What caused the power steering and brakes to fail on our Ford Focus?

My wife was driving our 2004 Ford Focus 1.8 petrol model yesterday when the steering became heavy and the brakes hardly worked. The onboard computer displayed the messages "engine system failure" and "braking system failure" and a red warning light was displayed. The AA man could find nothing wrong so he accompanied my wife to the local Ford garage. At the moment they are scratching their heads. We had a very similar occurrence when the car was under warranty. Is there any information available from your "data bank" please?

Asked on 7 August 2010 by John Robinson

Answered by Honest John
If the engine stalls there will be nothing to power assist the steering or brakes so they will both become stiffer.
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