Reboot your ECU day

[Perry]

I've posted this before and was generally scoffed at..I'll try again.
My cooper s engine is mildly modifed with alta intake, Borla exhaust, and Helix pulley.
I've noticed over time...1-2 months or so the car gradually loses the _just tuned_ feel that I had after installing the intake, and again after installing the pulley.
Disconnecting the battery for a few minutes results in the immediate return of all the power.
The engine pulls harder and actually sounds a bit deeper.
I'm at the point that i do this every 2 weeks or so.
My theory is that the intake allows more air to pass, and the ecu gradually compensates and "learns" the new mixture.
Resetting the ecu returns it to original program.
Anyone willing to try this ?
perry

[obehave]

I've done that for other reasons and noticed no difference.
Disconnecting the battery doesn't reset the ECU.

[Perry]

<<Disconnecting the battery doesn't reset the ECU.>>
Why wouldn't it ? I don't have intimate knowlege of the mini ecu, but I know that modern ecu's, including my 996 911 have a learning capabilty. When tuning a porsche it took the ecu either several restarts, or a rebooting to reset the ecu to compensate for the mod.
I guess you were the scoffer last time <g> but there is no doubt that the reboot changes the feel and power of the engine.
Perry

[monsta]

I can't comment about the learning function of the ecu but I have experienced this feeling on two occasions.

1) When I added the JCW cone filter, the intake of the engine seemed a deeper note for a couple of weeks and then it settled down.
2) When my software was upgraded, the car felt smoother and more reponsive, better starting etc. After a few weeks it was back to normal.

Maybe it's all in the mind, but I'm certain I noticed differences!

[punkeyfunky]

I would expect that the ECU has an on board battery, so that what it /has/ learned doesn't get lost if the battery is disconnected. I've previously disconnected my battery (for installing electronics) and noticed not a jot of difference upon restarting.

I'm not 'scoffing', rather, trying to remain objective.

-Lee

[Red Dwarf]

Interesting question Perry.

I've been doing some reading on this (I'm definitely not an expert!) one and found out the following bits.

If you disconnect the battery you will most likely set some of the ecu settings back to a default, but not all. This might appear to change the car's performance afterwards becuase it will have to relearn some of the sensor changes that have built up over time previously. (This may, or may not be noticeable depending on how you drive your car anyhow) However, from the stuff I read it suggested that by doing so, the car would be more likely to run less smoothly for a day or so whilst it does relearn. The negative effect that might occur doing it so frequently though, is that the ECU learns these things precisely so that the engine can run at its most effective. Getting it to learn again MIGHT, over time cause additional wear to components whilst relearning.

Therefore, it does seem to partly make sense Perry that ECU's do learn.

As I say, I'm no expert, just thought that this was interesting enough to read up on.

[Perry]

<<When I added the JCW cone filter, the intake of the engine seemed a deeper note for a couple of weeks and then it settled down.
2) When my software was upgraded, the car felt smoother and more reponsive, better starting etc. After a few weeks it was back to norma>>

Well...how about you disconnect the battery terminal for about 10 minutes and let me know what happens.
FYI..just don't close the rear hatch.
I do not believe that there is any battery in the ecu.There is no mention of it anywhere as a maintenace item, in this, or for that matter any car I know of,and we know batteries don't last forever.
Perry

[obehave]

The ECU is not reset by detaching the battery.
Read this thread and pay particular attention to MINITech. He knows what he's talking about. It's been discussed A LOT here and the reality is all learned parameters are not reset by disconnecting the battery.
Here's a crapload of ECU threads
It takes a very expensive machine at the dealers to do this.
Yes, software updates do reset values. Both times I had mine updated the yo yo went away but this is much different than just unhooking the battery.

[ScottyB]

Quote: Originally Posted by obehave

The ECU is not reset by detaching the battery.
Read this thread and pay particular attention to MINITech. He knows what he's talking about. It's been discussed A LOT here and the reality is all learned parameters are not reset by disconnecting the battery.
Here's a crapload of ECU threads
It takes a very expensive machine at the dealers to do this.
Yes, software updates do reset values. Both times I had mine updated the yo yo went away but this is much different than just unhooking the battery.

So it got rid of the yo-yo, then it came back?

Can you just keep getting it reset? Until they find a fix?

[Perry]

,
From the mini tech
<<I just remembered, on the Mini the adaptaions are always changing, if you drive the car a certain way, lets say, driving it easy during break in, you don't have to "do a reset" after break in to get maximum performance. Just drive it as you will and it will relearn.>>

.
Adaptions are always changing.
A mod will change air flow,air speed, etc.
The ecu will change to adapt ...less advance/ more advance less fuel/ more fuel etc.
The only explanation for the return of max performance after disconecting is that the original program returns, as stored in the chip.
Continue to scoff away. Sorry it doesn't work for you
Perry

[monsta]

Quote: Originally Posted by Perry

<<When I added the JCW cone filter, the intake of the engine seemed a deeper note for a couple of weeks and then it settled down.
2) When my software was upgraded, the car felt smoother and more reponsive, better starting etc. After a few weeks it was back to norma>>

Well...how about you disconnect the battery terminal for about 10 minutes and let me know what happens.
FYI..just don't close the rear hatch.
I do not believe that there is any battery in the ecu.There is no mention of it anywhere as a maintenace item, in this, or for that matter any car I know of,and we know batteries don't last forever.
Perry

I'll give it a try and see what happens!

[obehave]

Quote: Originally Posted by ScottyB

So it got rid of the yo-yo, then it came back?

Can you just keep getting it reset? Until they find a fix?

It's only good for 100 miles or so. That could get annoying for me and the dealer And who knows how many more years it'll be until it's fixed?

[obehave]

Quote: Originally Posted by Perry

,
From the mini tech
<<I just remembered, on the Mini the adaptaions are always changing, if you drive the car a certain way, lets say, driving it easy during break in, you don't have to "do a reset" after break in to get maximum performance. Just drive it as you will and it will relearn.>>

.
Adaptions are always changing.
A mod will change air flow,air speed, etc.
The ecu will change to adapt ...less advance/ more advance less fuel/ more fuel etc.
The only explanation for the return of max performance after disconecting is that the original program returns, as stored in the chip.
Continue to scoff away. Sorry it doesn't work for you
Perry

Scoff away.
You're still wrong. We all have our on little worlds we live in.
Kidding. If it makes you happy disconnect away. Might as well just put in a battery switch to make life simpler. I've used this switch before. Nice piece and it works great.