Will disconnecting the battery hurt the ECM?

[AUSSIEVETTEMAN]

I am wondering if anyone knows if disconnecting the battery from my 81 Coupe will hurt the ECM?
The battery is dead and I want to put it on a charger for the day, but I am unsure if the ECM needs power in the system to retain settings and programing.

My Holden Commodore (GMH Australia) requires some power in the system for the Engine Management, but it is a 1996 model.

Can I disconnect the battery?

Cheers

Tony

 

[JB_68_Roadster]

Yes... I believe you are correct. You will lose custom programming at least it was that way in my 94Z and 96 LT4 Coupe but I could and did disconnect the battery at my whim.

G'day mate.

 

[AUSSIEVETTEMAN]

Thanks

Joe,

Yep, Gday Mate!

Thanks for the info, I thought that may be the situation with the ECM.

Cheers

Tony

 

[JB_68_Roadster]

Tony,

The answer I gave you is just what a mechanic told me. The thing that makes me wonder though is that the ECM has an "e-prom" for flash programming or burning the tuning set-up into it. I guess the question is will an e-prom lose its programming if not given a constant power supply?

The Mustangs that I had on the other hand required a chip which overrode the the stock tuning set-up and disconnecting the battery didnt do anything to that. On my 94 Z-28 and and 96 Vette the only times I usually did disconnect them was to put something new on so I took them in right after to get reprogrammed anyways.

Listen to me lol, now Im second guessing myself.

Just before you take my word for it maybe someone could verify.

Peace,
Joe

 

[MaineShark]

E-PROM's don't lose memory when they lose power.

I don't know if the ECM in these cars "learns" or not, but the main programming in any ECM is stored in permanents. The most that happens when you disconnect power from an ECM is that it loses its temporary memory, where it stores adjustments that it has made as your car has worn. Once you drive a little while, it will re-adjust.

Joe

 

[JB_68_Roadster]

That does make a lot of sense.

The guy that told me that if I left the battery off for a while he would have to reprogram was the guy that did the programming.

Hmmmm????

J.

 

[2tone81]

My 81 has the battery disconnected in between winter starts. So far.....so good.......Jim

 

[AUSSIEVETTEMAN]

Thanks

Thanks Joe, Joe and Tim for your feedback.

I took a punt and disconnected it anyway to charge it for a few hours. My sparky had a look at her today and did some work and tested the battery. Turns out I needed a new one anyway.

Thanks again

PS I have attached a photo of my pride and joy.

Cheers

Tony

 

[81 Corvette]

Disconnecting won't hurt anything. You are suppose to disconnect you battery when ever you do most any work anyways.

BTW, nice car. 81's rock.