im reposting in hope that i can explain it a little better. pertains to 96-98 civic keyless entry.

you know how if you pulled the head unit out of the dash, it would have the keyless entry thingy screwed to the top of the unit?? can you mix and match those things? i mean, can i take the keyless entry box off of one head unit and screw it to another and have it work? or are they programmed together? right now i have the keyless entry box off of a 97 head unit installed on a 96 head unit and it doesnt work.