

 

Rob W

[airbusguy]

Turns out the lack of digits on the lifetime history is normal under "settings" menu. So, I guess I have a fully functioning automobile without any snags.

The videos that Ford have assembled at

https://owner.ford.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Owner/Page/OwnerVideoPage&year=2013&make=Ford&model=Fusion%20Hybrid

are invaluable as they present visual information that is not always clear in the printed manual.

[ddrapeau]

I have a 2013 Energi with 6500 miles and this just happened to me last night. One of the previous posts indicated that the tech "fixed" the issue by cycling the high beams lever off and on both in the flash mode and permanent on mode. I tried that and behold it fixed the problem. So no trip to the dealer. This must be just some sort of computer quirk and the high beams fixes it somehow.

[bpx02]

My turn signal (Left or Right) and lane change stopped working the first time after 11 months. The second time just happened (now 13 months old) and I got it to the Dealer as it was happening. Unfortunately, they did not get it to the mechanic, even though I told them he wanted to see it, until hours later. As you can guess, it did not fail.

Has anyone had this issue fixed?

[GrySql]

The second time just happened (now 13 months old) and I got it to the Dealer as it was happening.

That would have been a perfect time to send a Vehicle Health Report. If it happens again, pull over safely and send a VHF, then the error code may be saved for your Dealer to verify.

[James Papacostas]

2014 Ford Fusion Hybrid: Same deal. Car is 9 months old. Windshield wipers, turn signals suddenly stopped working. I turned on/off the high beams and presto: everything started working again!

Edited April 1, 2015 by James Papacostas

[GrySql]

2014 Ford Fusion Hybrid: Same deal. Car is 9 months old. Windshield wipers, turn signals suddenly stopped working. I turned on/off the high beams and presto: everything started working again!

Welcome to the Forum!

Sorry for the problems too.

 

If your situation is repeatable (and even if it's not) your Ford Dealer is the place to start in troubleshooting this, use that Warranty.

 

BTW, nice Icon picture...

Edited April 2, 2015 by GrySql

[FordService]

2014 Ford Fusion Hybrid: Same deal. Car is 9 months old. Windshield wipers, turn signals suddenly stopped working. I turned on/off the high beams and presto: everything started working again!

Welcome to the forum, James!

 

Glad to hear everything sorted itself out. Should these symptoms reappear, please let me know.

Meagan

[Bambeano12]

Welcome to the forum, James!

 

Glad to hear everything sorted itself out. Should these symptoms reappear, please let me know.

Meagan

 

This problem is why I joined the forum. This has been going on for 5days. No turn signals, no steering wheel controls at all. The windshield wipers work fine. I already checked fuses.?

[billford]

I found this in my files. Basically it needs a new Steering Column Control Module or just reprogramming it.

Print this out and show it to your dealer.

Good luck and post the results.

45012 2013-2015 Fusion/MKZ, 2015 MKC, 2015 Mustang - Steering Column Controls Inoperative With Possible U0212 - Built On Or Before 3/20/2015
Some 2013-2015 Fusion/MKZs, 2015 MKCs, or 2015 Mustangs may exhibit the steering column controls such as turn signals, radio controls, and low speed wipers being intermittently inoperative with a possible U0212 in multiple modules. First, correct any HS2 CAN network issues that may be present if various other HS2 CAN U-codes are present. If no network issue is present and the vehicle is built on or before 3/20/2015, reprogram the SCCM to the latest calibration using IDS release 94.04 and higher. Remove and reinstall fuse F13 if the SCCM will not communicate in order to accept the calibration update. Replace the SCCM if communication with the module can't be restored. Use applicable 12651D labor ops and causal part 3F791 for reflash only.
EFFECTIVE DATE: 25-MARCH-2015

[hybridbear]

This problem is why I joined the forum. This has been going on for 5days. No turn signals, no steering wheel controls at all. The windshield wipers work fine. I already checked fuses.?

The SSM (Special Service Message) shown above can also be found in that section of the Forum. I'd recommend that you read through all the TSBs and SSMs to see if there is anything else that your car might need done while it is at the dealer.

[Kevin Burkett]

This only happened one time and of course it was the first time my wife drove the car. But all of a sudden the steering wheel controls (the 2 directional pads) and both the wipers and more importantly the turn signals all stopped functioning.

 

We pulled over and put the car in park and shut if off and turned it back on, but still they did not work. We drove for maybe another 5 min. and went to pull into another parking lot and when she tried the turn signal to turn into the lot it and everything else suddenly started working again.

 

I do not know if voice control buttons or cruise control was affected, but we found this because my wife wanted to change the screen on the right to the leaves and not the radio screen and I was telling her to just press it to the left and when it didn't work of course I tried it thinking she was just unfamiliar with it and then when she tried to pull over we noticed the turn signals didnt work and so on.

Thanks for reading.

The same thing happened to my 2014 fusion SE, where everything other than power steering suddenly stopped working on my steering wheel buet when i flipped the turn signal in an intersection as soon as i turned and the turn signal lever reset everything started working again and hasnt stopped since, planning on taking it in anyways to make sure nothing's broken but that's how my problem got fixed

[mbnewman]

Ford Fusion Energi Titanium turn signals and wipers stopped working, followed the recommendation below and IT WORKED! "... the tech "fixed" the issue by cycling the high beams lever off and on both in the flash mode and permanent on mode. I tried that and behold it fixed the problem. So no trip to the dealer. This must be just some sort of computer quirk and the high beams fixes it somehow."

As soon as I flashed the high beams a few times, turned on the high beams, flashed again, turned again....turn signals and wipers worked!

Unacceptable performance from Ford....if this is a quirk, they need to push out an update to their computer logic!