in trying to get my car started again, i borrowed a friend's ECU. the car is a 2000 prelude sh; the ECU is also from a 5th gen prelude. there is a procedure in the Helms describing how to test out another ECU. basically, you cut a key for the car on a non-immobilizer blank, and then tape the immobilizer key from the donor car to the newly cut key. i did this. it doesn't work. i tried it many times. i made sure none of the immobilized keys to the car were anywhere near the ignition, tried again. it doesn't work. the immobilizer light in the dash just flashes at me. i'm sure the key i'm using is from the donor ECU's car.

HELP! tia.

 

There's two other ways mentioned in this article: http://www.tech2tech.net/library/sha...m/immobilz.htm
Unfortunately, one requires you to have access to HondaNet. And the other requires you to have the Honda PGM Tester. Again...

Can you test your original ECU in the other car (the test ECU's donor) with the method in the Helms? That would at least tell you if your ECU is good, right?

This might sound like a dumb question, but did you ever try starting with a different original key for your car since your problem began? It could very well be that your Immobilizer key just went bad. This happened to a friend of mine who had a 1997 Base model. For a few weeks, his car was hesitant to crank. And it ended up not cranking at all one day. He got it towed to the dealer. They just gave him a new key and it worked fine after that. I've heard of other cases on Prelude transponder keys going bad too...

Also, if all else fails, you can try this to work around the immobilizer: http://www.12voltshop.com/details.as...t=13&path=1,13
(That product is kinda scary, eh? Glad I spent all that money on the alarm too...)

Good Luck,
Andrew

 

you know, from the description of the system in that article there's no way the procedure in the helms would work. is it just total BS or what?

 

The work around method that you described IS in that article... But it is under the "Accord/Odessy Immobilzer" section - not the Prelude section. Strange...

Andrew

 

i think they fudged it up - the accord system does not have the "immobilizer control unit," in the steering column. the article clearly states that this control unit also compares the key code to an internal value. the accord system only compares the value stored in the ecu to the key.

sounds to me like the nice folks at helms wasted me and a friend some time and money shipping another prelude ecu up here to try out.

 

I kno this is old but, how much does honda charge to change the immobilzer?