Quick question: handling snow tire procurement for my brother-in-law, and wondering about TPMS on the Focus. On some cars, going without TPMS has other consequences (IIRC, I can't turn off the traction control on my wife's Honda if TPMS is disabled). Anything strange happen on the Focus beyond having an idiot light on all the time?
How bad are they to swap on the focus? I picked up a set for the Fiat on eBay for $50 and the car programs itself when I change sets. It seemed like a small price to pay to not have the light on four months a year.
Don't know for sure about 2014, but up thru 2012 the Focus and Transit Connect TPMS system was separate from anything else. I haven't had TPMS sensors on my 2010 TC for 3 years. All it does is turn on the light in the cluster.
IIRC the stability control won't work if the TPMS light is on. The theory is that it doesn't know if you have a low/overinflated tire so anything it does may be as harmful as it is helpful, so it defaults to doing nothing.
Fords are awesome about TPMS, though. They will self-relearn new sensors, sometimes in as little as one wheel rotation, so when you get the snow tire package, get sensors mounted and don't worry about it.
I broke a sensor on my '14 Fiesta ST while mounting tires on the insanely difficult wheels and haven't had any noticeable consequences aside from a light on the dash and a message on the nav screen at startup. Stability/Traction control and Torque Vectoring still work completely normally.
I run my '13 Fiesta snows without TPMS. The light comes on, after awhile it bugs me so I put a piece of tape over it.
Everything else works as normal.
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