Has anyone else reset their ECU and noticed that their Baja feels like it accellerates faster afterwards? I noticed that I hit 4K rpm a lot faster and smoother than I remembered before. I installed my supertones last weekend and of course you need to disconnect the battery to do so... so like it or not I had a reflash.
Is it real or just my imagination? :alien:
P.S. Supertones are Great!

It's true!

When I got my Baja, the ECU was messed up, only I didn't realize it until it was suggested that I reset it. I did it to try to get better shifts out of the AT. That didn't really work, but the engine started pulling harder, which in turn helped out the AT a little. So, I would say, "You are right sir!"

hmmm. i'll try that tomorrow.

Awesome! I was pretty sure it changed something but wanted a bit of feedback! Chicken & Waffles, let me know what you think & by the way, the bed net is getting tons of use :D
http://myspace-691.vo.llnwd.net/00521/19/69/521389691_l.jpg

good. glad someone's getting some use out of it :alien:

In the Baja, there is what they call a "learned transmission". Basically, it learns the way you drive, and if multiple people drive the car, it finds a happy medium. When you reset the ECU, everything is reset back to the factory settings.

Here's a question: If you reset the TCU, will it "learn" how to shift if you then drive it manually for awhile?

I have always wanted the Baja to shift better, but have never found a way to do it. It always upshifts too soon and downshifts too late. If is could learn by driving it manually, well that would be a step in the right direction.

Hmm sorry I can't help on your question PGV... Mine is a 5 Speed....
-J

Sorry to dig up an old thread, but... Heck YA!!!!

I finally got around to resetting the ECU (or some called it the ECM):

Run till operating temp is reached
Write down all your radio settings/presets
Disconnect battery
Pump break petal
Try to start (drains any capacitors holding any power to clear the ECU memory)
Turn off the ignition, and remove key (this makes sure the ECU won't get hit with a power surge on the next step)
Connect battery
Turn on ignition (do not start engine)
Pump accelerator slowly 3 or 5 times, this teaches the ECU the range of the throttle position sensor (TPS)
Start engine
Let idle for a bit
Turn on A/C (allows the ECU learn that there is A/C installed)
Reprogram your radio settings/presets

I have a new car! Or it feels that way. I have an automatic with the sport shift option. Now it shifts smoother than before up and down, the A/C doesn't bog down the engine like it used to (and I swear the A/C is colder than before), acceleration is faster.

Before this I was constantly manually shifting the thing because it was a "gutless wonder" and had horrible and hard shift points.

Oh BTW, the above procedure works on most modern cars, and don't be alarmed if when pumping the accelerator you get weird sounds, it's the injectors firing. Some cars do that (like this one), others don't. By pumping the accelerator before starting, it saves you from having to go for "a spirited drive" as the ECU already knows the TPS range.

It's also important to turn on the A/C on the first start up, just so the ECU knows there is A/C installed (if equipped) because A/C is still considered as an "optional accessory" in the ECU programming.

hmm to clarify. Have the AC turned on before you start it the first time or a few seconds after? Or does it matter?

Start engine, wait a bit (30-60 seconds), then turn on A/C ;)

Some ECU's get "confused" if you have the A/C set to the on position prior to the first engine start. I'm not sure if Subaru's ECU's do, but better to be safe.

Oh, just a bit of a reminder, jot down your presets and settings on your radio before doing this procedure. Because disconnecting your battery will erase it's settings.

And one last thing. Do the steps above whenever you replace your battery, or disconnect your battery for what-ever reason.

Oddly I found the same thing. 03 NA auto. CEI on for a weak cat for the last 6 months. Clearing the code just turned it off for a few days. I had work to do and had to pull the battery. The ECU came back up and the beast is running better than ever! And no CEI! I tend to drive him hard, so it seems to have worked out well too. I'm going to reset it as suggested by Guzzler just to be sure I do it right. Ah computers. They are so much fun!!

Aaaa yes, computers, wonderful but sometimes horrible little things.

I've been dealing with computers my entire adult life. Started as a programmer, but found it wasn't my "cup of tea" and moved over to system administration. So I understand what parameters are needed and the logic behind them and especially how they initialize.

