Connections
Figure 1: This 2011 Buick Lucerne had an issue with its transmission control module (TCM) that was repaired with an engine control unit (ECU) soft reset.
ECU soft resets Killing power to on-board modules does wonders in diagnosis and repair By Craig Truglia
W
hen a smart phone is not working quite right or a PC gets frozen, Craig Truglia is an ASE A6 and A8 certifed what’s the easiest way to fx it? technician who presently works as a service Turn it off, start it back up, and hope the writer for Patterson Auto Body, a repair facil- problem is gone. Some PC users even wait ity in Patterson, N.Y. A former shop owner a few seconds to turn the device back on, and editor of several automotive repair hoping it gives time for the computer chips magazines, Truglia combines his Columbia to power down. University education with the real-world Without getting all scientifc about why experience he sees daily in the automotive this works on computers, the principle is repair feld. Technicians Truglia, Fred Byron simple. When a computer acts screwy, someand Cristian Cordova took part in diagnosing times it needs to be reset so it can work the different vehicles in this article. right (see Figure 1).
32 | September/October 2014
