M35 ECU Reset

[white_wolf]

I've googled "m35 ecu reset" and read a bunch of stuff I found on google. I've found the ecu reset for g35's and 350z's... but m35's are never mentioned.

Does anyone know if the g35 ecu reset procedure works for the m35?

Basic ECU Reset

Operations Procedures:

1. Confirm that accelerator pedal is fully released, turn ignition switch “ON” (NOT start) and wait 3 seconds.
2. Repeat the following steps (2a and 2b) procedures quickly five times within 5 seconds.
2a. Fully depress the accelerator pedal (HARD).
2b. Fully release the accelerator pedal.
3. Wait 7 seconds, fully depress the accelerator pedal and keep it for approx. 10 seconds until the CEL starts blinking.
4. Fully release the accelerator pedal (while the CEL is still blinking)
5. Wait about 10 seconds.
6. Fully depress the accelerator pedal and keep it for more than 10 seconds.
7. Fully release the accelerator pedal (The CEL light will continue to blink).
8. Turn ignition switch to “OFF” position and now you can start the car. The CEL light should be gone. If the CEL light continues to remain ON, repeat the above steps. Remember, timing is EXTREMELY critical to resetting the ECU. You may even need someone's help to do this correctly.

[bbs350z]

i just unplugged my battery overnight and it reset itself. the auto windows also reset themselves after a few days

[a.blanco0905]

i just unplugged my battery overnight and it reset itself. the auto windows also reset themselves after a few days

Really?

I thought our cars' ECUs would NEVER reset themselves by uplugging the battery even for a million years... you have to tap dance with it (btw I hate that shyt) in order to really reset the ECU, OP you're on the right track, it's something like that... timing is they key (literally), which I'm not very good at, lol...

But if I'm wrong, I'm wrong... bottom line.

[white_wolf]

I just followed the steps I posted earlier, and it worked (I think...).

I don't know if there is a sure fire way to really check if it has reset. But, everything went according to the write up; service engine light blinked during the process... then disappeared when I started the engine..which should signify that the ecu has been reset.

[Ilya]

Why would we need to reset our ECU's?

[white_wolf]

I recently installed the motordyne 5/16 plenum spacer, and I neglected to reset my ecu.... apparently my car was not thrilled with my oversight and began to drink... a lot. I averaged about 9-10mpg (calculated at the pump), it was a good thing I only let that happen for 1/2 a tank.

I just took the car for a drive, and now I'm averaging around 18mpg (so the cpu says).

You can also reset your ECU if you want your car to "re-learn" your driving habits.

[Ilya]

Good to know. Thanks.

[cruzad3r]

I recently installed the motordyne 5/16 plenum spacer, and I neglected to reset my ecu.... apparently my car was not thrilled with my oversight and began to drink... a lot. I averaged about 9-10mpg (calculated at the pump), it was a good thing I only let that happen for 1/2 a tank.

I just took the car for a drive, and now I'm averaging around 18mpg (so the cpu says).

You can also reset your ECU if you want your car to "re-learn" your driving habits.

wait you have to reset your ECU after the plenum spacer installation? did you follow the procedure given by motordyne?

[bbs350z]

my car went into limp mode (vdc, slip, CEL) after i installed my custom intake manifold. the code was a throttle position error, i disconnected the battery and the car was fine the next day. no codes for 2 weeks now

[a.blanco0905]

my car went into limp mode (vdc, slip, CEL) after i installed my custom intake manifold. the code was a throttle position error, i disconnected the battery and the car was fine the next day. no codes for 2 weeks now

Ah, I still dont think it fully resetted the ECU tho... I love simplicity & the "tap dance" gets on my nerves, why couldnt we just reset the ECU through the screen or something, right?!?!?

[white_wolf]

I recently installed the motordyne 5/16 plenum spacer, and I neglected to reset my ecu.... apparently my car was not thrilled with my oversight and began to drink... a lot. I averaged about 9-10mpg (calculated at the pump), it was a good thing I only let that happen for 1/2 a tank.

I just took the car for a drive, and now I'm averaging around 18mpg (so the cpu says).

You can also reset your ECU if you want your car to "re-learn" your driving habits.

wait you have to reset your ECU after the plenum spacer installation? did you follow the procedure given by motordyne?

Yes, after a plenum spacer installation an ecu is required.

Motordyne's instructions does say to reset your ecu... but I overlooked that bit as I was also using another guide(this g35 guy had highlighted every hose, and every bolt in his extensive pictures). Unfortunately, the 2nd guide I was using forgot to mention an ecu reset. The way motordyne suggests to reset the ecu is weird though; they say to (with your negative battery terminal disconnected) pump the brakes to discharge charge from the ecu.

I went for a longer drive (well... "long" for hawaii) and my car's cpu is reporting a 19.7mpg avg; I used to average 15-16mpg. I'm pretty sure I had reset my ecu correctly yesterday, and that the 5/16 spacer does indeed increase gas mileage. to Motordyne and their spacers.

[cruzad3r]

can you post the link to your installation procedure that you used?

[Midas125]

I installed the motordyne 1/2" plenum spacer, and i didn't have to reset the ecu...its been almost two years now, and everything is normal. when i read through motordyne's instructions,as i recall, you would only have to reset the ecu if you accidentally touched the butterfly assembly. i could be wrong.....but like i said, i did install the spacer without resetting the ecu and i haven't had any problems whatsoever.

[Ilya]

Adding this to the FAQ thread.

[Ilya]

Copying from this thread:

topic530438.html

I think it depends on your ECU training.

I heard recently that the car learns how you like the RPM's to be and will stay in gear longer, etc. thus killing mileage. When I drove from NY to FL a month ago I averaged 20mpg and that was with an ECU that hasn't been reset in who knows how long. When I go to Missouri in June I'm going to reset the ECU prior to leaving and see if I can get better mileage doing 80mph.

