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extrashaky · 03-29-2014, 12:29 PM

I'll state up front that I learned car repair on old cars with carburetors, plugs and points, with nary a computer in sight. ECUs are a bit of an enigma for me. With that said...

I have a bone stock 2014 MT BRZ Limited. I've been running a cheap BAFX OBDII bluetooth adapter connected up with Torque to provide some of the gauges this car should have had on the dash. A couple of weeks ago it threw the U0073 code while I was pulling out of a gas station in rural Arkansas. The CEL and slip lights came on, and the car went into limp home mode with a huge loss of power.

I pulled off to the side of the road and looked up the code on the internet (on this site actually). For those who don't know, Torque (or that shitty BT adapter) is actually the cause of the U0073 code. I determined that it was no big deal and reset it. Then I was on my way with no discernible lingering effects.

Since then the ECU has thrown that code twice more. The second time it did it, I reset it again and had no lingering effects.

However, when it did it the third time Thursday, the car didn't quite recover and was sluggish afterward. I cleared the code, and the slip light was off. But for the remaining 300 miles of my trip it felt like the engine was only giving me 85% or 90%. You know that kick in the pants you get above 4K RPM after the torque dip with the stock tune? It was gone. The difference was subtle and was something only someone accustomed to driving this car would have noticed, but there was enough there that I'm sure it wasn't in my head. The car was still perfectly drivable. It was just a little off.

I let it sit overnight and drove it again yesterday, and it seems to be back to normal. Luckily my new not-cheap OBDLink adapter arrived yesterday, so I can ditch the BAFX adapter and see if that solves the recurring U0073 problem.

However, I would like to know what happened after I cleared that code that last time, and why it didn't completely recover. It seemed to me that it should have gone back to normal after the code was cleared.

Can any of you guys who are whizzes with the computer tell me why it did that?

03-29-2014, 12:29 PM	#1
extrashaky Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Drives: 2014 BRZ Limited Location: USA Posts: 4,046 Thanks: 1,100 Thanked 5,620 Times in 2,267 Posts Mentioned: 55 Post(s) Tagged: 1 Thread(s)	BRZ vs. Torque App & Cheap OBDII Adapter I'll state up front that I learned car repair on old cars with carburetors, plugs and points, with nary a computer in sight. ECUs are a bit of an enigma for me. With that said... I have a bone stock 2014 MT BRZ Limited. I've been running a cheap BAFX OBDII bluetooth adapter connected up with Torque to provide some of the gauges this car should have had on the dash. A couple of weeks ago it threw the U0073 code while I was pulling out of a gas station in rural Arkansas. The CEL and slip lights came on, and the car went into limp home mode with a huge loss of power. I pulled off to the side of the road and looked up the code on the internet (on this site actually). For those who don't know, Torque (or that shitty BT adapter) is actually the cause of the U0073 code. I determined that it was no big deal and reset it. Then I was on my way with no discernible lingering effects. Since then the ECU has thrown that code twice more. The second time it did it, I reset it again and had no lingering effects. However, when it did it the third time Thursday, the car didn't quite recover and was sluggish afterward. I cleared the code, and the slip light was off. But for the remaining 300 miles of my trip it felt like the engine was only giving me 85% or 90%. You know that kick in the pants you get above 4K RPM after the torque dip with the stock tune? It was gone. The difference was subtle and was something only someone accustomed to driving this car would have noticed, but there was enough there that I'm sure it wasn't in my head. The car was still perfectly drivable. It was just a little off. I let it sit overnight and drove it again yesterday, and it seems to be back to normal. Luckily my new not-cheap OBDLink adapter arrived yesterday, so I can ditch the BAFX adapter and see if that solves the recurring U0073 problem. However, I would like to know what happened after I cleared that code that last time, and why it didn't completely recover. It seemed to me that it should have gone back to normal after the code was cleared. Can any of you guys who are whizzes with the computer tell me why it did that?