Have you ever experienced issues with your car’s electronic controls? You may have gone straight to the car repair center, but you can solve it just by resetting the computer. You won’t have to open the complex circuitry of the car.
Car computer is just similar to our home computer. We often observe that whenever we face an issue with a system, either with a window or some controls, a simple solution is to restart it. You won’t have to worry whether it is a laptop or desktop.
You can do the same for your care computer. Still, one significant difference between a car computer and a home computer is that the home computer turns off when we turn the power off, but the car computer still has power even when we have turned off the engine with the help of a car key.
So, resetting the car computer without disconnecting the battery is a bit time-consuming but still possible. Let’s discuss how you can do this!
For resetting the car computer without disconnecting the battery, follow the below-mentioned steps:
- Open the Hood: First of all, open the hood of the car, which you can easily do by pushing the hood opener button located somewhere inside the vehicle, depending on the model.
- Turn off Car Engine: Make sure to turn off the engine so that we don’t have to remove the battery. As the battery’s power supply to any electrical and electronic appliances inside the car cuts off when we turn off the car’s power with the help of the car key.
- Turn on Headlights: The next step would be to turn on the headlights of the car. They won’t turn off as the engine isn’t running. However, our primary purpose here is not to turn on the lights but to discharge any charged capacitors. So, keep the headlight switch on for few minutes.
- Discharge Capacitors: In case some capacitors are still holding the charge inside the car computer, turning on headlights with its engine off would drain it out. Here the residual power in turning on the headlights. We want to discharge all the capacitors of the car computer before resetting it. Now, wait for 3 to 5 minutes so that any electricity inside the car computer drains out completely.
- Restart computer: The next step might be a little tricky so pay special attention. As we want our car computer to relearn, so for doing this, start the vehicle’s engine. After that, let it run in neutral for about 4 to 5 minutes.
- Move the car out in low gear: After that, put the car in low gear. Put your foot pressure on the brakes and let the engine run in the low gear again for few minutes. After that, take the car out of the garage. Try to drive it at the speed of 35 miles an hour for about 20 minutes.
Doing so would reset your computer automatically. This is how you can completely reset the car computer without disconnecting battery.
If your car computer is still creating problems, then it means its hardware is malfunctioning. Here are some common symptoms of faulty ECU. So, you need to replace your car computer now. Check out our detailed guide on automotive testing tool kits.
Final Thoughts!
Following this simple step-by-step guide would help you to reset car computer without disconnecting battery. Still, if it doesn’t work out for you and you feel a need for professional help. Do consider, hiring a mechanic to do the job.