Immobiliser in 1998 MKII

[Aub.]

Hello everyone, my name is Ron and I'm from Holland and new on this forum. I'm the treasurer of the Dutch MR2 Club for the past 5 years and have a long history with mr2's, both MK1's and MK2's.

I had the intention of swapping a V6 into my 1998 MKII. I visited Paul Woods and was convinced the V6 was the right choice for me, untill I got the chance to buy a 1998 3 sgt-e 245bhp engine with only 27'500 km...couldn't resist it as low km's and same year.

But now I have a question which I hope some experts here can help me with...:idea:

In my key there is a transmitter that transmits a signal to the steering column receiver. Question now is whether the ultimate receiver is in my ecu, or whether that is a seperate computer somewhere else.

Because when I transplant the 3sgt-e in my car with the corresponding turbo ecu from 1998, then if the receiver is in the ecu, it will not recognise my key as the right one and won't start up.

Have you experienced this before and any advise on how to solve this?

Similarly another member of the MR2 club has bought my 1998 engine, incl ecu. He has a 1991 MKII. Does he need my key and steering column as well (as I'm not planning to swap that into his car...)?

Thanks for your help, its much appreciated!

[Marksman]

Hi Ron and welcome to our little corner of the internet :thumbsup:

First off, don't worry, this problem has been successfully tacked before. I dimly remember Paul posting a guide on how to do it. Sorry MK2's are not my thing so I wasn't paying much attention at the time :slap: I'm sure someone will be able to point us towards the thread.

All the best with the swaps,

Owen.

[Paul Woods]

hi ron,it was great meeting you a few months ago,right its good news and bad news im afraid.

Your car has a chipped key and a pickup coil in the steering column,this then goes to a transponder ecu that is normally on the drivers side seat belt anchorage point area (UK RHD car) ,now im not sure if toyota will have reversed the location being LHD,they probably did,so take a look around YOUR drivers seat belt anchorage area,behind the plastic panel where the reel is.

The key in your car is matched to your ecu,meaning your ecu wont start up in another car without your key,and vice versa,the 98 turbo motor wont start up in your car without the donor vehicles key.

What you will need to do is remove the ignition barrel from your car and fit the one from the donor car,so its key will work in your car,but you will need a copy of your key to operate your doors/boot,unless the keys can be opened up and the chips swapped,ive never done this though.

If you werent selling your engine it would be easier,you can wire up the transponder in your boot and tape the donor turbo key to the inside of the steering cowl next to the pickup coil....but sadly the guy who is buying your engine is also going to need your key....all very complicated!

The thread covering the wiring up of the transponder is here http://forums.twobrutal.com/showthread.php?t=8918

This usually applies to fitting it to a non transponder equipped car so you may be able to retain 99% of the equipment and leave it in situ and then just attach the key head near the pickup and rewire the transponder onto the new ecu.

Hope that helps a little!

[Aub.]

Hi Paul, likewise it was a pleasure meeting you. See that you are doing great stuff to Huub's engine in the meanwhile; can't wait to meet him here in Holland with his V6!:thumbsup:

Now about my issue, this is indeed a complex one. Especially because with that low mileage engine there came no steering column nor keys...but I will give it a think whilst I'm still sober over the weekend and see whether I can crack this problem for the both of us and making sure we both end up with a working engine in our MKII's:beer:

What about fitting a 1994 ecu in my car to go with the 1998 engine, I assume that one won't have the immobiliser and as I also bought a HKS piggy back I can have it programmed to run smoothly?

[Paul Woods]

right,well without keys to the 98T then thats not going to run on the stock ecu.

So! yes you can run it on a 94 non theft deterrent ecu,that should work,i think even the ecu pin outs are the same,or you could go complete standalone ecu.

The buyer of your engine will need to do the same thing and run a 94NA ecu thats non theft.

:thumbsup:

[Aub.]

Hi Paul, that's what we both will be doing, 1994 ecu's. Was just wondering, where is the match between key and code, is that in the ecu itself or in the little box behind the drivers seat?
I mean, when I change just the ecu to a 1998 3sgt-e into my n/a 1998 sw20, it might work when the code is actually registered in that little box.
If the code is in the ecu itself then 1994 it will be!

[Paul Woods]

i believe the key is coded to the ecu itself,the black box seems universal to all post rev4 mr2's

[Aub.]

Thanks for your help Paul, much appreciated:thumbsup: