My truck began to feel sluggish during acceleration and less peppy than I thought it use to be. It has only 7500 miles on it about 3000 are with superchip microtuner installed. I decided to try resetting the computer and see if it helped. After resetting it I left the truck idle for about 10 minutes to let the computer re-learn the idle as suggested in the manual, and on this message board. My truck seems lively again. It seems to have helped a whole lot. I know on a pc computer it is common to reinstall everything fresh once in awhile to get back to a clean setup, so could our trucks need a good computer reset every now and then? Any ideas why it would feel so much better again? I beat a Toyota Solara 4 cyl, going up a steep hill, since then. My girl friends, to be exact. She likes to race around in it so I decided to race her up the hill home. She said she stayed with me awhile and then I started to pull away from her. I asked her if she tried to beat me, and she said she had, (she don't give no quarter either) so I believe she did.

 

I'm not an expert by any means, but I would like to pass on my opinions.

I believe that the computer in our trucks is similar to our PC. Over time there is infomation saved, so that the computer has more scenerios to work with. Our trucks computer use adaptive strategy. It compiles infomation when we drive and uses the most common scenerio. I guess this can be good for something, but if your into performance I don't think it's so good.

If we reset the computer every once and a while it will clear all the information that has been stored and start with a clean slate. It's kind of like clearing the temp. internet files, or deleting some cookies. It clears the path the computer has to follow to do what your tellng it to.

 

I'll buy.
How do you do it?

 

wittom, it's like defragmenting your hard drive.

disconnect neg bat cable and cover so there is no connection

turn on lights for approx. 10 minutes (to drian residual power)

turn off lights

re-connect the bat cable

turn truck on

let idle without reving for 5-10 minutes (the engine may surge=normal)

then take her for a drive.

 

One thing to add here, when taking it for a drive, drive it like you mean it. Don't putter around, take it our for a real drive, to start the process out on the right foot.

I usually do a few runs at WOT into 3rd gear, and then on to the freeway for a few miles, then on to the surface street for some stop light runs, pulling hard through the gears.

If you drive it plodding around, after resetting the computer, it will start to develop the driving habits that way, which can take ~ 200 miles to unlearn if you change how you drive it ( for the entire 200 miles ).

So if you only do street light racing once in awhile, it is not going to run its best when you do this type of driving habits.

Some actually reset the PCM at the track before racking to clear out all the street driving habits that the truck learned over the course of the time from the last drag strip.

I have to add that I don't get the best mpg unless I clear it and drive it normal. When I got the truck I broke it in on a Dyno and at that point I started checking mpg, and it was in the trash can, until I cleared it, and did the inital drive in a more sane way ( also did not seem to pull as hard off the line and through the gears when doing this driving style on the relean and over the course of time ).

What I have found myself :
high mpg = reduced performance.
high performance = reduced mpg.

The 2 are mutually exclusive as far as I save seen, albeit not as bad as a L Then again high mpg is not why I bought the truck, if that way the case, I should have bought a Honda Insight.

 

If I have the micro tuner and have the truck programed with the tuner and I decide to reset the computer by disconecting the battery cable do I need to reprogram with the micro tuner or not? Thanks Jeff

 

The microtuner re-programs the EPROM of the computer, which is NOT erased by a power loss (like a PCs BIOS). So no you do not need to re-run the microtuner after a reset to keep the performance program. As a matter of fact the only way to go back to the original factory setup, is to reprogram the EPROM again with the microtuner and re-apply the factory program.

 

I hate to tell yall, but the PCM isnt using the "adaptive strategy" at all during WOT.

 

At WOT that would be the smart thing to do by Ford. But still I would say, I am off WOT 95% of the time and want the best performance at those times as well. I don't usually pass a car at WOT, or need to climb the mountain at WOT, but I want the most power available at whatever throttle I am giving it. And from my experience the adaptive program seems to affect my truck in a manner that tends to degrade performance in favor of some other goal. After a reset as I said, it appears to perform better, or more accurately more like it use to. Of course I would want to race at WOT, and if the engineers indeed did make the computer disregard the adaptive programming at that time It would be better. The fact you make about WOT, is that documented somewhere? Do you see any advantage to resetting the computer to relearn the adaptive programming, for those times off of WOT?

 

Is there an alternative means to reset the computer other than disconnecting the battery? Is there a fuse that can be pulled ? or other means that will allow the radio etc not to lose memory ?


Thanks

 

The only thing I ever loose is the clock setting when doing this on my 2001.

The radio pre-sets I have written do just in case, but have never had to use them from loosing them after a PCM reset.

 

In WOT ( or TPS > 80% if I recall correctly ) the A/F is from the map.

I know the adaptive strategy is not used, but is it also correct that it is not part of the feeback to the system ?

Never asked that one before.

 

thats correct

just my personal opinion, but i think yall are reading way too much into this. I work on these vehicles all day long, sometimes even after a battery has been disconnected, a PCM reprogrammed or even replaced, and i've never felt any difference in power, or any loss in performance from one that hasnt lost battery power for years.