Hello all,

I am new here and new to s2000’s. My 80 year old uncle is giving me his old s2000 that he has had sitting in a barn for the last 10 years. Unfortunately for me, it’s been sitting with the top down since so it’ll need new seats for sure and other new interior parts. Its definitely a project as of right now.

He has no idea where the keys are and no idea where the title to it is. I asked if he could go to the tag office and reorder a new title so we can go to Honda and get some new keys made, but I was reading online that the dealer has to have the car there to make brand new keys and program them to the car. Since it’s been sitting in the barn for so long, I need the keys to try to crank it and diagnose any issues it might have, and most importantly see if any mice have eaten up any wiring. Obviously driving the car to the dealer isn’t possible without keys, so I was considering buying a ECU with keys package from eBay just to get it moving from its spot if it has no eaten up wiring.

so my question is, if I got one of those ECU and key bundles from eBay(comes with ECU, ignition, and keys), would the car start without programming? Or will it still need to be programmed? I am trying to avoid a tow bill since the nearest Honda dealer is forever away so towing will definitely be expensive. That and the car looks extremely rough, so I am trying to save service techs from having to sit in it and mess with it. So at least this way I can try to move it and once I get it I’m driving condition, I can take it to the dealer and put the factory ECU back in and get original keys made for it so they at least match the doors.

thanks guys, looking forward to being active in this forum!!

 

You can buy a tool to program your key to the immobilizer yourself. Probably cheaper than buying an ECU and key. It's a little tricky to use, but not too bad.

 

do you happen to know what this tool is called? I can try it after my uncle gets the replacement title and get get a key cut for it! Looking at the key and ecus on eBay it looks like it’ll be about $200-$250ish. Just not sure which I would need. I was going to head to his house today to pull it and see which one it is so I can order the correct one if I go that route

 

 

Out of curiosity I Googled this device and it's available at several places in the $100-$140 price range which might be reasonable even for one-time-use. No extra charge for the smiley face on the key pad.

-- Chuck

 

Thank you so much guys, I am going to give this a try and see if I can get this car out of the barn! I just really hope no mice have gotten to the wiring

 

I'd make an ad and offer key programming as a service. This device already paid for itself at least 5x over. It works on cars besides this one.