Citation

Johnson GM. Collision 2011; 6(1): 120-127.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2011, Collision Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

After an accident involving a heavy vehicle, it is important that data from the electronic control unit (ECU) be properly retrieved and preserved. However, there can be several different files and file types stored in different locations. Shop personnel may not be aware that these files even exist, much less how to locate and download them. This article provides information to assist a basic user on how to retrieve event data from the ECU. Each manufacturer's ECU records event data differently and under different sets of circumstances. Although information is presented in this article for six manufacturers, some steps are common for all. These procedures include: (1) ensure the clock and time zone are correct on the downloading computer; (2) expand trees that do not do so automatically; (3) extract trips and incidents; (4) do not change, add or reset anything; (5) save proprietary files; and (5) print as much as possible as a pdf file or take screen shots.