XxAfG786xX

Got this from , some useful info here...enjoy

Resetting your ECU. Your ECU is your cars brain. It tells your engine what to do and how to do it based on tons of readings it recieves along with how much throttle is being applied and so on.

After you perform any modification to your car. You should reset your ecu so it can clear its memory and re-learn and adapt to the new parts. Instead of having it try to optimize in with its old parts. Its best to reset and let it learn from the new setup....instead of trying to get it to forget the old.

It can be easily done by unplugging the negative battery cable connection. If I remember correctly my chilton manual says 30 seconds. I still try to leave it off as long as possible. Into the night and possibly next morning if you can.

Then you connect the cable back on. Then start the car outside , let it run till its full warm. Normally 5-10minutes during the summer. Some wait till they hear the fan kick on....but you really just need to see the temp gauge at its normal operation position. Do not touch the gas pedal. Then once warmed.

Shut off and use when you are ready.

Also some like to take the car out and run it hard around 3times. Basically 1st through 3rd like you are racing. Of course this sounds kinda weird , I dont know if to believe this. But it cant hurt and it sounds logical , so it doesnt get some weak run and try to learn from that , you immediatly feed it some hard runs to set it self to and you should be good.

You also have to reset it for every mod. I also do it for every season change. This also lets your car adjust to the environment , different humidites and oxygen levels and densities. All are different variables that can effect your cars performance. So to take full advantage , you again want your car to learn and base its settings off a smaller period of time. So resetting it in lets say winter, its like its whole life was driven in the winter , and so on and so forth. Instead of having it try to adapt from its summer time conditions over to the winter...its best to just start fresh.

-- NOTE , do not try resetting your ecu when you have any sort of fuel additives or things in your car that you wouldnt normally have. So fuel cleaners , higher octane fuel , different fuel than you normally run...dont try this then.

Bearcat94

How does resetting the ECU (i.e. disconnecting the battery) effect saved settings for Seat/Mirror memory D1 & D2, Radio Stations Presets D1 & D2, MID Light/Lock Settings, MID Trip Computer, etc?

Is all of that lost?

XxAfG786xX

i think so

erick3

hm...its been about a year since i've actually put in my exhaust and intake...should i still reset the ecu? wow...this is freaking great info! i never knew you could even reset the ecu! thanks a lot!

Buda

iTrader: (1)

I've reset the ECU on my car a few times and I don't remember ever having to reset the seat/mirror memory or the radio presets.

erick3

k....besides "drivin' it like you stole it"

Bearcat94

^^

Remember, the ECU also "learns" shift points based on driving styles. If you're lead-footed and want the auto to hold gears longer, then it makes sense.

If most days you drive like grandpa, then not so much.



Buda - thanks. I seem to remember something about a certain amount of time before settings are lost. Maybe 10 minutes. Not sure - could be alzhiemers.

ballinfizzle89

iTrader: (6)

Bearcat..good info, never thought that it ACTUALLY learned to that extent

BLACKURA_NY

iTrader: (6)

whenever i work on my car for any type of mod, i disconnect the battery for... sometimes for hours at a time... and the Radio pre-sets and memory seats are always exactly where i left them

just make SURE you have your navi/radio codes!

Bearcat94

^^

I guess that's good news and bad news.

Good news: the settings are "sticky", even after the battery is disconnected for a long time.

Bad news: I'm getting alzhiemers. BLACKURA_NY welcome to AZ and why is your avatar white?

BLACKURA_NY

iTrader: (6)

umm.. lol.. i had a black one, im sure you had seen it before... search my name, it comes up... but, an unfortunate accident (brake failure due to vsa/hydraulic system malfunction paired with a Rotora BBK) left me with a WDP 08 TL-S....

ballinfizzle89

iTrader: (6)

.........basically......he's a traitor


haha

THTL

iTrader: (2)

so the steps for reseting your ECU are
1. Disconnect negative battery cable( for at least 1 mintute)
2.reconnect the negative cable then start the car without pressing on the gas pedal.
3.let engine run for 10-15 mins or whenever fan are on.
4.turn off engine
RIGHT ?

stillhere153

iTrader: (1)

wat size is the nutt 8 or 10?

XxAfG786xX

I need to restart my ECU, after exhaust and pulley mods

S PAW 1

I installed a K&N intake today on my '07 TL-S. Disconnected the negative for about 5 minutes. Had to reenter 4 digit radio code, but that was it.

01tl4tl

On gen2 cars we can pull the clock backup fuse- thats the actual power to the ECU
may be same for gen3
If you read the manual about making sure your car is ready for emsssions testing, you will learn a more detailed way to reprogram the car- you have to drive it- not idle it

You dont need to disconnect the battery overnight- just disconnect and clean the cables for a few minutes and reattach. Just cleaning them helps the car too!

