Citroen C3 (2009 – 2017) Electric Power Steering Rack

The Citroën C3 (2009–2017) is a light supermini built for town and city driving, and its electric power steering is tuned to make low-speed manoeuvring effortless. On the C3 the assist motor and control electronics sit on the steering column itself — a column-type EPS unit — and it is those electronics, rather than the mechanical steering, that fail. When they do, the easy low-speed steering the C3 is known for disappears and the wheel turns heavy. We repair the C3’s original EPS column and control module at component level and return your own unit, reinforced against the fault returning rather than swapped for a like-for-like part with the same flaw.

What fails inside the EPS unit

The failure is electronic. Inside the column-mounted EPS unit, the control module and motor circuitry break down internally, so the module can no longer drive the assist motor as it should and the power assistance is lost. The mechanical steering — the rack, the track rods, the column shaft — is almost always sound; it is the board inside the unit that gives out, which is why a garage that focuses on the mechanical parts finds nothing wrong.

How you’ll notice it

Because the C3 spends most of its life at parking and city speeds, the loss of assistance is impossible to miss — the steering suddenly needs real effort exactly where it used to be light. The EPS warning light comes on.

• Total loss of power assistance — often intermittent to begin with, then permanent
• Heavy steering that is hardest when parking and manoeuvring
• EPS warning light illuminated on the dashboard
• Assistance cutting out and returning before it goes for good

The fault codes

• P0606 — internal control-module fault
• C1404 — electric power steering control fault
• C1414 — power steering motor internal fault

Each is internal to the EPS unit’s own electronics rather than the surrounding steering hardware — an internal electronic component breakdown, not a mechanical one.

Repair and return — keep your original C3 unit

Because the fault lies in the control electronics, your C3’s original EPS column can be repaired at component level instead of replaced with a costly complete assembly. Ours is a mail-in repair-and-return service: you send in the failing unit, our in-house team of electronics engineers carry out circuit-level board repair on the control module and motor circuitry, and we return your own unit — repaired to meet or exceed OE specification with the weak points reinforced. Most remanufactured parts carry a lifetime, unlimited-mileage warranty, and because it is your original unit its coding is retained, with many returned ready to fit. For a small everyday car that owners rely on for the daily run, keeping downtime short matters — repairing the unit you already have avoids sourcing and coding a replacement to your exact car.

After checkout, print the repair form, note the symptoms and any codes your C3 has shown, and pack it in the box with the EPS unit — sending it to us ahead of the part works just as well. It keeps your details with the unit so the repair starts as soon as it arrives. If you would first like to confirm the column unit is the right part, the rest of our electric power steering repair service explains the related components we rebuild.