Hi,

I am new here so sorry if there was already information posted that I was unable to find.
About six years ago, I purchased my first car - American made 6gen accord coupe. It was made for the european market, features F20B5 engine and manual transmission.
The previous owner had done something weird with the immobiliser/transponder setup. He had a small plastic chip dangling with an aftermarket key fob, that he waved next to the center console on passenger side until you can hear the car beep two times. After that he put the key into ignition and fired right up. After the engine is turned off, within about one minute you will hear a single beep, indicating that the immobiliser system has re-armed and you need to wave the chip next to the console again to start it. It has worked for me this way ever since, until about a year ago it started acting up. What would frequently happen is that I wave the plastic chip next to the center console, hear the two beeps, start the car and go for a drive, but suddenly, especially if the weather is cold and wet, I would hear a single beep, as if the engine has been stopped, but the car is running fine. At the same time, the little red bulb on the drivers side under the windshield will start blinking, and within a few minutes the car dies. I then have to take the plastic chip and wave it next to the center console, starts right back up, but repeats this bug every minute. On some days it works without any issues, on some days it drives me completely crazy up to the point where I considered to sell the car. The plans have changed due to energy crisis and inflation, so the car will be staying with me and I need to fix the issue.
I have not the slightest idea what the previous owner (no way to contact him anymore) had done to the immobiliser system, I am not familiar with it, never tore it apart to check. I can only tell that there should not be any extra receivers next to the center console so somebody has probably put it there.
Digging on internet only suggested to replace either the main relay or the ignition switch, but I don't think it has anything to do with this. The main relay had failed before, I had it soldered together and in that case the car would not start where in my case it stalls and restarts easily. If it was a faulty ignition switch, it would have nothing to do with the extra receiver next to the center console. The feeling I get is as if the ECU has lost or rejected the transponder signal and suddenly decides to re-arm the immobiliser, which cuts fuel and ignition. Either that or it thinks that the engine is not running anymore, but it is.
Have you seen anything like this before? Can you suggest what to inspect? I am considering de-soldering the immobiliser chip from ECU as per this video: but I am not sure it will allow my engine to start since the european market cars had no OBD plug, and therefore might have a different ECU. I do not care if the check engine light will stay lit, the bulb is gone anyways. The ECU code for this car according to EPC data is 37820-PAD-G00.

Regards, Karlis.