So I have a 1997 Prelude Base 5MT, and my ECU has a serious no-start problem that rears its ugly head whenever the temperatures drop below approximately 37 degrees Fahrenheit. I'm not interested in purchasing an ECU/Ignition/Key combo for the car, and was curious to see if a chipped P28 with an OBD II conversion harness or a 1996 Prelude VTEC P13-A12 ECU were viable options.

Has anyone used a chipped P28 with a conversion harness in their 5G Prelude (keeping it OBD II)? How about that P13-A12, is it a direct plug-and-play?

Thanks!

 

Yes alot of us 5th gen owners use the chipped ecu with conversion harness, I myself have a chipped p28 ecu with a jumper harness. It works great without issues whatsoever. Yes the P13-A12 is direct plug-n-play since it uses the obd2a plugs that all 5th gen ludes came with.

 

Thank you! I appreciate the response.

 

if you want a 96 p13, get ahold of Tim Mace on facebook, he has one for sale. tell him I sent you

 

I was gonna say, good luck finding a '96 p13-a12 for a reasonable price. Obd2 h22 non-immobilizer ecu is a pretty penny.

Being in CA, I had to get one to smog when I did my h22 swap in my 96. Granted it was in 2010 but damn thing costed me like 300 bucks.

 

I've found a few 96 VTEC ECUs locally, and $300 isn't much of a concern. That's what a reconditioned stock ECU with the immobilizer removed would cost anyway. I'm looking into a chipped/reflashed OBD1 computer since we don't have emissions in Ohio, and it may offer some flexibility. I don't, however, have any plans to modify my Prelude, as it's bone stock, has only 150,000 miles, and I'm the second owner... So I'm doubtful that I'd have anything but a stock map on the OBD1 ECU anyway. It'll likely stay stock.

 

if you get a chipped/modded obd1 ecu, you will NEED to get it professionally tuned. and then you'll need to get it re-tuned every time you change anything on the engine