2016 MERCEDES-BENZ Metris

The contact owns a 2016 Mercedes-Benz Metris. The contact stated that while driving at 40 MPH, the steering wheel seized, and the vehicle became difficult to maneuver. The contact stated that the failure occurred immediately after driving over a speed bump, and the message "Power Steering Assist Malfunction" was displayed. The contact pulled over into a parking lot, and the vehicle was towed to a body shop to be diagnosed. The contact was informed that the power steering wire had overheated, causing a failure. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 17V595000 (Steering); however, the VIN was not included. The manufacturer was not made aware of the failure. The failure mileage was approximately 75,000.

I was driving down a smooth straight highway at 60 mph when the power steering completely failed. After that the van was nearly impossible to turn even a slight amount. If the road had been a bunch of curves I wouldn't have been able to make it to a safe place to pull over. Mercedes had recall campaign #17V595000 that addressed this problem but when I called them they said there are no active recalls for my VIN number. This is a very dangerous failure and I hope you can look into it. Also the van only has 60,000 miles on it. Thanks

The aluminum bolts that hold the power steer motor failed: one bolt was sheered off, one was completely missing, and another was completely unthreaded. Apparently, this is a known recall in some states but not WA: [XXX] I'm unclear why my WA-based aluminum bolts were not a part of the recall and replacement with steel bolts... INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

The contact owns a 2016 Mercedes-Benz Metris. The contact stated that while driving downhill approximately 60 MPH, the steering wheel became very difficult to turn in either direction. During the failure the "Power Steering Assist" message was displayed. The contact stated that the failure occurred immediately after driving over a metal gutter in the road. After stopping and restarting the vehicle the failure was no longer present and the vehicle operated normally. The cause of the failure was not yet determined. The local dealer and manufacturer were notified of the failure and informed the contact that the VIN was not included in the NHTSA Campaign Number: 17V595000 (Steering). The contact stated that the vehicle had experienced the failure listed in the recall. The failure mileage was 43,000.

The contact owns a 2016 Mercedes-Benz Metris. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the vehicle experienced a loss of power steering assist. The contact related the failure to NHTSA Campaign Number: 17V595000 (Steering). The vehicle was taken to the dealer, who informed the contact that the VIN was not included in the NHTSA Campaign Number: 17V595000 (Steering). The vehicle was not repaired. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure and referred the contact to file a complaint with the NHTSA Hotline. The failure mileage was approximately 150,000.

2016 Metris Cargo Van - 29K Miles Upon leaving Gila Bend, AZ headed west I entered the freeway onramp, driving over a grate in the pavement. The power steering warning light came on and I immediately lost power steering. I had the van towed back to Chandler AZ for repairs. The dealer paid to replace the power steering rack. I have attached the work order that shows the repairs that were made. I am concerned that this didn't solve the problem and that this may occur again. I drive on mountain roads in the San Diego, the Eastern Sierra and in Arizona. I don't feel safe in this van losing steering at freeway speeds or down a mountain pass. Maureen in San Diego

I lost all ability to steer the van. When the steering wheel was turned, a noise was made, but the vehicle did not respond. The vehicle had to be towed to a repair shop. Upon inspection, the mechanic told us the power steering motor had completely broken off and was hanging loose of the rack and pinion/gear system that should support it. A vehicle should be able to go more than 55,000 miles without the power steering motor falling off! There was no prior warning to the system breaking. We didn't see any warning lights or notice any steering issues prior to the break. The break occurred when we were slowing down to park. We were then unable to steer after parking. The local mechanic initially refused to complete the repair because he was able to locate a current recall with the exact problem our vehicle experienced (Recall VS2SCHRALU). The recall was for our state with the same make, model and year of our van. When we contacted the Mercedes dealership, they stated our vehicle's VIN wasn't included in the recall identified by our mechanic. The Mercedes employee offered to "look" at our vehicle, but said all fees would be our responsibility because the VIN wasn't included in the recall. We decided to go with a local mechanic because the Mercedes dealership would have required a one-hour tow. Also, the dealership stated it could be up to 2 weeks before they could complete the repair. Our daughter requires a wheelchair and this is her accessible vehicle. She couldn't be without transportation for that length of time. The vehicle is now repaired. I'll upload the photos from the mechanic and the repair bill.

