On the surface, both a hard battery reset, and a scan tool can clear codes, but they are not interchangeable. When both tools are used together, figuring out what is causing your electrical issues will be simplified and less time-consuming.
You are basically wiping the slate clean when you do a hard reset. Next, you perform a scan of your vehicle to identify any faults. The hard code will either return immediately or after a few miles, depending on the severity of the problem.
Performing this task is very similar to restarting your computer and removing viruses and spyware with important software. Likewise, cars can benefit from the same concept. It’s certainly faster when they’re used together, but they each have their own useful purposes.
However, you shouldn’t perform hard battery resets regularly and should take caution when doing so. Nevertheless, if you don’t have access to a scan tool or simply need to reset all the sensors, this is a good procedure to follow.
The process takes only a few minutes, and when done correctly, it will prevent you from having headaches trying to locate the electrical gremlins.
What Is The Purpose Of A Hard Battery Reset?
There are computers in every home. Unfortunately, many of us have experienced slowdowns or poor performance on our computers, whether they are laptops, desktops, Apple, or Windows.
A lot of users never turn off their computers at all, instead putting them to sleep or hibernating. As a result, your computer never fully shuts down and constantly runs smaller processes in the background.
The most common solution to weird unexplainable issues is simply to restart your computer. Nowadays, most vehicles are basically computers on wheels, which means they can behave similarly.
This can result in a vehicle’s performance being delayed, its functions freezing, or malfunctioning. The vehicle’s electronics continue to receive 12v power from the battery even after you remove the keys.
It is necessary to supply a constant supply of voltage to certain components. The voltage may also cause issues if it dips or exceeds its nominal point. It is similar to restarting your vehicle’s electronics when you perform a battery reset.
Restoring components to their default state gives them a fresh start. Hard battery resets have several benefits.
- Determines whether a circuit issue in the vehicle or a simple reset is required
- Resets the vehicle’s electronic system by discharging voltage from electronic capacitors
- The ECU and all the vehicle sensors are reset after this procedure
- ECU soft codes are cleared
The purpose of electronic capacitors is to store and supply voltage to vehicle circuit boards. Therefore, your vehicle will be reset to its default state if you perform a hard battery reset if there is an electrical problem.
A Hard Battery Reset Guide
Is there a diagnostic light on? Is there something wrong with the electronics in your vehicle? Are the readings inaccurate or is there a communication problem? You might benefit from a hard battery reset.
An effective scan tool must be used to determine the exact cause of the issue before a hard battery reset can be performed. However, it is worth the effort when you experience weird electrical problems.
Likewise, soft codes can be cleared to determine if your car has a problem or if it simply needs to be reset electronically. Don’t just disconnect the battery; remove it as well. It is possible to fry the ECU and possibly other components if the battery leads slip off and touch the battery.
Keeping positive and negative battery leads in constant contact shorts out the positive and negative leads. The cables can be shorted out by using jumper cables if the distance between them is too great. Whenever there is more than one 12v battery in your vehicle, they must all be removed.
For at least 30 minutes, it should remain in constant contact with the vehicle’s electronic capacitors. Reinstall the battery after separating the battery leads. Ensure that the battery leads are connected to the correct terminals with care.
What Is The Recommended Time To Leave The Battery Disconnected?
The longer you leave the negative battery terminal disconnected, the more likely you will have an auxiliary battery. Try to leave it for 30 minutes to an hour.
How Does Reset ECM Work?
Your car’s long-term memory is removed when you reset its ECM. As a result of this procedure, your vehicle’s error codes are deleted, which are useful when performing mechanical tests. There is no longer access to the neutral and idle speed, spark, and fuel logs when the data becomes the default.
Is Your Car’s Powertrain Control Module In Need Of A Reset?
ECM resets are not something you do overnight. In order to proceed, the first step is to determine if the ECM functions are stable or if they have been damaged in any way. You may witness the following symptoms during the process:
Your dashboard’s check engine light indicates that the engine control module is malfunctioning. The engine circuits can suffer from poor sensors due to this problem. Identifying the main challenge requires a diagnosis.
ECM problems are indicated by stalling and engine misfires. Erratic patterns can vary in severity and frequency from one person to the next. Deceleration of the vehicle may also occur while it is moving, indicating something is wrong with it.
The engine power can also reduce due to engine performance problems, indicating a problem with the engine. It is necessary to start a car to drive it.
The ECM may malfunction if the vehicle fails to start after turning the ignition key. Unless the ECM is providing essential inputs, the car will not start and may need jump-starting.
Make sure the mechanics thoroughly investigate the vehicle challenges before settling on this as the diagnosis. For example, the ECM is not efficient if the car consumes much more fuel than before.
This component carries out the combustion process, resulting in efficient fuel use. In addition to saving money on gas, you can also improve the performance of the failing function.
Note:
In order to reset the computer of the engines and transmissions, a global reset must be performed. In addition, there may be a need to relearn some adaptors after the reset is completed.
You may feel different when driving, but if you drive as normally as possible, the adaptors will relearn, and you will feel like you are driving normally again. It will be necessary to reset the radio presets and clock after the reset has been completed.
After doing an onboard computer reset, it’s common for the idle to go wonky for many cars. It will start a bit harder than usual. To start it, you may have to crank it a few times. As a result, it might idle at a lower speed than usual.
The AC system can help reset the engine faster by holding the motor’s RPMs at 2,000 for around five minutes. By the end of that cycle, you should notice that your idle has returned to its usual level.
The Bottom Line
You will likely need to remove error codes to turn off your dashboard lights even after the engine has been repaired. Then, you need to reset the computer on the car to fix the problem.
The solution is to perform a hard reset. For example, a faulty check engine light can be fixed by resetting your ECU, or you can restore the factory setting on your car by doing so.
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