I wrote this article a few years ago in an attempt to dispel the myth that it is not possible to alter the engine control unit`s factory settings.

In fact the simple procedure outlined below should be performed after every performance mod. (such as fitting a cold air intake) & can even be of benefit if you`ve spent the whole week stuck in commuter traffic jams & want to restore your cars performance for the weekend!.

Resetting Your ECU (Engine Control Unit)
Hyundai cars are designed to be driven in all areas of the world, by people of all ages and levels of experience and sophistication. They are set to operate at all altitudes and temperatures and to use fuels of varying octane-rating and purity.
Unsurprisingly, the electronic engine control unit of your vehicle has been pre-set to a `one-size-fits-all` state of tune. Whilst the ECU has the capacity to adapt to the owners driving-style to a certain degree, the base-settings are extremely conservative and Hyundai's are famously set to run rich!

Most owners would naturally suppose that this situation is something over which they have no control, this is not the case.
This document will instruct any owner on how to change the ECU settings of their car, without the alterations being detectable by the Dealership, the Insurance Company, or indeed having any effect on the vehicle's warranty.
The operations described are recommended as a first step after taking over ownership of the car, after carrying out any performance modifications, or after any temporary change in the way the vehicle has been used ( i.e. city-bound use, towing etc.).

Firstly bring the car to normal operating temperature by driving for 15 minutes or so.
Now open the bonnet and disconnect the earth lead from the battery, ensure this is not touching any part of the bodywork - insulate if necessary - and wait 5 minutes.
Next depress the foot brake for 20 seconds - this will completely discharge the ECU's capacitors via the brake lights.
The next step (to be carried out immediately, while the engine is still warmed-up) is to carefully re-connect the battery earth lead, close the bonnet and now drive the car in a spirited fashion (accelerating rapidly through the gears, full-throttle straights etc. etc.) for a full 30 minutes. Try to choose a quiet time on the roads for this, (i.e. early on a Sunday morning!).

This period of driving will `re-educate` your ECU into adopting more aggressive timing curves and alter the fuelling to match. It will also allow the unit to recognise any modifications you have made and to react accordingly.
If, on the other hand, you are not interested in outright performance, but are more concerned with economy and flexibility, use your normal driving style during this 30-minute run!.

Over time, the ECU will slowly revert to the factory settings......especially if it is not being driven `spiritedly` on a regular basis.
Accordingly, many owners tend to do this reset monthly, or before a track day or even a long run.

Cheers,
Nick. :)

thanks for the info, can this be doen on all hyundais including the series 1 scoupe? Do u know anything about the computer when changing the engines cam to a larger more powerful one. I was wondering if it were possible to do this without having to replace the computer or buying a piggy back
Thanks

:clap: Wow thats some top info will that work on say a 98excel (accent)

what is a bonnet and earth lead?

Bonnet: engine hood
Earth lead: the wire from the ( - ) connection from the battery to somewhere on the bodywork or the chassis. This represents the - (minus) in the DC powercircuit. The + (plus) is switched in most cars (except Subaru I believe...).

This post has been edited by Dutch_Turbo_GT: May 12 2005, 09:19 AM

hi,
just a question, if negative lead disconnected how do break lights work???
and as asked before is this done while engine running??
regards
mick

Do you actually believe the breaklights will work when you disconnect the negative lead?? The breaklight is to decharge the power in the system because the brakelights DO work when the key is NOT in. There's no switch in between...

You have to reset while the engine is NOT running, you can try it but it's not very smart... :blush: Just shut down the engine and do as VALKYRIE told before, this is the right way.

Only want to point that I think that the 'E' of ECU doesn't means "engine" but "electronic".

Hey,

you're right, but it doesn't add any value to this topic...

Certainly it does not, so I hope this one does:

Wouldn't it be easier to remove the ECU fuse instead of disconnecting the battery?
I guess then the capacitors won't discharge but I don't know much of electricity and only the logic level of electronics.
so, if I'm right and the capacitors won't discharge, any ideas to discharge them?
if I'm wrong, what about the first question?

What was stated by VALKYRIE YB70 was the ECU resetting method. May I clear some missed points:

1. Ravenheart was right by saying that its easier to reset the ECU by removing the fuse. Disconnecting the Battery terminal is a more troublesome way where your radio and clock setting will be reset as well. You don't need to wait for 30 mins, just 10 sec will do. The capacitors would be fully discharged by then.

2. When electrical power was cut. The ECU will go back to factory setting. The only setting that will be reset is the adaptive memory, not the whole ECU maps.

3. After the Adaptive Memory had been reset to 0, it will starts to adapt again. For an ECU to adapt fully to the habit of a driver, it takes about 1 full tank of petrol. The Adpatation is a continuous action and thus if you want to have a power driving pattern, you will have to continuously drive with this style. If you are caught in a jam for the past few days, you engine will show the sluggishness cos it had adapted a new pattern.

4. There are ways of altering the Factory Setting. Its call ECU Programming. New maps can be written and you may get power and fuel economy map as you want. You can refer to this website for more detail: www.harmony.sg

Thanks

Tks that was helpful i had a scoupe for 7 years but i didnt know this.. And although i drive hard sometimes the rich mixture was a bit too much.. i will try this over the weekend..

yeah that is mad....will that work for any level of modification (i'm not sure how flexible the ECU is)

Because VALKYRIE YB70, you run 180bhp, and with my new project i want to break the 200 mark, so will the ECU still A work and B love me if i run it at this power?

Great information. Thank You!...

yeah thats great....reset your adaptive learning memory and fuel trim every month. thats real smart!! :laughing:

This post has been edited by DanTheMan: Nov 16 2006, 07:49 PM

A method for the reset of the Mitsubishi engine MK I :)

http://www.hyundai-forums.com/t14175-low-rpm-on-idle.htm

1. Disconnect earth lead.
2. Leave overnight.
3. Connect it back in the morning.

(got my control unit out of shape by disconnecting and connecting the battery like 15 times in one day :P - reset did the trick ;) )

A method described by a couple of Mitsu Galant users - evidently works for those cars too :)

Okay prepare to rack your brain and read carefully!

There are 3 types of "grounds" and 1 types of negative to which you all are referring to.

First off, all grounds are negative. There is relative ground "ie; ground thats connected to you car that is relative to your car" and earth ground "ie; ground that is relative to the earths negative charge". The one exception to these rules is the positive ground, which is just reverses the polarities of a relative ground( i would just call this a positive reference circuit but I'll just throw this in here for namesake)

The last negative, is a charged negative for example -15v.


Many British/ex-British colonies and asian countries use "earth" in place of ground, while it isn't exactly correct, It is a cultural difference. I have read in some Japanese service manuals, the use of the word earth instead of ground, and i have seen on British tv a rebuild of an Aston Martin and a triumph they used the word earth( i guess this was a way to separate it from "positive grounding" systems) .

This post has been edited by evotistical: Aug 16 2007, 03:30 PM

Here in the netherlands we use also the name "earth" or "mass" instead of ground

How do you differentiate from relative and earth ground? In my job these are 2 very important differences. on my ship the earth ground and relative ground can be over 300v difference. and if you connect the wrong wires or have open negative wires, you can really fudge things up/ kill yourself as the skin of the ship is earth ground. Also the voltage of earth ground changes with water conditions.

This post has been edited by evotistical: Aug 16 2007, 03:37 PM

I dont fully understand your story, im not that technical :P

with home electrics the negative is called earth, like the powerplugs in the wall.

In car-audio negative is called Mass