Fuzzychaos

Trying to help out my brother in law who has my old Canadian car in the US now. 2003 Civic Coupe SI (USA EX model). A couple of times through the years the battery and alternator have died and been replaced but this last time round it seems to have killed the ECU (ECM/PCM) as the Honda dealer in WI is not able to get anything read from the unit, stating that the unit is dead and thus no codes. The car doesn't start except with a jump. Honda dealer said there's nothing that can be done because this a Canadian model car.

Is this true? Should there be some steps to check the ECU is really dead? Can we get a USA ECU for this model car and program it at the US dealer and the car should still work fine? I have no idea if there will be some issue between the miles/kilometers for the car if that matters at all.

Some help/insights appreciated.

Edit: this is a manual transmission.

Jeremy

toyomatt84

iTrader: (1)

If the scanner cannot pull anything from OBD2, the ECU is going to be dead.

eviee1973

Look at the part number to see if it is available through Honda of America
www.torontohondaparts.com is probably the only Canadian market online catalogue
Your dealer can contact Honda Canada Inc and get the immobilizer code.
Honda Canada Inc has a habit of making small differences to a component, and then gouging three time the American price, a good example is a multiplex box.

Fuzzychaos

Ugh so even if I got a USA ECU the dealer would need to still get the immobilized code to make it work from Honda Canada or once it is programmed to the key everything should be ok?

eviee1973

You could try a ecm and key set from a locally sourced recyclers.

Fuzzychaos

Will that mean changing all the locks including the steering one and is that hard to do? Any
Canadian place that I could send the key and ECU to or the car has to be there to make sure it runs?

Ok I recon the car is toast. It needs to be in Canada to have the dealer reprogram a new ECU because of liabilities the USA one can't do it and vice versa. It isn't worth going all the way there for this. Probably the only choice now is to part out the car

eviee1973

Changing locks and ignition cylnder is not a difficult job if you want to try a US market ecm to see how it may function. Dealer can get immobilzer code from Honda Canada Inc HondaCom mainframe for immobilizer rewriting.

Fuzzychaos

Thanks for the advice so far. Ok checking eBay it seems reasonably cheap to go that route. If I get an ECU/keys for the same trim level and MT will the ECU still require reprogramming or am I risking damage to the engine or cat or a no start situation? Should I ask for the VIN of the car the unit came from if reprogramming is required (they'd not be able to get my Canadian VIN to work)?

It seems the dealer thinks they can't get the necessary info from Canada which really sucks right now as they've been paid already just to tell me they can't do it.

toyomatt84

iTrader: (1)

Anytime you change the ECU, the only way you're going to avoid needing to get it reflashed, is if you have the Keys, Ignition Cylinder, and Immobilizer ring along with the ECU.

Fuzzychaos

Ok thanks for that confirmation.

I will also get a US fuse box since the Canadian car doesn't have the ELD and it seems impossible to find it separately (all the alternator wiring seems to be in place so I hope that it is just a straight swap for it).

I saw some other posts relating to the instrument cluster and the immobilizer not working. Do you know if that will affect this model year of car (this car is in km and not miles as well)?

bairdandrew77

If it's the same as the EX U.S. model, I don't see why a Civic EX ECU wouldn't work... Does your car have a D17a2 engine?

eviee1973

Canadian market Civic's have a metal bar in the place where the eld is mounted in the underhood fuse panel. The green/red wire looks like it runs to the fuse panel from the ecm in Canadian market cars, you will likely have to add a black/orange wire to that fuse panel from the wire running from the alternator to the multiplex box. Do not know if you need this eld with the US market ecu.

Racko40

Hello, a 2003 USA market ex ecu will work on a Canadian model Si.
All you need is the ECU, you dont need to get the door locks and fuse box.
And just call a local car locksmith and he will program the ECU to the car keys.
thats all.You dont need any immobiliser codes from the manufacturer.
I have done it a number of times.The locksmith tool overides all pin codes.

Fuzzychaos

@bairdandrew77, sorry I don't know the engine model. It is a fairly stock Canadian Si with the leather shifter/steering wheel and carbon fiber trim inside with cruise control and MT or maybe that is the fully loaded version, it's been a long time since I bought the car. I bought the car brand new from the dealer way back when in Mississauga so the engine was never swapped.

@eviee1973, thanks I'll have my brother-in-law check that, the circuit diagrams seem to show most of the wiring is in place. If I don't put the ELD in then it seems it'll have a CEL code for it from what I can find. Since I'm no where near the car (half way around the world in Asia) and my bro wouldn't be able to have it reprogrammed by a dealer due to its location in US it is a bit troublesome. I'm not sure when the emissions are due and it'd fail I believe if the engine light is on. The alternator voltage is low at 14V or slightly less and was mentioned by the dealer too. I'm not sure if that is a problematic alternator, battery, multiplex, or shorted O2 sensor (the exhaust had been welded in one spot some days before this problem started I think).

@racko40, ok thanks for that. I'm not sure if there are guys that could do that in the Milwaukee, WI area. We'll have to start searching for one after the ECU is acquired with the keys since there isn't much difference in the price. I'm surprised they can do that without the immobilizer killing the engine start. Since the ECU program would be that of a USDM it'd expect the ELD so if only the key is programmed in it then it'd still be searching for a small voltage from the ELD from what I can make out.

Fuzzychaos

Yes this is a D17A2 engine with VTEC. So since we're trying to avoid a reprogramming then I need an EX MT ECU. Indeed the key can be added to the ECU quite easily without getting all of the other parts, sweet tip! Refer to the link below.

http://www.civicforums.com/forums/36...ogramming.html

Thanks guys! I've gone from rock bottom to finding a possible solution for this car Still unsure about the instrument cluster and whether that is going to cause a problem. Still have to troubleshoot the alternator voltage issue too...