That's correct, already checked that fuse. I'm at Honda right now waiting my turn to speak to a service rep to discuss price in this service.

 

So the service guy from Honda told me it'll cost $110 to reprogram the keys, but he suggests the mechanics perform a diagnostic 1st which will cost an additional $200. I told him I'm not sure if the diagnostic is necessary.

 

I would decline the diagnostic for now. When the tech goes to reprogram the keys, he will hook up HDS (Honda Diagnostic System) to access the ECM. Pretty much at the start, the HDS may indicate if something is wrong with the ECM.

 

That's very sneaky, thanks for the helpful advice.

 

It's not all service advisers try to cheat you or anything. It would seem logical for them to recommend a diagnostic as you may have explained to them the problems. However, my advice was due to the logic that the tech will be hooking up HDS to the ECM anyways, unlike some other jobs. If the tech is unable to reprogram the ECM or it shows errors, the tech is going to report that. If there was a problem, the tech probably won't go through much additional diagnostics to try to determine what may be causing the problem, such as wiring, ECM, etc. If you're lucky, some techs will do it even with a problem.

The service advisers usually don't know all the procedures a tech does; so, don't always feel the service adviser is trying to make more money. I would say there are good and bad service advisers, just like anything else.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

 

So I was informed by the service guy from Honda that the ECU went bad and that I would have to replace the immobilizer as well if that makes sense. He said the tech wasn't able to reprogram the keys because of the ECU. The cost would be $1080 plus tax for both parts and labor.

I was thinking of shopping around for a used ECU and Imm but I don't know if thats a good idea.

 

Are you planning on doing the repair yourself, or having the dealership do the repair?

 

Wouldn't I need the dealer to do this repair? They would have to reprogram the keys to the ECU and Imm if I'm not mistaken. If its possible to diy I would definitely do it and save hundreds.

 

Here is my understanding of the immobilizer system: The key transmits a specific code to the immobilizer unit. The immobilizer sends that code to the ECU. The ECU verifies if the code matches the programmed key codes.

I don't think that the immobilizer stores the key codes. I think the ECU stores the codes.

I don't understand is why the dealership wants to replace both. They should be able to figure out if the immobilizer or the ECU is bad.

 

I don't understand either, the service rep said that they weren't able to read the ecu or the imm with the hds. Should I hold off on the service?