Water Damage Causing Immobilizer Issues
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Jul 2015
Posts: 41
Likes: 2
Water Damage Causing Immobilizer Issues
This problem happened a year ago, but I figured I would document my issue to hopefully help someone else out in the future. It's a long story, so bear with me!
While driving on a rainy day on some side roads in Indiana I accidentally drove through some rather deep water. Not deep enough to leak into the car, but definitely up to the bottom of the car. I then went on to drive another hour or so with no issues. After two days of sitting I drove the car for about an hour before the check engine light appeared. I pulled over and used my OBDII sensor to see the code, which was showing an exhaust O2 sensor issue. Because it was a Sunday I decided to finish the drive home and investigate the next day.
The next day I tried to start the car but the immobilizer light was now on. I also noticed water in the passenger seat well dripping from under the dashboard. After trying a few fixes found online (replacing the battery, cleaning up the water and letting it dry) nothing worked. It looked like one of the major electrical components would need replacing. Because the key may need to be reprogrammed I figured I would take it to a Honda dealership. I contacted my local Honda dealership and they were very confident that they could address the issue. Once I towed it there, the manager came outside and said there was no way they could fix the issue, and that I'll have to take it to an Acura dealership. I was trying to avoid this as the Acura dealership is about 50 miles away, which made a towing bill of around $250.
The Acura dealership (Ed Martin Acura of Indianapolis) claimed that the ECU ( they never mentioned the part name but I believe this is what they were talking about) will need to be replaced. Total cost with labor is $1100. I found a used ECU online for $250 but they would not take any part other than theirs , and would also not let me keep the old ECU unless I paid $700 extra. I'm not sure if this is standard dealership practice, but this felt like a scam and rather shady.
Regardless, they replaced the part and the car worked normally afterwards. They claimed that there was no key reprogramming needed, so in retrospec I could have probably taken it to a local shop. If you have this issue, perhaps try a local shop instead.
I hope this helps someone out, as it was a nightmare for a college student with no garage to deal with!
While driving on a rainy day on some side roads in Indiana I accidentally drove through some rather deep water. Not deep enough to leak into the car, but definitely up to the bottom of the car. I then went on to drive another hour or so with no issues. After two days of sitting I drove the car for about an hour before the check engine light appeared. I pulled over and used my OBDII sensor to see the code, which was showing an exhaust O2 sensor issue. Because it was a Sunday I decided to finish the drive home and investigate the next day.
The next day I tried to start the car but the immobilizer light was now on. I also noticed water in the passenger seat well dripping from under the dashboard. After trying a few fixes found online (replacing the battery, cleaning up the water and letting it dry) nothing worked. It looked like one of the major electrical components would need replacing. Because the key may need to be reprogrammed I figured I would take it to a Honda dealership. I contacted my local Honda dealership and they were very confident that they could address the issue. Once I towed it there, the manager came outside and said there was no way they could fix the issue, and that I'll have to take it to an Acura dealership. I was trying to avoid this as the Acura dealership is about 50 miles away, which made a towing bill of around $250.
The Acura dealership (Ed Martin Acura of Indianapolis) claimed that the ECU ( they never mentioned the part name but I believe this is what they were talking about) will need to be replaced. Total cost with labor is $1100. I found a used ECU online for $250 but they would not take any part other than theirs , and would also not let me keep the old ECU unless I paid $700 extra. I'm not sure if this is standard dealership practice, but this felt like a scam and rather shady.
Regardless, they replaced the part and the car worked normally afterwards. They claimed that there was no key reprogramming needed, so in retrospec I could have probably taken it to a local shop. If you have this issue, perhaps try a local shop instead.
I hope this helps someone out, as it was a nightmare for a college student with no garage to deal with!
Thread Starter
Intermediate
Joined: Jul 2015
Posts: 41
Likes: 2
I haven't confirmed that it was replaced but I'll check it out. It seems like water damage frequently causes ECU/PCM failures, so it doesn't seem out of the ordinary, but this dealership did not seem very trustworthy so I'm skeptical.
