2002 Acura TL
Key Replacement - Save vs Dealer in San Diego

2002 Acura TL Remote Head Key Replacement - Fast, Affordable & Professional

In Carmel Valley, on a Sunday morning, I got a call from a server who worked a brunch spot nearby. She was already frustrated before I pulled up.

A different locksmith had been out the week before, charged her for a key, and left. The car would crank, fire for about two seconds, then cut out. She said the first guy told her she had a module problem and that she'd need to go to the dealer.

She didn't have a module problem.

What she had was a key that never completed the immobilizer registration sequence. The 2002 TL's security system has a timed enrollment process. If you rush through it, or miss a step, the vehicle temporarily accepts the key data but never writes it to permanent memory. The engine starts, the immobilizer catches up, and then it shuts fuel down. Two seconds. Every time. Classic incomplete learn, and it leaves ghost data in the system that has to be cleared before you can try again.

I verified the mechanical cut was correct first, using a Lishi tool against the ignition. Cut was fine. Connected through the OBD port, cleared the failed registration data from the previous attempt, and ran a clean immobilizer learn with the proper timing sequence. When it wrote successfully, I confirmed it on the tool screen and showed her so she could see it herself.

Four buttons, clean start, no two-second cutoff. Done in the parking lot.

She'd already paid the first locksmith, which I couldn't fix. But I could make sure this one actually held.

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