Many people enjoy working on their vehicles and upgrade their’s components.
However, many have no idea that it’s necessary to reset the ECU as well as the throttle body in order to acquire maximum performance results!
Go through this simple step-by-step DIY guide and learn what is ECU, the important ECU reset benefits, and the actual process of doing it!
What is ECU?
You might know that the ECU is a part of your car, however, you may not know whats it’s function or what it do.
This is especially true if you unintentionally reset your vehicle’s ECU by detaching the battery to work on something.
Likewise, if your battery died, then the ECU may have reset.
The ECU is just one of the primary brains of the car. ECU stands for Engine Control Unit or Engine Control Module.
The task of the ECU is to manage various actuators in the engine to ensure that the engine runs at top efficiency.
It does this by understanding specific information. That info is how much air is entering into the engine, how much exhaust is coming out, how much gas is being injected into the engine, and various other things like that.
How do you know your car’s powertrain control modules require a reset?
Resetting your car’s ECM is not a choice you make overnight. The initial step includes determining whether the ECM functions are stable or harmed in any way.
A few of the signs that you may witness in the process include:
- Check engine light beaming brightly on your dashboard suggests that the engine control module has an issue. This can lead to poor sensors or shorts in the engine circuits. A diagnosis is necessary to determine the main difficulty.
- Delaying and engine misfires indicate that there’s an issue with the ECM. The erratic patterns may not be regular, and severity might vary from one to another.
Additionally, the car might decelerate while driving. The engine power might reduce revealing engine performance issues.
- If the car cannot start after turning the ignition key, the ECM is not functioning properly. Without vital inputs from the ECM, the car can’t start and therefore may need jump-starting to get it going.
Nevertheless, before choosing this as the diagnosis, make sure the auto technicians dig deeper into the car difficulties for the appropriate diagnostics.
- If the car is taking in a lot more gas compared to previously, then the ECM is not working as it should. It is responsible for the combustion procedure, which aims to ensure effectiveness in gas consumption. By fixing this, you save a lot more in gas costs.
Why Should I Reset My Car’s ECU? ECU Reset Benefits:
Few people know that when you reset your ECU after small bolt-on mods the car learns the new driving conditions and performs much better, so here is a DIY guide regarding how to manually reset your ECU and throttle.
Step by Step Ecu and Throttle Reset Procedure:
- First of all, what you have to do is to detach the negative lead from the battery for a minimum of 45 mins. Some professionals suggest this duration to be about 12 hrs however that’s not really needed.
- After 45 mins have passed, you can go on and reconnect the battery negative lead.
- The following step is to enter the car and place the ignition key in, turn to MAR and leave for 90 secs.
- The next step, turn off the ignition, however, ensure that you don’t eliminate the key. Leave for around 90 secs.
- After you have waited for 90 secs go on and start the engine. Don’t touch the throttle and allow the car to idle for 15 mins or else the car will not rev easily afterward.
- You will need to turn the car off once again and leave it for 10 another mins.
Congratulations my dear DIY expert, you have successfully done this job. You can now start your car and take it for a ride!
Final thought
Car owners must constantly perform car maintenance for durability and proper functionality. An ECM can reveal when there are mistakes, and you can take the action to fix the situation.
Once maintenance and adjustment procedures are complete, you can now proceed and reset the ECM. Comply with the easy steps given by DIY Auto Service above to reset your engine control module.
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