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How to reset ECU on Audi & Volkswagen vehicles?

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How to reset ECU on Audi & Volkswagen vehicles?
Looking for ways to reset your Audi or Volkswagen ECU? ECU reset, or simply electronic control unit reset, is a relatively easy way to reset specific control units after certain changes to a car’s functionality are made. While resetting a control unit isn’t always necessary, sometimes it’s a useful method when some functions don’t work after you program them.  

There are a few ways to go about doing that, but in this article, we’ll quickly run through the main ECU reset types and discuss the simplest one there is – resetting your ECU with OBDeleven’s One-Click Apps.  


Defining ECU


The acronym ECU can also refer to the engine control unit, but an electronic control unit is basically the same as a control unit. While ECU and CU are, in essence, the same thing, to avoid confusion, we’ll continue this article with the term control unit.  

A control unit is a device that basically controls all the electronic features of your car, like cabin temperature or fuel injections. And, of course, different vehicles have a different number of control units. Typically, each unit is responsible for specific functions. However, there are also cases of one control unit controlling multiple car functions.   


Why and when do you need to reset control units?   


There can be many reasons to reset control units. But the most popular one by far is resetting after activating new features. For example, if you like to get hands-deep into your car and code functions yourself, you might find that they can sometimes don’t work properly. In this case, resetting your control unit might take care of this problem.  

Think of it like having sudden connectivity problems with your WiFi. You then switch your internet router OFF and ON again to reboot it. In most cases, this method works like a charm.
 
 

Control unit reset types


As we mentioned before, there are several ways to reset your car’s control units. The most common reset types are Key OFF – ON Reset, Hard reset, and Soft reset. Let’s look over each of them in a bit more detail. 

Key OFF – ON Reset  

To put it simply, this method involves turning the ignition off, removing the key, and then turning the ignition back on again. Basically, when you turn off the ignition, control units won’t power down immediately – it’ll first store all the data in the Non-volatile memory of the processor and then de-initialize all the programs. Then it’ll go into power down mode without losing any data. Finally, when you’ll turn on the ignition, it’ll follow the same process but in reverse, resetting the control units.  

Hard reset

The hard reset is basically the same as disconnecting power from the control unit. This could be removing your car battery or power source and connecting it again. Once you do that, this initiates a reset process during which your control unit resets.  

Soft reset 

In the most basic sense, it’s the same as turning the ignition off and waiting until the car goes to standby mode. The soft reset is equivalent to restarting your main application program. This means that your stack pointer of the microcontroller will point to the address of the main function. In essence, a soft reset is an application software it’ll restart a control unit immediately. This is a very common reset functionality that's normally used to restart the control units.  


OBDeleven’s One-Click Apps


If you’re someone who’s looking to save time, money, and wants to have an overall better user experience when dealing with your car, OBDeleven’s One-Click Apps are for you. Simply put, our pre-made coding applications do a lot of the manual work for you – and this includes control unit reset. The reset function is already pre-programmed in the app.  

For example, when you change the multimedia startup logo with a dedicated One-Click App, your multimedia shuts down and then powers back up again automatically. This allows the application to properly initiate and continue working. 


Resetting control units with OBDeleven’s One-Click Apps  


To easily perform a control unit reset with OBDeleven, all you have to do is connect your device to your vehicle and open the mobile application. Once you do that, navigate to the control units list and tap on “Select control unit”. After that, tap on “Reset,” choose the reset type, and tap on “OK” to finish the reset. That’s it – you’re done.   


To sum up   


Working with your car can be a bit overwhelming at times. But with proper knowledge and patience, you can achieve great results. So, the next time you activate certain functions on your car, and they don’t work, try resetting the control units. It’s a quick and easy way to check whether resetting a control unit can help those new functions you added work properly.