If you are reprogramming for temp and season- go read about fuel injection and the whole system in the car and then stop doing that.
When you do a mod that will affect airflow in or out, or crank pulley speed, do the battery trick and reset ecu

princelybug

iTrader: (16)

And most likely the navi code, too, if you have navi.

BLACKURA_NY

iTrader: (6)

stillhere

the nuts on the battery are 10mm... just like 99% of the nuts and bolts on this car... i swear, (1) socket wrech and (1) screwdriver, i'll have this in pieces in a couple hours

princelybug

iTrader: (16)

-- NOTE , do not try resetting your ecu when you have any sort of fuel additives or things in your car that you wouldnt normally have. So fuel cleaners , higher octane fuel , different fuel than you normally run...dont try this then.

^^^ I just reset mine, went through all that trouble and I just remembered that I recently put some octane booster and gas treatment in my car. I guess that means I'll be resetting my ecu AGAIN, in several hundred miles.

stillhere153

iTrader: (1)

99% of those visible... everything underneath the plastic is 12mm or 14mm lol

S PAW 1

Actually, I was mistaken. It asked for the 4 digit NAVI code, not the radio code. The radio code is 5 numbers
Thanks for the double check, princelybug

S PAW 1

Don't forget the 8mm for the air cleaner box,
Quite an assortment

Buda

iTrader: (1)

Or the 17mm in the fork on the suspension

sT04Louis

iTrader: (5)

Just a note to all this. Once you disconnect your battery and hook everything back up your check engine light may come on when the key is in the II position.

The light will remain on for 20 seconds then blink a few times. (exact number is in the manual) This is cleary letting you know that the emissions log was also reset with the ECU and to not take your car in for a emmisions check for DEQ.

The length of time that the light stays on depends on how much you drive. Mine took about 2-3 weeks to turn off. But it is nothing to worry about.

Tripnbeats

I do it everyother oil change after the oil meter is refreshed and at 100%

sT04Louis

iTrader: (5)

Sounds like a bit much...

You can reset your Oil Life itself https://acurazine.com/forums/showthread.php?t=172535

XxAfG786xX

I just disconnect my battery and let it stay off for an hour, then started it back up, 10 minutes in idle, then drove home...I wanted to test my car but it was raining so maybe some other day...the car does seem more responsive and faster i guess...

THTL

iTrader: (2)

did you disconnected both the pos and neg or just the negative.

XxAfG786xX

just the negative

01tl4tl

Once you disconnect the NEG cable there is no power going to the car
As long as its off- pull the POS cable and clean them

Tripnbeats

the techs reset ur settings after every visit to acura.....y not do it during oil changes....right out the cage the car feels 100000000000000times better

SouthernBoy

This is a technique that was commonly used for the '87 and '88 Mustangs with the 302CID engines. Those cars used the EEC-IV ECU which was a speed density system. In 1989, Ford went with their EEC-V ECU which was Mass Air based. What would happen is at the drags, people would remove the negative cable for a period, then hook back up and make some passes down the track. The ECU quickly learned the new operating requirements and used the proper set of parameters.

The ECU in the TL is also a speed density unit.. we have no MAF in our cars. The ECU will learn about any new bolt-ons such as CAI's or exhaust systems, so you don't really need to disconnect and reconnect the negative cable.. just driver the car around a bit; it will learn what it needs to know. However, disconnecting and reconnecting the cable will speed up the learning process.

Atrain

SothernBoy,

I have to correct some of your post, being I bleed Ford, I have no choice.

This is not true in regards to the EEC. In 1989 (actually late 1988) Ford switched to Mass Air, I concur 100%. However, the EEC-V with OBD-II was not introduced until 1994 when the Ford Thunderbird with the 4.6L SOHC V-8 got it. Also, some of the Windstar vans with the 3.8L got EEC-V in 1994.

The Mustang never saw the EEC-V system until 1996.

Not exactly true. The EEC-IV and EEC-V when cut from the KAM (keep alive memory) will default to the factory settings or to whatever is the "stock" program in the PCM. The EEC cannot learn until it reaches a certain coolant temperature (mostly adiabatic efficiency). Let's be very clear about this since most people get this wrong and all car makers program there cars like this.

The PCM switches loop based on time, not engine coolant temperature. Nothing else determines when the engine goes from open to closed loop then time. On the new Mustang, the EEC switches loop in almost 2 seconds.

Once the ECT is reached, the adaptive strategy is allowed to take place but the EEC-IV and EEC-V can only compensate for +/- 25% of changes.

Also the EEC-IV and EEC-V make adaptive changes in open and closed loop. The updates only occur in closed loop mode.

