How-To Tuesday: Resetting Your ECU
According to today’s How-To Tuesday article, the ECU, the engine control unit, can be likened to the “brains of your car.” So technically, that makes today’s DIY project a little bit like brain surgery. But don’t worry, it’s not that complicated.
Before we get into the how part of resetting your ECU, let’s talk a little bit about the why. As your relationship develops with your Lexus, your ECU starts to know your driving habits. But unlike other relationships, which can easily fall into a rut, you can re-kindle the relationship with your Lexus by resetting the ECU. For the next 1000 or so miles after the reset, your car will get to know you all over again, and calibrate the transmission accordingly.
Now let’s discuss the how part of this easy DIY, which should save you anywhere from $30 to $80 and shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes.
There are three main options covered in the article. The main way to reset the ECU is to disconnect the battery, but this will clear out all the other presets that you may want to keep, like radio stations and seat positions. The recommended option is to pull the EFI and ETCS fuses. All you have to do is follow the simple directions in the article and remove the right fuses. Finally, you can also use a programmer, if you don’t actually want to open up the hood, but this option may take some intense owner’s manual studying.
Keep in mind, for options 1 and 2, after the ECU has been reset, it’s common for the car not to start on the first try. But don’t worry, just start her again; she should rev right up, and be ready to learn your driving style once more.
