nicks88

Ok, so this is going to probably get a lot of people commenting that I am asking a stupid question, but I am unable to find the answer anywhere. Can anyone tell me what type of information the ECU stores? To be upfront with everyone, I have a 2006 IS 350 and I am thinking about taking it for a couple of passes on the 1/4 mile. However with my extended warranty, if something were to break, would the service mechanic be able to tell if I was racing the car? I would rather keep my warranty intact than risk voiding it which is why I am coming to my good friends on Club Lexus. Thanks for your help.

iRock

iTrader: (12)

I wouldn't worry about the warranty part. I don't believe they can void your warranty for driving your car.

nicks88

iRock... That is my kind of answer!! Race on then... lol

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Now on the other hand, if you have an accident while driving on the track...that wouldn't be covered by insurance. But mechanical failures, yes...covered by the warranty no matter the location of where it happened.

nicks88

Interesting Gville350.. I will have to read the fine print on my insurance contract. That is a good point though. Thanks for bringing that to my attention.

Bichon

I disagree; the warranty specifically cites racing in the "What is not covered" section.

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

Then I must "race" everyday then! LOL! Nothing different done on my daily drive I don't do at the drag strip.

iRock

iTrader: (12)

That is what I was thinking LOL

nicks88

That brings me back to my point. How will they know I was racing vs just how accelerate getting on the freeway or something? Does the ECU store information like that?

Bichon

Gotcha. Lots of people brake torque when launching an automatic at the strip, which I assume isn't something you do on your daily drive.

Neutral dropping would be even worse, though I suspect the electronics in our tranny won't let you do it.

Bichon

The ECU stores a "freeze frame" of vehicle and engine data whenever it stores a trouble code, but it shouldn't do that during normal operation. The freeze frame has things like RPM, vehicle and engine speed, temperature, etc., but I'm not sure how they would correlate that to racing, even if you did store a code.

nicks88

Right, well I wont be power braking or neutral dropping at all. Wont even be doing a burn out in the water box. Just the simple "hit the gas pedal to the floor" when the light is about to turn green. 1 or 2 passes just to see how it goes. You guys are the best. I can always count on your feedback. Love it!

Gville350

iTrader: (10)

While on this topic, will the ecu hold in memory whether the user disengaged the T/C and VSC systems?

Bichon

Good question.

I'm pretty sure it isn't one of the values displayed on my generic scan tool, but it might be on a Techstream. (Generic scan tools don't show most of the OEM specific PIDs)

By the way, for those who have never seen what freeze frame data looks like, the image below is from a Camry, but no doubt very similar to what you'd see on an IS.

pattatted4

From my 15 years working at Toyota, I know there is a "black box" that stores all data that can be accessed by the manufacturers dealers. I do not remember how long the recording goes back though. They can use it for crash data, malfunctions, and various other nefarious "big brother' functions. They used a lot of the information in the 09-10 unintended acceleration/pedal malfunction to refute many, many claims. After a claim would come in that a consumer experienced the issue, they would corroborate the information from the "black box". In my understanding, it is different than our ECU's. Can it tell if you did a few passes at your local track, yes. They say that they cannot use it against you, but if something breaks during a pass, I would be a tad worried that they will, but I would still make the passes!!!!