So on a very wet and rainy Saturday this weekend, I spun twice in rapid succession at an autocross. Both times, I missed the opportunity to clutch in before stalling and the first time, my engine took a good 10-15 seconds to start up again.

After that run, I worked the course a bit and when I went out to lunch, my check engine light was on. The car was running fine, but I didn't want to continue running if there was a risk that something wasn't right. So, I pulled out the ECU from the front fuse box and figured all was well if the error didn't come back after it reset.

So my questions is, could that stalling actually have caused any issues? And could resetting the ECU have had any downside (aside from not being able to get that code that tripped before). I'm assuming "no" in both cases, but was hoping for some confirmation, or perhaps a suggestion for a better method of resetting the ECU in the future if this isn't a good one.

Thanks,
-N

 

I wouldn't think that any method of resetting the ECU is different (worse) other than the method itself. They all achieve the same thing.

I'm not sure if the stalling caused the CEL to come on. Maybe it was just a precautionary measure that the ECU took and threw a CEL just to play things safe.

 

You should be fine. If the CEL comes back on then you may have actually damaged something. Otherwise you probably just caused a strange reading for one or many of the sensors by pushing her so hard and then stalling her. It happens.

 

That's what I figured - thanks...
-N