I might recent it tonight just to see if I can get better around town if I baby it. If I baby it right now, I can get about 22mpg.

This thread:

m35-ecu-reset-t529045.html

You guys think plugging in my OBD-II reader and wiping all data will be the same as a reset (force the ECU to relearn everything)?

Just reset my ECU using those instructions and they do work.

On my way home from work 7.2 miles, about 2 or 3 miles of hilly country roads, I averaged 24.2 by babying the car. I could normally get like 21mpg if I reset the meter and baby'ed the car. Definitely an improvement. Going to drive like this for a few days and see if it tends to fair better even when I do punch it.

As far as the CEL flashes in case anyone is interested:

The flashes are the CEL codes. They consist of some long and some short flashes which help identify which reason the CEL is on for (if it's on for a reason). 10 long and 10 short flashes is normal or means everything is okay. On my Maxima, it was 5/5. I guess on these ECU's it's 10/10.

Bottom line? AWESOME. I should be able to get 24/25mpg on my trip to Missouri no problem. Maybe even better. On a 20hr trip, that is a LOT of gas savings.

[WhoDey456]

So are u guys saying we should baby the car for a little bit to get better MPG and if we want the car to be used how it should (pedal to the metal) we do that so the transmission kick in gears harder and runs at a higher RPM?

[Ilya]

Yes, the transmission learns how you drive.

[pedsemdoc]

I only have the butt dyno to gauge how the ECU reset works, but I swear my car is shifting smoother after the reset. I would hit the accelerator a little more aggressively and the the initial shifts up to about 3rd gear were hard before the reset.
Now, i feel like my torque curve is a lot smoother.

i may have to experiment with babying the gas to see if I can improve my mpg's.

can't you get a map for better mpg if you're uprev'd? can anyone comment on that?

[nolmt50]

How are you sure the ecu is reset? I just did it, but my seat memory and trip odometer are still the same.

[pedsemdoc]

did your CEL do what the directions state it should do? flash, then stop flashing, etc.?
I am not really sure how else you would know....anyone?

[a.blanco0905]

How are you sure the ecu is reset? I just did it, but my seat memory and trip odometer are still the same.

All settings would go to factory default, including seat memory and trip odometer.

[nolmt50]

How are you sure the ecu is reset? I just did it, but my seat memory and trip odometer are still the same.

All settings would go to factory default, including seat memory and trip odometer.

So would disconnecting the battery reset it? When I disconnect the battery all the windows and odometer and seats get reset.

[a.blanco0905]

bbs350z says that it does but you'd have to leave it disconnected overnight, so you could give it a shot... the thing I've noticed about disconnecting the battery (for 15 mins or so) is that it doesnt reset some settings that should be reset when resetting the ECU but like you said it does reset trip odometer and seats. That timing is a PITA for sure...

[FNAWSM]

so i know nothing about reseting an ECU besides that it seems like it could be a little tricky to do. Although the thread title says m35, is this fine to do for the m45 and is it the exact same procedure? What else is reset besides seat settings, odometer, auto windows? Is there any risk of screwing anything up or anything i need to be careful of? Im assuming that the whole point of this is to reset how your transmission shifts so it will "learn" your driving style and adjust accordingly? thanks for the help guys.

[pedsemdoc]

I did it on my M and only noticed the seat/steering wheel settings reset, don't recall if the odometer was reset and I didn't really try everything else. May do it again and try to check everything else out (windows, sunroof, etc)

[Ilya]

Are you guys sure everything resets? Nothing on my M reset and I got the flashing, etc. etc. Everything as described in the first post happened, but nothing got reset (radio presets, etc.)

On my Maxima nothing reset (not even the digital odometer).

I think you know you're in reset mode once the CEL light starts flashing, as was the case with the Maxima if you spun the ECU screw to get the light to flash. You could then reset it.

[FNAWSM]

so i know nothing about reseting an ECU besides that it seems like it could be a little tricky to do. Although the thread title says m35, is this fine to do for the m45 and is it the exact same procedure? What else is reset besides seat settings, odometer, auto windows? Is there any risk of screwing anything up or anything i need to be careful of? Im assuming that the whole point of this is to reset how your transmission shifts so it will "learn" your driving style and adjust accordingly? thanks for the help guys.

Any other answers for me?

[MasterFoo]

How many of you were successful with this procedure? I tried several times today, even had a stop watch going. I got the blinking and everything (as read) went as plan.......but I still have my Trip, time, radio stations, seats etc... all the same.

Can anyone confirm having everything wiped?

[white_wolf]

Weird, I don't think my settings were reset.

I can confirm that my ecu has been reset though. The first couple of drives I stuck the car into auto-manual mode and "taught" my car where I wanted him to shift. After a day or two of auto-manual; I drove the car in normal "D" mode, and it shifted exactly as if I were controlling it... it was an odd combination of cool and freaky.

*edit: side note - I think our cars ecu is capable of being more than a one trick pony. I drove the car like a grandma at times, and other times I drove it "spiritedly" When I punch it now, it shifts right where I taught it to shift... at 6.5k.

It also holds the gear longer in upper rpm's... it shifts up when it figures out that I'm done passing traffic-makers.

My car reminds me of Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde... calm and composed sometimes... and completely savage other times.

[Ilya]

I got the procedure and did not lose any settings.

Whoever made that claim is blowing smoke up are arse's me thinks. This is my 3rd Nissan and the flashing of the CEL is basically the 'stage' you get into when clearing the ECU.

The seat settings, etc. are all controlled by the BCM (body control module), clearing the ECU should have NO EFFECT on those. I need documention from the FSM to believe otherwise.