Engine Fail Safe Mode - no codes

[ylwjacket]

This is a WAG, which is ok. My daughter was driving home last night, the X went into FS mode, and she limped home. She went to AutoZone today, and they said there were no codes. The only thing she said was it seemed slightly harder to steer.

They (AZ) checked oil, coolant, and they were fine. They couldn't find power steering or transmission checks, so they did not do those.

They told her it was most likely plugs/coils related.

The car does need an air filter, the plugs have about 70k on them, and coils are all original with 185k on them.

They explained steering feel as lack of power. Not sure I'm buying that.

There is no check engine or other warnings. Just limp hone mode last night, and nothing with whatever scanner they used.

Any thoughts on what to start to looking for?

Thanks.