Resetting the Black Box?
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 387
Likes: 0
From: Burlington V.T
Resetting the Black Box?
okay i'm take my car to service to see whats what about this rear, anyways someone told me if the Battery is disconnected for 24 hours it will reset the black box & they can't see how it blew?
if this is not how you do it could someone help me out here & fill me in?
if this is not how you do it could someone help me out here & fill me in?
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 10,089
Likes: 14
Originally Posted by larry_chip
okay i'm take my car to service to see whats what about this rear, anyways someone told me if the Battery is disconnected for 24 hours it will reset the black box & they can't see how it blew?
if this is not how you do it could someone help me out here & fill me in?
if this is not how you do it could someone help me out here & fill me in?
But it won't work, because the car history is stored in nonvolatile memory, same as the tune or other settable parameters. AFAIK the only way to clear it is to overwrite it.
The car does this normally. The history memory is arranged as a circular que. After 50 complete run cycles, the last event is overwritten and new information has filled the que. A run cycle is a cold start followed by 5 minutes at 55 MPH.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 7,588
Likes: 6
From: Montreal Qc
Originally Posted by shopdog
...After 50 complete run cycles, the last event is overwritten and new information has filled the que. A run cycle is a cold start followed by 5 minutes at 55 MPH.
I would think it would be more like a continuous loop of the last 60 minutes of run time?
Team Owner
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 38,314
Likes: 35
Originally Posted by shopdog
Once power is removed, the car has no way to know how much time has passed. So if this 24 hour disconnect did work, it doesn't BTW, a 30 second disconnect would work just as well.
But it won't work, because the car history is stored in nonvolatile memory, same as the tune or other settable parameters. AFAIK the only way to clear it is to overwrite it.
The car does this normally. The history memory is arranged as a circular que. After 50 complete run cycles, the last event is overwritten and new information has filled the que. A run cycle is a cold start followed by 5 minutes at 55 MPH.
But it won't work, because the car history is stored in nonvolatile memory, same as the tune or other settable parameters. AFAIK the only way to clear it is to overwrite it.
The car does this normally. The history memory is arranged as a circular que. After 50 complete run cycles, the last event is overwritten and new information has filled the que. A run cycle is a cold start followed by 5 minutes at 55 MPH.
If so what other parameters are stored in the car's novolatile memory?
Race Director
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 10,399
Likes: 26
From: Austin Texas
I think his question was about the "black box", not the ECM. It's my understanding that the black box only has a minute or so of memory and is continually overwritten, it's just for accident re-constuction.
The ECM can be changed, thats what tuners do. Check Engine Light Codes in the ECM can be erased by many scan tools OR by disconnecting the battery OR by pulling the ECM fuse. Previous CEL codes require the drive cycle to clear them even if you cleared the codes by any of the three methods above.
The ECM can be changed, thats what tuners do. Check Engine Light Codes in the ECM can be erased by many scan tools OR by disconnecting the battery OR by pulling the ECM fuse. Previous CEL codes require the drive cycle to clear them even if you cleared the codes by any of the three methods above.
Drifting
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 1,837
Likes: 4
The black box is part of the airbag system, it records a minute's worth of info when there's an accident (air bag deployment or near-deployment). This is stored in non-volitile memory. It probably doesn't matter for this case; you might want to destroy it after an accident.
The ECU may store snapshot information about the last code event, depending on the code. This is stored in semi-persistant memory, which probably would be erased by powering off the ECU for a long enough time. Or can be erased by resetting the code using a scan tool.
If the car stores more info they aren't admitting it, so the dealer probably doesn't know about it either.
The ECU may store snapshot information about the last code event, depending on the code. This is stored in semi-persistant memory, which probably would be erased by powering off the ECU for a long enough time. Or can be erased by resetting the code using a scan tool.
If the car stores more info they aren't admitting it, so the dealer probably doesn't know about it either.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 791
Likes: 2
From: Stafford Virginia
I know I was a little worried about them pulling a log of my car when I had the rear replaced, especially since they directly asked if I had been Drag Racing and I said NO, but really had. :o
As it turned out, they either didn't look or didn't care. I got my car back yesterday with a new rear, no more questions asked...
As it turned out, they either didn't look or didn't care. I got my car back yesterday with a new rear, no more questions asked...
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 10,089
Likes: 14
Originally Posted by Miaugi
shopdog, does this mean if I drive my car 1 time everyday for 2 hours and I get past 55 mph for 5 minutes, the black box stores 50 days (100 hours) of info?
I would think it would be more like a continuous loop of the last 60 minutes of run time?
I would think it would be more like a continuous loop of the last 60 minutes of run time?
Race Director
Joined: Oct 2004
Posts: 10,089
Likes: 14
Originally Posted by haljensen
I think his question was about the "black box", not the ECM. It's my understanding that the black box only has a minute or so of memory and is continually overwritten, it's just for accident re-constuction.
Safety Car
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 3,563
Likes: 2
From: Dallas Tx
These same folks barely capable of changing oil without mucking it up have no ability to read black box data. That's only available to OEM engineers and law agencies by subpeana. You need the secret X and O decoder. Doesn't sound like you had an SIR deployed crash anyway, there would not be any data to read.
The data available via Tech II is just the basic data stream and DTC information. There is no DTC for drag racing, so these monkeys just look for signs like wheel wells full of rubber, dial in time on glass, time slips in the glove box, and their all time favorite - Nitrous holes in the intake (and pistons sometimes) and bottle mounting bracket holes.
Bring it in relatively stock and clean, should have no problems.
The data available via Tech II is just the basic data stream and DTC information. There is no DTC for drag racing, so these monkeys just look for signs like wheel wells full of rubber, dial in time on glass, time slips in the glove box, and their all time favorite - Nitrous holes in the intake (and pistons sometimes) and bottle mounting bracket holes.
Bring it in relatively stock and clean, should have no problems.
