Quick Shortcut for Re-Programming, teaching, "re-learning" the ECM after Battery Disconnect

[RedHot85Vette]

Good Day! I hope all are enjoying a pleasant one. 

On this site, many moons ago, I found an article that gave instructions for resetting the computer/ECM after disconnecting the battery (battery disconnect). I looked in the FAQ section but had no luck. I looked in an old files link, but again, no luck. Does anybody know what I'm talking about and can maybe point me in the right direction? Or maybe can send me the instructions if you have them?

It's sorta like this: Turn the key to on (but not start), put the transmission in drive, wait 5 minutes, turn the key off, wait 10 minutes, do this, do that, start the car, etc...

It goes along those lines. I'm just making up stuff there to give you an idea of how the story goes. It worked like a charm and took about 20 minutes total time. That way the engine wouldn't run like crap until the ECM re-learned it's parameters. Very helpful when troubleshooting, or doing repairs.

Your help will be appreciated greatly.

John.  

[mfewtrail]

Hi John and welcome to the site.

 

Here's what you're looking for(click the title here and it'll redirect to that thread):

 

For what it's worth, most cars should run fine without a relearn.  Here's a quote from a member here(GnatGoSplat) on that subject that may or may not help you out: " The only W-body I've had that NEEDED the idle relearn was the '88 Cutlass. It had to be followed TO THE LETTER or it would stall at every stop sign. If the idle relearn had been followed to the letter, the car would run and drive perfectly! I had just figured it was just something different in the programming for that car that required it, but then one day I completely cleaned out the IAC on that car (very dirty). From then on, the battery could be disconnected anytime and it would run great without the relearn procedure. I guess the IAC before was so gunked up that a relearn had to be forced before the ECM could properly adjust to the IAC. "   <---I experienced the same issue with one of my cars years ago as well. It would had a lopey idle and stall out at stop signs for a while if not relearned. Just like in GnatGoSplat's car, cleaning the IAC made it so that a relearn was no longer necessary after a battery disconnect.

Edited January 21, 2020 by mfewtrail