ludesiffer

thats exactly the same question i have. My car didn't come with the red key and i am planning on doing the swap in the next month or so. So after the swap how would i get my car to start and drive it to honda??? By the way, which are the wires you have to rewire if using the same auto ecu??

Pearl-lude99

If u go to Honda they should be able to cut u a T5 key,as long as u give them ur VIN number they can look it up and cut the key needed to redo the immobilizer. This is what a few techs at Honda said. Also i had my 5 speed swap done and they guy never ever opened the case for my red key,so he had to do something to get it to work. He had a friend at Honda that redoes the Immobilzer for him,i am sure that
s what he did...As long as u get that done u should be ok..

sharkcohen

Not every dealership has the equipment needed to produce a T5 key.

Gerhard

It seems like this is always being answered.

The complete information on how the system works is derrived from these two articles:

Immobilizer System Programming

T5 Key Duplicator System:

http://elabfcsvrt.fdu.edu/bartsch/Pr...tor[1].pdf

The RED KEY is used only to program a 5th Gen immobilizer to work with an ECU and then tell the immobilizer which keys to accept.

Each RED KEY is specific to an immobilizer. (They come paired together. ...and immobilizer without a Red Key is useless if the car ever needs to be reprogrammed.)

There is no such thing as a T5 Red Key.

There IS a T5 Key. (It will have T5 stamped on it IF you get key from the dealer as a replacement for your original keys, provided that you have one already.)

The T5 key is used for duplicating a key that ALREADY starts your car.

The ORIGINAL Black & Gray keys for the car have a specific code (unique) in each of them.

The Red key is used to program the imobilizer which specific codes the car is allowed to start with. The Prelude is limited to 5 codes. (Which originally translated to 5 keys, that is, until the T5 system came out.)

With the T5 key system, you can duplicate an original key. So while the car will only recognize up to 5 codes, you can now copy the keys as many times as you want... giving you an unlimited number of keys that you can create to start the car.

There are only 2 ways to get the system to work:

1) You buy an ECU with the immobilizer and a key from a wrecked Prelude. You can then install the ECU and the Immobilizer into the car, and have the key physically cut to your car's key, BUT the code copied from the wreck's key. (Have a few keys made at that time!)

2) You have the immobilizer AND it's Red Key. You then take the car to Honda, install the ECU (and the immobilizer if doing that too), and have them associate the immobilizer and the new ECU to work with each other. At the same time you need to give them all of your current car keys and have them tell the immobilizer to work with those key's codes.
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eolife22

And 3. If you ONLY have the 5spd ECU... then your only options are :
1. Put in the 5spd ecu and tow the car to honda to get reprogramed
2. Rewire your auto ecu and make it a manual ecu
3. Put in the auto ecu, have a garbage idle....then drive it to honda to have the 5spd reprogammed.

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*2006 Pontiac GTO*
*2001 Pearl Lude*
*1989 Honda Civic*

Gerhard

Basically yes.

If you have YOUR Red Key for your immobilizer, then it's as you said.

Here is what no one seemed to be directly mentioning:

If you swap the transmissions, and leave the Auto ECU in there... the car will not run properly.

You will get the boucing random idle problem.

There are two ways to solve this problem:

- New ECU (of the same model year)
- Move the RP13 Jumper to RP14 on the auto ECU.

Obviously, if you use your ECU, and move the jumper... you don't have to do anything special (but be good a micro circuit soldering).

The other big issue if you swap the ECU is that the car will not start, so you'll have to have it towed to the Honda dealer.

This is why everyone talks about getting the immobilizer and keys from the car with the donor ECU. As all you do then is swap the immobilizer/ECU combo, and then have a bunch of T5 keys made using the code from one of the wrecks keys. This way, the moment the swap is completed, you can try it out.

ludesiffer

so this seems to be the easisest way if you dont have a red key or a 5spd ecu yet right?? And is this the only thing that needs to be moved on the auto ecu to make it identical to a 5spd ecu???

Gerhard

Yep.

On the bottom of the Auto P5M ECU is a jumper (in the form of a VERY small 000 Ohm Resistor) labeled RP13. On top of the PCB is an unused jumper called RP14.

You take it off of RP13 and move it to RP14.

This requires some skill.

The current theory is that the fuel maps are exactly the same between the P5M Auto and Manual. (Since they are between all the previous model Prelude ECUs...)

kotetu

^^ That's an understatement Gerhard! It requires a LOT of skill. Did you see the pics I took of that board? Maybe you can take it to one of those chinese places that does the LEDs on cell phones and have them do it; amateurs need not apply!

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zameoj

Its not that bad to drive with the auto ECU. Everyone makes it sound like the car barely runs. It will get you to the dealer just fine. Everyone seems to be worried about the Red Key. It is not needed by the dealer, at least the one i went to.

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SS --> 5spd INFO

Gerhard

Did you just go to any dealer, or was it the dealer the car was purchased from?

According to this TSB, without the Red Key, you need a new immobilizer if you want to associate any keys to work with the car...

Immobilizer System Details

zameoj

No, the dealer I purchased it from flat out said no before I could explain the whole situation. I called two additional dealers and they said the same. I went to a dealer ~70 mile away near where I grew up and knew had excellent service. apperently there was a very recent piece of equipment they just aquired (this was two summers ago). I double checked with them before i made the drive out and they reassured me that if replaced the ECU in the parking lot, they would push it in and get the 2 keys that i brought to work. They said with the new equipment that they no longer needed the red key. They hooked up a little PDA looking thing and were done in a bout 15 minutes. They did not cut new keys or replace anything. I think people have to fully explain the situation and tell them that they, the owner, will swap out the ECU and provide a sales receipt that the ECU is not stolen. The dealer service told me that by law they are not allowed to change ECUs unless there is a problems with it. That is why you must perform the ECU swap.

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SS --> 5spd INFO

Gerhard

What I'm thinking is that it's an expensive piece that many dealers have not yet purchased.

It would be helpful if you can talk to them at some point and get the name... so that we can start searching for dealers with the device.