Note:Do not rock the vehicle if the engineis not at normal operating temperature ordamage to the transmission may occur.
Note:Do not rock the vehicle for more thana few minutes or damage to thetransmission and tires may occur or theengine may overheat.
Sand
Most of the time traction control improvestire traction by managing wheel slipthrough brake, engine, and all-wheel drivecalibrations. However, during low speeddriving, disabling traction control in deepsand can help keep the wheels moving tomaintain vehicle momentum.
When driving over sand, try to keep all fourwheels on the most solid area of the trail.Do not reduce tire pressures, shift to alower gear and drive steadily through theterrain. Apply the accelerator slowly andavoid spinning the wheels.
When driving at slow speeds in sand underhigh outside temperatures, use a low gearwhen possible. Using a low gear maximizesengine and transmission cooling capability.
Avoid excessive speed because vehiclemomentum can work against you andcause the vehicle to become stuck to thepoint that assistance may be required fromanother vehicle. Remember, you may beable to back out the way you came if youproceed with caution.
Note:You may be able to reverse out theway you came if you proceed with caution.
Do not drive your vehicle in deep sand foran extended period of time. This couldcause the system to overheat and defaultto front-wheel drive only mode. If thisoccurs a message appears in theinformation display. To resume normalall-wheel drive function as soon aspossible, stop the vehicle in a safe locationand switch the engine off for at least 10minutes. After the all-wheel drive system
has adequately cooled and the engine hasbeen restarted, the message turns off andnormal all-wheel drive function returns. Ifyou do not switch the engine off, themessage only turns off, when the systemadequately cools and the normal all-wheeldrive function returns.
Note:Under severe operating conditions,the air conditioning may turn on and off toprotect the engine from overheating.
Mud and Water
If you must drive through water, driveslowly. Traction or brake capability maybe limited. See Driving Through Water(page 23).
Once through water, always try the brakes.Wet brakes do not stop the vehicle aseffectively as dry brakes. Drying can beimproved by moving your vehicle slowlywhile applying light pressure on the brakepedal.
Be cautious of sudden changes in vehiclespeed or direction when you are driving inmud. Even all-wheel drive vehicles can losetraction in slick mud. Apply the acceleratorslowly and avoid spinning the wheels.
After driving through mud, clean offexcessive mud that has become stuck torotating drive shafts, wheels and tires.Excessive mud stuck on these componentsmay result in an imbalance that couldcause damage not covered by the vehicleWarranty.
If the transmission, power transfer unit orrear drive unit is submerged in water haveyour vehicle checked as soon as possible.
152018 Focus RS (CEW) RS, Canada/United States of America, JM5J 19A285 LAA enUSA, Edition date: 201706, First PrintingAll-Wheel Drive
