First of all, let me clarify, we did this because the F23A5 was blown, and we picked up a 98 F23A1 for $150.

The motor came out of a 98 LX 5 spd.
The harness was cut, and the ECU was useless cause we were putting it in an AUTO.

The car runs fine on the stock non-vtec ecu, but thats just no fun...

So we bought the correct ecu for the motor with an auto tranny.

We ran the wires for the VTEC pressure switch and the VTEC Solenoid....
The car wouldn't even start with this ecu.
My question is:

Is there any other differences between these two motors that would cause it to not start with this ecu?

Let me know if i haven't been clear enough, but the swap was VERY straight forward and the old cut harness looked to be the same. We're thinking bad ECU, but could we have missed something else?

I did alot of searching for a good write up on this swap, and good diagrams, but i couldn't find anything very solid. Car belongs to a friend of mine's sister, and we really just want to get the VTEC working. If we have to, we'll get some type of rpm activated switch and just do it the ghetto way, but i hate doing stuff like that, so it would be great if we get the correct ecu to work.

 

The no start issue would probably be the IMMO (immobilizer system) that is incorporated into these ECUs. The car Key will only work with the ECU it's matched to. You will need to have your newly acquired VTEC ECU programmed to work with your key.

 

so, is this something honda can do or do i have to find someone to do it.

 

Honda can do it

 

any idea how much it costs?

 

Every dealership is different for every part/service as they are privately owned.

It could be $5 where you're at and $200 where I am. You just need to call a few dealerships in your area to find the cheapest.

 

Redneckdave had posted that there are locksmiths/towing companies that can program them now as well. Call your local locksmiths and see what they say.

 

alright guys, thanks a bunch.

I knew BMW's had crap like this, but i never even thought about it being something like that. All I've ever messed with is 4th and 5th gen Civics, and 4th gen Accords, lol.