2000 Honda Accord - F23A1 - Manual - PHANTOM ECU

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Hey guys.
No noob here. I've owned about 20 Hondas in my life. However, this is my first Accord and my first Honda that broke out of the 88-95 CRXs / Del Sols / Civics that I usually rock. I'm putting together a "hello and greetings" post but I've been lazy...and busy...and lazy busy. I'll get one up tonight.

So here it is - Just got this accord. 2000 EX F23A1 - Manual.
Everything was tip top. A couple times after the first week, the car wouldn't
start if you shut it off and went to start it up again really quickly. You'd have to wait for a minute. Then it would be cool. I've had that happen a million times. No biggie, right?

Drove it last night...cruised around with no issues. Parked it. Went to start it up this morning and there was nothing. It cranks, the starter works. It acts as if it has a bad dizzy rotor or a bad ignitor or something packed in the dizzy.

BUT HERE'S THE HARDCORE STUFF - Now that this is doing this without magically fixing itself, I realized the engine computer (ECU) light is not lighting up at all. Nothing. No check, no nothing. I can't hear the fuel pump or anything else. Everything else on the dash lights up. But no ECU check light, no fuel pump and oddly, no radio (however, it may have been like that before without the car started)..It's still very new to me.

My first instinct was the Main Relay...because a bad rotor or ignitor / coil wouldn't cause the ECU light to vanish. It's like the car has no communication with the ECU. Those issues also wouldn't kill the fuel pump.

I replaced the Main Relay today....reset all the fuses just to be sure...and NOTHING.

Any help? Am I forgetting something? I've never fried a Honda ECU. Could the ECU be fried or am I overlooking something?

I was just pulling engine codes the other day and everything was cool.
UGH!

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Jay
 
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Here are some facts..
*When key is put into "on" position -

*There is no CEL / engine light at all

*The green key does not show up on the gauge area anymore.

*The first half of the day, the radio didn't work. Now the radio has come back on when in "on" position

*The fuel pump is not making any noise

*I'm using the original key with the "chip".

**It's possible that I got a bunk main relay from the shop.
 

Rusty Accord

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This sounds more like the immobilizer circuit is doing it's job. Did you get 2 keys with the car? If so, try the other in it. Just asking as my wife's car (00 Accord LX) came with 2 keys, and only 1 would actually start the car, since it has the chip in it. We/she ended up taking it to the dealer and got a 2nd chipped key for it, as I need 1 to work on it. Cost 70 bucks, and they cut it to the VIN.
 
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Yeah, I've never seen a factory ECU fry.
I've never even seen my chipped / modded OBD1 ECUs fry. Ever.

I'm thinking it's the immobilizer unit as well.
I could go get a key cut...or just order a JDM ECU without the immobilizer unit
in it and call it a day.

The key I'm using is the OEM key with the chip in it. It's the only key I got with the car.

The original main relay looks good too. No cracks or weirdness.

Thanks for the input, guys.
 
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UPDATE -

I hate coming to threads when searching to find that they haven't been resolved with an answer. People who don't sew up the loose ends should be imprisoned.


It wasn't a faulty main relay or main relay issue. I thought that I had possibly got a faulty relay from the parts store. Not the case.

It was, in fact, the Immobilizer Unit. Instead of waiting for a new ECU or Immobilizer Bypass, I just cracked open the ECU and took the Immobilizer Chip / Board out of the main board. Car started up just fine. I plan on getting a JDM ECU in the future.

A word of caution to anyone attempting this extreme bypass / removal - You will have to deal with a CEL (check engine light) until you run another ECU that doesn't have the immobilizer "feature" or solder in a Bypass unit (between 15 and 30 bucks). I needed my car running so I went the punk route.

Things to check for anyone having a crank but no start condition similar to mine -

- Main Relay under driver's dash (usually the case)

- Immobilizer Unit crapped out (sometimes the case)

- Fuse #46 (ACGS / AGS) under the hood (rarely but sometimes the case)

- ECU / Main ground (G101) on the side of intake manifold (or coolant outlet on some cars) - Make sure they're clean, corrosion free and tight (rare but sometimes the case).

Hope that helps, guys. Thanks again for the input.
 
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Enne

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Mine had the ignition replaced under recall so I have two keys. So, it's not uncommon for the ignitions in these cars to die one way or another. Good thing you didn't replace the ECU only to find out that it wasn't the root cause of the problem.
 
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