My battery has been disconnected for over a year while I did some work on the engine. I'm wondering if the software needs to be reloaded because the battery was disconnected for so long. Would it need both the ECU and map software?
After connecting the battery, my engine (Zetec w/EDIS) barely runs and acts like the timing is off. It ran just fine before I disconnected the battery and there were no changes to the engine that would affect the software map - no cams, changes in fuel injection, etc. I've checked the mechanical parts of the timing and the timing itself and they're fine. The flywheel sensor is OK as well.
Thanks!
Disconnected car battery vs software
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Read the manual to see if your question is answered there before posting. Many users will not reply if the answer is already available in the manual.
If your question is about troubleshooting, configuration, or tuning, you MUST include your processor type (MS-I or MS-II) and code version in your post. If your question is about PCB assembly or modifications, you must also include the main board version number (1.01, 2.2 or 3.0).
If you have questions about MS1/Extra or MS2/Extra code configuration or tuning, please post them at www.msextra.com Such questions posted here will be moved to: a temporary MSextra sub-forum, where they will be removed after 7 days
The full forum rules are here: Forum Rules, be sure to read them all regularly.
Re: Disconnected car battery vs software
Many new OEM cars have keep alive memory that can be lost when the battery is disconnected, but this is just the result of self-tuning by the ECU. It can cause the car to run rough when first started but then it will recover as the ECU retunes.
But no MS ecus have this feature, its flash code and data are permanent unless reprogrammed in a very specific way. So, your MS should come back to life, and it sounds like it did. If it did fail it is highly unlikely that the car would run at all. The biggest cause of corrupt code, as far as I can tell, is an interruption of power while a data change is being burned, because prior to burning an entire 1 kbyte block must be erased at once, then each word in the block is re-written, one by one.
But no MS ecus have this feature, its flash code and data are permanent unless reprogrammed in a very specific way. So, your MS should come back to life, and it sounds like it did. If it did fail it is highly unlikely that the car would run at all. The biggest cause of corrupt code, as far as I can tell, is an interruption of power while a data change is being burned, because prior to burning an entire 1 kbyte block must be erased at once, then each word in the block is re-written, one by one.
Re: Disconnected car battery vs software
OK, thanks!