Verbal_Kint

Hey, guys... I'm a new sign-up on here, and frankly know just enough to be dangerous (thanks to the last 24 hrs crash course) about Honda vehicles. I'm admittedly a domestic guy (waving the white flag) but my girl is having an issue with her 2003 Honda Accord. That said I do come from a wrenching and track racing background, and was an munitions tech in the Air Force by trade... so I have a good grasp on cars and mechanical aptitude.

The issue at hand... she has an '03 Accord, as stated, and she has broken the key off in the ignition. She had been having issues with having to wiggle the key to get it to easily turn over, leading up to this, but I'm pretty sure she didn't have the key fully seated and snapped it off while in a hurry this time around. As such, part of the key is still in the cylinder. The first locksmith (only one so far) spent about 10 mins trying and gave up. He couldn't remove the piece.

She has called around to various shops and the dealership and gotten so many answers, prices, can'ts and shouldn'ts... that she is pretty ill about the whole deal. $600 for parts... $1200 out the door... can swap cylinders... can't swap cylinders... keys will have to be programmed (yeah, we knew)... trying to use a cylinder or key that has sat for too long without power can never be programmed again... they won't provide the brake immobilizer codes, etc etc etc. It really runs the entire spectrum and even left me questioning half of the stuff she's been told.

As the cylinder had the pre-existing issues... she's willing to just replace the cylinder and be done. I know I can snag that for $200'ish. My question is this... I realize the new keys won't be programmed... but since we do have the existing/factory key with the current immobilizer... can I use that in conjunction with the new keys/cylinder to get the car running? The new cylinder would fix the mechanical issue. Can I just secure the old key (or hack out the chip from the old key) in the column near the cylinder, tricking the ecu into thinking all is kosher and allowing the car to start?

I realize this makes the anti-theft completely worthless... but this seems to be the quickest, cheapest, route to get her car back on the road... which is the priority.

Yes? No? Advice? Input? Better way to bypass the immobilizer feature (via pm if need be, as to not promote any potential theft issues). As stated, she's the owner... has the title... has the key... etc. All would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

tech8

The transponder chip is in the plastic key fob; so, you can start the car with a new key if the original transponder chip is near the Immobilizer receiver at the steering column's ignition switch.

http://www.tegger.com/hondafaq/tsb/accord/x02-053e.pdf

You can also carefully remove the transponder chip from the old key fob and insert it into the new key fob; as you can see in the following link for people converting to a flip key.

New Flip Key - Drive Accord Honda Forums

Verbal_Kint

Great... that's very good to know. Thank you for the links and photos. I wasn't sure if the transponder had to be inline/connected to the blank that slid into the cylinder, or if it was a proximity thing. Seeing where the receiving/pickup area is on the column is a huge help. Thanks again!