ON 9/13/18 WHILE DRIVING US95 IN NEVADA , THE POWER STEERING ASSIST FAILED WHILE CROSSING CENTER LINE RUMBLE STRIPS TO PASS. THERE WAS A WARNING TONE AND AN ERROR MESSAGE APPEARED ON INSTRUMENT CLUSTER. THERE WAS NO POWER ASSIST. THIS WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DESERT, SO I CONTINUED DRIVING. AFTER STOPPING FOR A BATHROOM BREAK, THE STEERING WORKED AGAIN WHEN I STARTED THE VAN. MINUTES LATER, IT FAILED AGAIN. I CONTINUED TO A GAS STATION. AFTER RESTARTING THE VAN, THE STEERING ASSIST WORKED AGAIN UNTIL I GOT HOME. I TOOK IT TO MERCEDES. THE ENTIRE STEERING RACK, ELECTRIC MOTOR, AND CONTROL MODULE WERE REPLACED. ON 9/19/2019 ON THE SAME STRETCH OF US95 IN NEVADA, WHILE CROSSING THE CENTER LINE RUMBLE STRIPS TO PASS, THE POWER ASSIST FAILED AGAIN. I PULLED OVER, REMOVED THE KEY, CLOSED THE DOORS. 5 MINUTES LATER, I RESTARTED AND THE STEERING WAS FINE. ON 8/9/2020 ON I80 APPROX 30 MILES WEST OF SALT LAKE CITY, IN A CONSTRUCTION ZONE, LANES WERE SHIFTED TO THE LEFT AND THEN RIGHT. WHILE MOVING LEFT ACROSS UNEVEN CONCRETE, THE POWER STEERING ASSIST FAILED AGAIN (WARNING TONE + ERROR MESSAGE). I PULLED OVER AT THE NEXT OFF RAMP, TURNED OFF THE VAN, REMOVED THE KEYS AND WAITED 5 MINUTES. AFTER RESTARTING, THE POWER STEERING ASSIST WORKED AGAIN. I DESCRIBED MY PROBLEM AT HTTPS://WWW.METRISFORUM.COM/THREADS/POWER-STEERING-MALFUNCTION-MESSAGE.9827/ (I AM USER TREE95). USER EXVANAGON DESCRIBES THE SAME ISSUE CROSSING AN EXPANSION JOINT. USER RRASMUSS@BELLSOUTH.NET DESCRIBES THE SAME THING ON RUMBLE STRIPS. USER VANZ CREATED A NEW THREAD: HTTPS://WWW.METRISFORUM.COM/THREADS/POWER-STEERING-MALFUNCTION.9538/ HIS OCCURRED CROSSING A CATTLE GRATE. USER DOUBLEDEUCE HAS HAD THE SAME FAILURE.

LOSS OF POWER STEERING WHEN DRIVING OVER CATTLE GRATES ON TWO SEPARATE OCCASIONS. FIRST TIME LOSS OF POWER STEERING AT 55MPH ON A TWO LANE HIGHWAY AND SECOND TIME LOSS OF POWER STEERING AT 30MPH WHEN ENTERING A FREEWAY ON-RAMP. AN ERROR MESSAGE DISPLAYS ON THE SCREEN 'POWER STEERING MALFUNCTION SEE OWNERS MANUAL'. ON BOTH OCCASIONS WE PULLED OFF TO THE SIDE OF THE ROAD AND TURNED OFF THE ENGINE, REMOVED THE KEY FROM THE IGNITION, AND WAITED A COUPLE OF MINUTES. AFTER WAITING A COUPLE MINUTES, WE INSERTED THE KEY AND STARTED THE ENGINE TO FIND THE POWER STEERING ERROR MESSAGE WAS GONE AND POWER STEERING WAS RESTORED TO A FULLY FUNCTIONAL STATE. THE FIRST AND SECOND LOSS OF POWER STEERING WERE SEPARATED BY A FEW DAYS AND AROUND 500 MILES.