For the newer members here, this is accomplished by a couple of different ways:

a.) removing the battery cable for a few minutes
b.) pulling the ECU fuse in your fuse box located (in the 4) in the engine compartment near the windshield, passenger side


I try to do it every couple of weeks. I drive my car relatively softly on a daily basis, so its nice to get that extra kick in the pants after the reset to remind me what the car is really capable of; nice to execute on a Friday when I tend to really drive it on the weekends.

 

Do you have to wait before re-installing the fuse like you have to when removing the battery terminal? If so, how long? 10 minutes like the battery method?

 

I'm not positive, but I guess, as soon as the fuse looses contact, it looses power, and will flash within a few seconds thereafter.

I always disconnect my battery right before I do something else on the car that will last a few minutes, like cleaning the interior or something. If you forget to reconnect, you'll remember the second you try to start it back up.

 

will we lose any settings in our cars, like seat memory? radio stations..etc??

I asked my dealer, and they said it's not recommended to do, or needed because the VVTi engine is capable of "learning" the new driving style.

so, if a grandma drives the car, then you get into the car, the engine will automatically adjust itself accordingly? any truth to this?

 

Yes, you will loose your settings on your seat and radio, but the radio I can reprogram in <5min, and the seat setting, I don't move, so reset it in 5 seconds.

Yes, it learns. Thats why I reset mine. It learns my leisurely accleration (grandma style 5 days out of 2) more often than not, over the two weeks, and the punch kind of smooths out.

I'm not sure of the duration, or steepness of the learning curve, once a hard driver starts driving after a granda driver, so I just reset it.

Try it once, and you should be impressed.

 

Dexter - I think it's all in your (and other's) head that you need to do this. I drive leisurely (I know, hard to believe) and then like a bat out of hell. Works for me without ECU resets.

What a pain in the *** losing seat memories, radio stations, and probably other things I'm not aware of.

 

Absolutely no way Bit. And I'm not syaing the car doesn't perform. It just does so more quickly after I reset.

One time recently, I could brake traction at will, even from a roll, when before I reset it, I couldn't brake traction unless I *really* tried.

I'm just as cynical as teh next guy, but I definitely notice a difference in quicker launches and more torque down low.

You think its a PITA? -Hmph- Like I mentioned 5 minutes tops. But, to each his own. I suggest you try it if you haven't recently; you might be pleasantly surprised - even if you won't admit it here

 

Dex, I think its tyme for a DIY inside cabin switch.....ie..Getting ready for a race.....reset the ecu.....flip the nos switch....turn the a/c off.......press 2 on the seat setting for the upright position.....3....2.....1....Launch....

 

Scary - I thought about this today for about 5 minutes..... I bet someone here could rig up a fuse kill button....

 

OK Dexter, I trust you - I'll give it a shot some time! And I promise I'll admit my findings either way.

 

Ok Dexter, I’ve been checking CL for about a year now and I don’t remember ever seeing a thread relating to resetting the ECT?? It appears that about ¾ of us don’t do it according to the poll. WTF??

I’ll try it this Thursday (I’ll be off for a long weekend). My contact at the stealership said that it takes about 200 miles for the ECT-i to “learn” the driver’s style, but don’t know about the rate at which it “learns”. In Dallas traffic it’s hard to floor it from every stoplight (though I do try) so even though I’m aware that the ECT might be learning bad habits, I can’t help driving like a geezer sometimes. And it does seem that it launches/runs better sometimes – maybe this is the cause??

If I notice a difference I’ll happily admit it and make it part of my maintenance bag of tricks. I do agree with you on the inconvenience factor – it’s nil. Assuming you don’t move the seat while the power is down, all you’ve got to do is touch the 2 buttons. As for the radio, that takes longer, but personally I can get back to where I need to be in 2-3 minutes. It would be worth 5 minutes (at most) a week if I can resurrect the beast that sometimes shows up.

If it really works, the “reset” switch ought to be easy to set up (I envision a foot-long knife switch like Dr. Frankenstein used in his laboratory – arcs when it makes contact, POW!). Throw that dude and kick ***!

 

Wow, I thought everyone did this every once in a while. Hopefully there will be some pleasantly surprised <cough, Bit, cough> GS drivers out there in the next couple of weeks

If not, hey, I tried

 

I confess I have not reset my ECU.

Does the ECT setting make a difference? Despite driving like an old man much of the time [bay area traffic does it to you] I always have the ECT in the "power" position and always manually shift. Will a reset help? Heck, I've even resorted to per tank octane booster [miserable california gas!] to squeeze out a bit more pop.

 

Well, I think so, right? Sounds like you have to drive like me during the week - I'd give it a try - if you are not satisfied, you've only lost 10 minutes of your day, and it didn't cost you any additive.

 

Dex,

I agree with you. I recently had to change out a light bulb so I disconnected the battery, swapped bulbs, and when I got in it was like driving a new car. Now I try to reset it every few weeks and I haven't been disappointed yet.

Maybe someone could do some "amount of time to reset" tests to see if a reset switch would be worth it. I guess if you drove the car like grandma for a while, then removed the fuse for say, 10 minutes, then drove the car again for a while and next time for say, 5 minutes, you get the idea, until a minimum time could be determined. That way you could see whether or not a "reset switch" is feasible. The actual logistics of installing the switch shouldn't be too difficult.