Pwyll

I brought my 350 in today for the 5K service and to have my winter tires removed and the summers put on. My "change oil soon" light came on last week and it was bugging me to see it every day, so I turned it off. When the oil change was done and they didn't see the light to reset, they reset the "ECU" computer, which also resets the adaptive transmission.

I never really knew how much the car learns your driving style. Because I only drive 1/2 mile each way to the train station (I commute into Manhattan every day), the car only learned that kind of shifting. Actually I was told that the car uses the driving characteristics for the first 1,000 miles to learn your driving style . I'm not sure if that is true, I thought it was continuously learning.

Anyway, lately I felt like the car had poor off the line acceleration.

When I picked the car up today after the reset, I couldn't believe how different it felt. It was like the rocket it was when I picked it up new.

Considering this, I am going to ask Lexus to reset the ECU at every oil change. If some of you out there are experiencing the same thing, I recommend it.

joonsta

What if you have a lot of traffic in your area (Los Angeles) ?

hapaboy

this might be a dumb question, but how do you know they reset the ECU?

acl15

how do you reset the ecu anyways? disconnect the battery for 30mins?

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

Just do this. It works.

GOBUCS

You can reset the ECU yourself pretty easily. Lobuxracer has posted this a while back. To paraphrase somewhat: If you remove the EFI and ETCS fuses from the fuse box on the drivers side shock tower for more than one minute, the ECU will reset, without losing your radio or seat settings. Use a flat head screw driver to pop the fuse cover top off. { Have a pair of needle nose pliers handy when you are ready to pull out the 2 small fuses.} The top of the fuse box has a nice diagram of all the fuses on the underside of it. 3rd row from the left, The EFI fuse is a 25 amp fuse next to the 20amp fuse at the front of the box. ECTS fuse is the 10 amp toward the back of the box, third from the back. I have done this several times without a hitch, and now I have a mark on the fuse box to easily label the 2 fuses to take out for easy reference. One note though... each time I have done this, when you go to start the car, it will putter like twice and then not start. Try again and it is fine. Freaked me out the first time, thought I was screwed. Did the same exact thing when I reset the ECU months later.

I did notice a big change the first time I did this, but that was back when my car was new, and I was taking it a little easy during the {what??} break in period. Several months later, the second time I tried this, after driving robustly, I did not really notice a change at all.

SO, If you drive like a sissy, or are constantly stuck in traffic, you will notice a nice kick in the pants when you reset the ECU. If you drive like me, not so much.

GOBUCS

Damn Lobuxracer, you beat me to it

On a side bar, I really enjoy your posts. Whenever I happen to see those molten headers, I'll always make a note to read what you have to say. You seem to know what you are talking about:}

cancellino

Nice Post - Thanks for the information.

cancellino

So I tried this today...figured why not - right? The car didnt start the first time, but second try was just like normal. Took it out and to my amazement it worked. It's like a new car again (only 2200 mles on It)

NOTE: There is a fuse puller in the block (white - to the right of the wire harness). Again Great Post - Thanks

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

I've put lightweight flywheels in 7 Scion tCs now in my garage. Part of the process is removing the battery completely from the car. I told every single owner to expect exactly this - sputter, no start, then fire on second attempt. It was true for all but one. One of them (for reasons I don't understand) fired right up on the first start cycle. But you are quite correct to warn about this. It scares a lot of people (and rightly so, I think.)

caymandive

iTrader: (2)

I have a dumb question about resetting with the battery method. Does it make a difference if you disconnect the positive or the negative?

Dj_AmtraX

iTrader: (2)

So, should I do some aggressive driving after this process for better performance???

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

No, but usually the negative lead is easier to remove. Not sure about the ISx50 though. I never remove the battery unless I absolutely have to. I hate losing all the presets. I've even seen a gizmo you can plug into the cigarette lighter with a 9v battery to hold all the presets when you disconnect the battery. Of course it defeats the whole ECM reset thing. I just do the fuses...

Batmobile

iTrader: (2)

yeah that's the same question i had... if the car takes roughly 1000 miles to "learn" how you drive should i drive like an a-hole everyday?

Pwyll

I'm glad to see this has been successful for some of you guys.

Question. I understand that if you disconnect the negative to the battery, the radion presets will be wiped. What about other presets such as seats, etc. BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY, THE NAVIGATION SETTINGS??

Anybody know?

Thanks