ECM- Engine Control Module 06 Honda S/W

Has any one had to rel-urn the ECM on there S/W to reestablish the base idle? Last August on a trip to Colorado I had a problem trying to control the idle while up on Pikes Peak (14,000ft). No problem going up but coming down I had to increase the idle and use the front and rear brake at the same time to keep the engine running. When back to more normal altitude I adjusted the base idle and ever thing was normal. On the way back to Illinois after a couple of days the idle came back up slightly and I had to adjust it back down some what.Every thing else seems to be normal at this time. I have no other drive ability problems and do my own maintenance. The shop foreman at the local Honda dealer (who I trust) says you can rel-urn the ECM by removing both battery cables
from the battery hold them together,turn on the key to complete the circuit for about a minute,turn off the key, install the cables back on, start the scooter and let the scooter idle with out raising the idle manually. Let it run until the engine worms up and it should be ok.This is similar to the first ECM's on early 80's ECM's GM cars.It is to cold here in Illinois to try this right now but has any one heard of this. Howard

That makes sense to me.Guys on 2 strokes have to change jets after a certain altitude up and then rejet when back down.
I've driven my truck from freezing cold to 80 *, and let it idle for about 5 minutes.Revs up and down ,then levels off.Funny stuff.

I would be surprised if the ECM learned anything that needs to be reset. If you have a Wing without the O2 sensor, there is no closed loop to detect a rich/lean mixture. If you have a Wing with the O2 sensor (and PAIR, so it isn't really a closed loop either), there is no reason for it to keep a long memory - it would use the sensor value to adjust!

The screw adjusts the air, which then is read by the computer through the air flow sensors, and then sets the pulse for the injector appropriately.

I do see the idle drop a bit when I go from 6,000 up to 12,000 or 13,000 feet. But not enough to not run. I do this type of riding frequently - it idles maybe 100 or 150 RPM slower at the higher altitude (it does this both on a 2007 w/o O2 sensor and a 2012 w/ O2 sensor). What you are describing is not normal, and I find it hard to believe it would be ECM (although I also don't think you'll hurt anything trying).

It's very easy (at least for bozos like me!) to turn the wrong screw when trying to adjust the idle. If you turn one of the other two screws there, you adjust the cylinder air balance. That could change idle, and also cause problems if the adjustment is off. If it isn't this, then I think you may have a different problem - go ahead and listen to your Honda person and see if resetting the ECU works, but if not, I'd look for standard "idle rough" type of things - fuel, air, spark, etc.

If you intend to do a lot of riding at varying altitudes, I suggest you take a look at the dynojet website.
The power commander maps the fuel air mixture across the powerband, and they have a gadget which allows you to have multiple maps and switch from one map to another while riding.

Doing one map for low altitude and one for high altitude should give you the best of both worlds.

Dan

After I purchased my 06 S/W I was a little disappointed to find that it did not have a closed system. I don't know about Honda scooters but on past GM systems if you try and adjust the base idle (it may not even have a adjustment screw) the system will bring the idle back to where it was.Before they refined the system we would have to replace the PROM to take care of any drive ability concerns. We will find out when the weather here in Illinois gets warmer (July). We went through Golden Colorado.Next time we will look you up.  Howard

Yes, I have heard of disconnecting the battery for a period of time to cause the ECU to reset to base. While i've never heard about shorting the two cables under those circumstances, that is probably to allow any internal capacitors or circuits to discharge. At any rate it's not going to do any damage.

+1 on Jmaslak's caution about confusing the Air Screw(s) (they are straight slot screws) with the (one) Idle Screw (a phillips or JIS screw) which is hidden beneath one of the vacuum hoses.

Our illustrious Mr Spevack's comments regarding a Power Commander are good too. And while the multiple-maps gadget controlled by a switch at the handle bars would seem to be the way to go, that gadget is an additional ~$250 over & above the cost of the PC.

Tim

The ECU on the Swing is not adaptive. It has preprogrammed algorithms for spark and fuel.
Regarding the idle, it can fluctuate quite a bit. It's the nature of the beast. One of the best ways to stabilize the idle is to make sure the throttle plates are synched. If they're not, the idle can be all over the place.

The loss of idle up on Pikes Peak had nothing to do with synchronizing of the throttle plates on my 06 S/W but more to due to the fact that it is does not have a complete
closed loop system.

NWSSC wrote:

The loss of idle up on Pikes Peak had nothing to do with synchronizing of the throttle plates on my 06 S/W but more to due to the fact that it is does not have a complete
closed loop system.

I made a generalization for others. I have no idea what your idling problem could be.

BTW, in my tuning of many Silverwings, the first thing I do right after spark plug replacement is synch the plates and adjust the idle. I have NEVER come across an engine that didn't need synching.

Synchronizing the throttle plates is one of the first things I did on my 06 S/W about 40,000 miles ago and have had no idle problem of any kind until I got to the top of Pikes Peak.

NWSSC wrote:

Synchronizing the throttle plates is one of the first things I did on my 06 S/W about 40,000 miles ago and have had no idle problem of any kind until I got to the top of Pikes Peak.

Do you think an engine's throttles will stay in synch for 40 000 miles?
Maybe you should check again when the weather warms? I find I need to resynch every riding season. Vibration and temperature fluctuations cause those screws to move over time.