C1259

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2012 KIA OPTIMA with 107000. miles

My electronic stability control light on dash came on and remains on. I took to martin Kia in newark delaware for diagnostic and they said the codes were C1259 and C1260 and that i need to have clock spring assembly, steering angle sensor and the steering column assembly replaced because it looked like my car had been in an accident. (i did strike a small deer, but damage was cosmetic to left front fender and did not affect steering or drivability, and was repaired in a professional body shop). The esc did not come on until months after my accident. Dealer would not certify that the vehicle is safe to drive with this condition, nor did they offer another less expensive repair such as just replacing sensors. They wanted an estimated $1370 to hold my safety hostage. Since the light has been on, i have experienced a few episodes of instability when driving in inclement weather. I now leave esc off when weather is bad.
ELECTRONIC STABILITY CONTROL,

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2011 HYUNDAI SONATA with 5087.0 miles

My wife was driving approximately 20-30mph, the electric power steering catastrophically failed, and did not fail over to manual steering. The steering wheel and column gyrated to an extreme level and my wife was just barely able to get the car to the median, getting a blister on her hand in the process of trying to control the wheel where she had it towed home and eventually to the dealership. The dealership pulled dtcs C1259, C1616, C1603, steering angle sensor - electrical malfunction, can bus off and derating (eps thermal protection). The mdps (electric power steering module) was replaced, but i am still very leery that this could happen again, and at interstate speeds, where the vehicle might not be controllable, as it was barely brought to the median at lower speeds.
STEERING,

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2011 HYUNDAI SONATA with 5087.0 miles

My wife was driving approximately 20-30mph, the electric power steering catastrophically failed, and did not fail over to manual steering. The steering wheel and column started violently shaking left to right and my wife was just barely able to get the car to the median, getting a blister on her hand in the process of trying to control the wheel, where she had it towed home and eventually to the dealership. The dealership pulled dtcs C1259, C1616, C1603, steering angle sensor - electrical malfunction, can bus off and derating (eps thermal protection). The mdps (electric power steering module) was replaced, but i am still very leery that this could happen again, and at interstate speeds, where the vehicle might not be controllable, as it was barely brought to the median at lower speeds.
STEERING,

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2008 HYUNDAI ELANTRA with 13064.0 miles

The power steering failed while driving my 2008 Hyundai Elantra at the speed limit on a 4 lane, non divided highway in rush hour traffic. I was driving my car to work in normal morning rush hour traffic. I was about 7 miles into a normal 10 mile commute. There was no warning. While moving at the speed limit, the steering wheel locked up. My initial thought was that the car had somehow stalled. I rapidly pumped the brakes to slow down and warn other cars. It is a manual transmission, so i depressed the clutch and pressed the accelerator. I heard the engine rev, so i realized it was power steering failure, not a stall. I continued to pumped the brakes and fought with the steering to maintain control. I am old enough to have driven cars that did not have power steering, but steering in this condition was more difficult than that. I slowed the car without incident and managed to pull it into a parking lot. I realized that the parking lot was connected to a side street and was only a block away from the dealer where i purchased the vehicle, so i drove the car onto their lot. The dashboard showed one red light, 'eps". Only after stepping out of the car did i realize how shaken up i was, it was probably poor judgment to drive even that one block. I left the car for them to service. From the service write-up: upon insp tech found steering angle sensor is defective. Code C1259, & C1290 present. Tech replaced sensor & cleared code. Oper to mfr spec. The dealership did this under warranty, no charge. They also performed 2 other recalls related to airbags while the car was there. I purchased this car new from this dealer and they are the only ones to ever service it. I have no reason to fault the dealer, i appreciate their work. For the car however, this is a dangerous situation. I had no prior warning of any type that the steering was defective or would fail. It failed while the vehicle was moving. This incident could have had very dire results.
STEERING,