Method and system for performing diagnostics or software maintenance for a vehicle

A system of performing remote diagnostic on a vehicle, the system comprising:

• a data processor for performing a particular task;
• a resource monitor for determining if resource consumption of the data processor for the respective particular task exceeds a threshold amount of resource consumption;
• a loop counter for incrementing a loop count or a number in a data storage device associated with the data processor if the resource consumption for the respective particular task exceeds the threshold amount;
• and
• a poison task module for designating the particular task as a poison message if the data processor has been rebooted, or appears to have been rebooted, more than a maximum number of times as indicated by the loop counter.

A method of performing remote diagnostic on a vehicle, the method comprising:

• performing a particular task by a data processor;
• determining if resource consumption of the data processor for the respective particular task exceeds a threshold amount of resource consumption;
• incrementing a loop counter, in a data storage device associated with the data processor, if the resource consumption for the respective particular task exceeds the threshold amount, or if the watchdog timer expires without being cleared during the timeout period or timeout interval,
• designating the particular task as a poison message if the data processor has been rebooted more than a maximum number of times as indicated by the loop counter.