Since WOT is calculated any adaptive learning at Part throttle is applied to WOT. Open loop is when you are richer than 14.64:1 A/F ratio and no longer using the oxygen sensors for feedback.

The EEC-IV & V do not have the ability to adapt to certain changes so changing a throttle body and resetting the EEC will do nothing for performance. The only gain would be if the TPS was so old it was almost out of range.

I find it hard to imagine that resetting the PCM on the TL will do anything to speed up learning. Once the PCM compares what it is learning to the stored tables it will adjust somewhat but it's not a 2 year old kid...it just doesn't work like that.

Also some people mention (not you SouthernBoy) shift schedule changes and shift firmness when you allow the PCM to relearn. This is complete BS. On the Ford PCM (EEC-IV & V and Black Oak Processor) coupled to any automatic (AOD-E, 4R70W, 4R100, 5R55W, 5R55E, etc.) the calibrations for the transmission are not altered by the EEC from adaptive strategy. This means it doesn't learn to shift higher or harder based on a cold air induction or supercharger.

I have a very intricate understanding of the 4R70W and later transmission so I can explain exactly how the system works. Even why you hit the stock rev limiter on the Mustang or T-Bird when you change rear gear ratios. I have data logged hours of PCM data from various cars.

Again I find it hard to believe Honda engineers allow the 3.2L TL PCM to adapt past 25% as well. I have driven my TL enough to know that it functions just like any other computer and without a Mass Air meter you are at the limit of a speed density system.

A-Train

TylerT

iTrader: (1)

Atrain cracks me up.

I will reset the ECU right now; I got my pulley on yesterday.

djarovsky

Go with the clock/backup fuse pull for the reset (or whichever fuse it is in the 3rd gen) instead of removing the negative battery terminal.....it'll reset the ECU and should only kill your radio presets. If you do the neg battery terminal, you risk having to do the learn procedures for the auto windows and possibly some other items.....it will depend on your model and generation.

After the reset, just follow the idle learn procedure.....and yes, you need to drive your car around afterwards for a bit to reset all of the OBDII monitors, should you need to go in for emissions testing....otherwise you'll fail, even with no CEL on. I believe it requires some driving at highway speeds.

I won't go into all the details, as the Helm's manual explains it all.

If you don't have one.....you are missing out on the best info for your car, written by Honda/Acura. It is the best $75 or so investment you can make.

Good luck!

Evader

Great Knowledge man! I had the 88 Mustang, I really miss her sometimes. mostly on those nice summer afternoons... Oh well thanks for bringing back some memories. I concur with everything you said, well put.. you really do bleed ford blood.


As for resetting the ecu. I only do it when there is a change in season. Also as others have said, resetting will not affect your personal settings.. You will only need the Navi and Radio code

SouthernBoy

I also had an '88 black Mustang LX Hatchback 302CID. I ordered car in October '87 and took delivery on January 19, 1988, 13 weeks 3 days later. Because of CAFE, Ford could only produce 60,000 V8 Mustangs in '87 and they had orders for over 80,000, so I had to wait a bit longer for mine to get built. I found the build sheet under a front seat.. it was built on January 4th.

Anyway, in 1990, I replaced the 3.08's with 3.55's. I also installed FlowMaster 2-chamber mufflers, a 2-pulley reduction kit, K&N filter, JBA Shorty headers, and a Hyper-Tech chip. Of course the first month I had it, the air silencer under the right front hood found the trash can. The JBA's developed a head pipe leak so the stock shorty headers went back on. Also I used to run the timing at 12 degrees initial advance (factory was 10). With the Hyper-Tech chip (really a bolt on to the rear port of the ECU), this caused a lot of pinging, so I had to retard the timing to 8 degrees. That hurt throttle response, so I removed the chip and came up with something else.

As A-Train mentioned, the EEC-IV keyed on coolant temperature as one of its criteria. So I bought the largest Hayden transmission oil cooler I could find (I looked just like a mini radiator) and hung it just behind the grill in front of the condenser. I ran the lines to the EGR nipples and returned the timing to 12 degrees. It felt like the engine pulled as hard as it had with the Hyper-Tech chip.

Anyway, that '88 Mustang ranks as one of the most reliable and enjoyable cars I have ever owned. One strange thing, though. It blew my mind when I did the first oil change and found TWO drain plugs in the crankcase!.

dhkkim

where is the dvd navi code? (i think it was on the manual that i stored in garage somewhere)

darksky

Do the fans actually need to come on for this to be successful? I did this this morning (35 °F here) and let it run for 20 min. The fans didn't come on and I stopped the engine. The temp gauge was between the 5th and 6th tick mark -- nearly pointing to 3 o'clock.