Re Y2K issue

["Doyt W. Echelberger" <Doyt@NWOhio.com>]

 Andrew.Jackson@digital.com   wrote these words  1 Apr 1998 08:30:54 EDT:
 
>Do we *KNOW* that the ECUs don't hold the date - or are we just assuming
that they don't because we can see no reason for it?

>I'd *guess* that most older ECUs would be OK, but some of the more
recent ones might hold the date.  Isn't it true that the computers on
some BMWs hold the date - and warn you when its time for your next
service etc?  I also seem to remember reading that on some cars (Fords?)
the explosive trigger for the airbag is deactivated after a certain
date/time to avoid problems/injury when they're being scrapped etc?

>Of course, one would hope that newer car-computers which *do* hold a
date would be y2k compliant.  But is it wise for these concerns to be
dismissed out of hand?

>In general - the y2k problem should not be underestimated. OK, if a VCR
gets confused when it hits 01/01/00 then its not a big problem. But if a
life support system in a hospital gets confused  then the consequences
could be a little more worrying.
On a personal note, most of the people I know who work with computers
are hoping to go and hide on a remote computer-free island on 31/12/99!

>Andrew Jackson
(hoping to be out of IT Support by December '99 :-)
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I've only taken one ECU apart, and it was from an 87 5kcstq.  I didn't see
any battery that exists to keep a time line running when the unit was not
attached to a functional 12v car battery system.

Just because I didn't see a battery doesn't mean one isn't there.And other
energy storage devices exist to act like a battery. So, Ireally don't know.

So, here is a question to the knowledgeable ECU reprogrammers on the list.
Does any ECU you are familiar with have such a battery or any similar means
to run a time line? Or any device to set and reset such a time line if it
did exist?

I am skeptical of the existence of such a component. If it were there,
ECU's would require replacement or service on such a battery, and it would
be a periodic service item known to mechanics and listed in service
manuals. And there would be accommodations for re-setting the date, like on
a camera or a VCR or any other time-lined electronic device.

No evidence has come to my attention in this thread which claims knowledge
of such features.

ECU's sit around in older cars, without connected starting batteries, and
used ECU's sit around for years on storage shelves in recycling yards and
owners backyards, and they work just fine when put into another car. No
adjustment needed.

Until someone comes forward with evidence of such a component, I will act
on the hypothesis that one does not exist.

Doyt Echelberger
86 4kcsq
87 5kcstq   1.7 bar and smiling, with or without a time line.