Chipi

I have a 2003 RSX Type-S. I live in San Francisco, CA.

I was shocked in March of 2006 to find that the engine control module (ECM) was stolen out of my RSX. The car was parked in my driveway. What was confusing was that the alarm of the car never alerted me to the theft and there were no visible signs of break in or damage to the exterior of the car. I did not understand how the thieves were able to bypass the alarm system of the RSX. I called Acura Customer Care to express my concern about this apparent vulnerability. There was nothing that they could offer me to assist me in preventing this type of theft from happening again.

I forgot about this incident until the morning of December 1, 2006 when I discovered that once again the ECM had been stolen from my car while it was parked in my driveway (I have no garage). Once again I turned to Acura Customer Care to try and help me prevent this from happening a third time. And once again I was left with no confidence that this type of theft can be prevented.

This type of theft has become so common in the San Francisco bay area that the parts department at Acura of Serramonte has now started to stock the ECM. So this problem is not mine alone to bear.

I have done some research on this problem and I have my hypothesis on how the thieves might be gaining access to the interior of my RSX.

I believe that the thieves could have a "jiggle" key which allows them to open the car door and bypass the alarm. Alternatively, they could have a master key or perhaps they are able to pick the door lock of the car.

Lastly, it is conceivable (but less likely to me) that they have intercepted and stolen the RF code from my keyless entry fob and then programmed this code into a fob of their own.

I am unable to come up with any plausible strategies to counter any of the above methods for bypassing the RSX alarm system.

So my question to the forum users are this:

1) Have any of you experienced a similar kind of break in to your RSX?

2) What are your thoughts on how these thieves may be bypassing the RSX alarm system?

3) What ideas do you have to prevent this from happening again?

While I love this car, if this should happen to me a third time I will have no choice but to sell it and get a car that would be less likely to suffer this kind of unwanted attention.

Thank you for any assistance or expertise you can provide on this most upsetting subject.

Sincerely,

Chip Isaac

2gr84u

have you considered investing in a aftermarket alarm system? The factory set up isnt all that great, and im fairly certain getting around isnt that hard if you know what your doing. Just find a good installer and drop a good after market alarm system into the car, I think at the very least this will allert you the next time its atempted. You could also try and pull some McGuiver shit and find a way to secure/rig the ecu so it either cant be stolen or its so hard to steal they wont bother.

Chipi

Thanks for your response.

Yeah, I think an aftermarket alarm system is my only hope.

I did discuss securing or locking the ECU with the service advisor at my Acura dealer. He says he tried that once. The result was that the next time this car was broken the theives trashed the car attempting to get the secured ECU out (which they did).

Both times they have broken into my car they have caused no damage whatsoever to the exterior or interior of my car.

It seems ya can't win on this one.