Plus I had to do a bunch of research on an ECU for a BMW motorcycle several years ago to prove a point to someone. Doing this, I ended up reading a quite a bit on Bosh ECU's (most vehicles use Bosh), fuel injection, hall sensors for timing, throttle position sensors, O2 sensors and eventually CANBUS.

The three critical sensors the ECU needs to generally run an engine, are the O2, hall, and TPS. Without anyone of those three, the ECU just freaks out and has a goes into "limp" mode.

So, one of the critical ones for ECU initialization is the Throttle Position Sensor (TPS). It just measures the the butterfly plate angle in the throttle body. It's just a glorified potentiometer. With this information it determines how long to fire the injectors (how much fuel to use). The ECU needs to know the range of the TPS, that is what is the potentiometer value for the closed position and the full open position.

So when you clear out the ECU and first turn on the ignition, the only value for the TPS it knows is the closed position (but it does know what the range should be). Till the TPS reaches the max position (i.e. full throttle open) it has to use it's pre-programed stored value in the ROM (Read Only Memory). The problem is sometimes the actual maximum value maybe different from valued stored (nothing comes off the assembly line perfect, there are always some variations) the maximum value can be less than or greater than the stored value.

So there are two ways to let the ECU "learn" the maximum TPS value on reset. One, go for a "spirited" drive, that is stomp on the accelerator a couple of times. Or two, pump the accelerator several times prior to starting the engine (ignition on, past the accessory on position, and before the start position). The easiest, quickest and safest way to get the TPS values is to use #2 ;)

The last point to make is "Why pump the accelerator several times?" Again nothing is perfect. One pump will generate one value, the next pump maybe different, the next pump, another value, and so on. The ECU will take the values and calculate an average. The least number of pumps needed to find a good average is 3. You can help the ECU to find a better average value and pump the accelerator more. If you do, do an odd number of pumps (3, 5, 7, 9, ...). But generally 5 pumps is the optimum (oops, I just noticed that I didn't indicate that in my original post, will fix that).

I hope this helps someone to understand things better.

Subaru uses a Denso ECU.

The turbo cars have an electronic throttle body while the non turbo cars have a cable throttle.

Subaru ECUs have logic programmed into them called Ignition advance multiplier or IAM. This is what determines ignition advance or retard. If you had been running your car and it sensed knock, it changes the IAM, and pulls timing. It can take awhile to advance back up to where it once was.

When you "reset" the ECU, you reset this value and it has to start over. By following this trick http://www.scoobypedia.co.uk/index.php/Knowledge/ECUFastLearningTrick some people have been able to reset the IAM to the most aggressive timing setting in a very short amount of time.

Also all the fuel trim information is reset. So the actual AFR may be different than it was before the reset. This may create a change in fuel mileage compared to before the reset.

hehe I just did this with my NA Baja last weekend and I think my car got a little confused. Everything worked great except my gas light came on when I had a full tank. :D

It was off and on for a couple of days but I think my car finally figured it out since it didn't turn on yesterday or today at all. I just thought it was kind of funny.

Hmm sorry I can't help on your question PGV... Mine is a 5 Speed....
-J
^^This :D

OOH something new to try on our 05' turbo!! I'll post back tomorrow as to what happens:)

My wife's outback is shifting bad and power is down. Will try that her's.

Then will do my 06 baja.

Well, I lied. My gas light is a little confused. It just randomly turns off and on even when the gas tank is full. It's been like that ever since I reset everything. I still think it's funny. I'm going to change out the lightbulb to a different color to make it more interesting to watch. :banana: Maybe a nice yellow to match my car. Hmmmm....

Hmmm.... Weird little gas light. I'm curious, maybe doing another reset will a full tank might slap some sense into it.

Well I reset ours the other day and it seems more responsive, although it's always fun to get into the boost:)

Hmmm.... Weird little gas light. I'm curious, maybe doing another reset will a full tank might slap some sense into it.

Yeah. :lol: I'll try and reset it again this weekend. ;)

I've been reading through this thread and want to try re-setting the ECU on my son's Baja. Is this just a matter of disconnecting the battery, or is there something else that needs to be done? Thanks for any advice.