i bought a 99 engine with ecu 5sp. do i need to change the ecu in my car too? or they are the SAME? my car is 5sp too. one more question....all 5G lude 5th gear grinds? or only 97 and 98?

 

I know from my experience they are not the same. A while back I did a manual transmission swap on my '99, and I bought a '97 ecu to run with. Everything ran fine, the only problem I had was every times right after I filled the gas, the car would not stay running. It started but die right away unless I held my foot on a gas pedal around 3000k for like 5 mins or more. After that it would run normal. It has to do with some fuel valve or something. You could search here to confirm it. I did not realize my problem until I read something about it up here. I switched a '99 ecu in and the problem went away. Since the engine comes with a '99 ecu, go ahead and use it. You need to take it to a dealer and let them reprogram the immobilizer.

 

all h22 gearboxes are prone to the 5th gear crunch scenario - there's an American Honda Service Bulletin about it.

The not starting at petrol stations sounds symptomatic of the main relay failing.. dunno how changing the ecu fixed that.. afaik the usdm engines didnt change in the 5th gen lude..? so the engine/ecu/everything should be the same assuming it's not a base-SH ecu swap which will have some differences

Gavz