TonyJealijus

Hi, after reading the threads I'm scared now. My HFL and Navi failed recently, HFL has NOT kept "booting up" yet. I wonder if this would cause the battery drain just because the HFL unit failed? Shall I disconnect the unit? thanks!

NBP04TL4ME

Not necessarily. Can you explain further about the failure of your Navigation unit and HFL?

con5tant

iTrader: (4)

My battery is draining and not sure why either...at first I thought it was my HFL (which went bad) but it is still draining. Odd thing is the current being drawn is only 0.13mA. The battery will be down to 3V in 2 days.

silkeepjs

I'm in the same boat. Thought it was my HFL, so i disconnected it. Woke up this morning to a dead battery once more. The first time it happened, i put in an Optima Yellow top, but it was still drained the next morning. I bought the car 5 days ago.... Going back to stealership tomorrow to have them fix it, or give me my deposit back and I'll fix it :/

Jmark

That's not much draw. and the 3volts tells me your battery is bad

aIRpeACE

iTrader: (2)

bake your HFL will solve the problem

VisualEchos

iTrader: (1)

Car: '07 base NAVI

- Stock battery replaced under warranty at the 3 year mark
- May of this year replaced again with an Autozone battery
- This weekend didn't drive it for 3 days, drained to 10 v
- Re-charge shows it holds a good charge
- Disconnected the HFL

Hope this works

VisualEchos

iTrader: (1)

Just had my front bumper replaced (small accident), car sat 4 days in the cold, had no problem starting. Absolutely sure the previous battery drain was from the HFL.

Thanks Acurazine!!!!

NBP04TL4ME

optical24

Last year, the HFL module drained my battery completely. Replaced the battery and disconnected the HFL. So far no problems. Besides, I don't use the bluetooth anyways.

NBP04TL4ME

I'm still surprised how many owners simply disconnect their HFL as opposed to fixing it. In a lot of states only hands free phone use is allowed.

polobunny

I don't answer calls while I'm driving. Fixed.

NBP04TL4ME

I hear you (see what I did there?), but in today's world, I think you might be in the minority or maybe your aren't -

VisualEchos

iTrader: (1)

This. But it's easy for me to be on this high-horse, I live 2.6 miles from work, so whatever it is, it can wait.

NBP04TL4ME

Haha - but I regularly see folks answering calls in elevators, restaurants, Drs. offices and even in the bathroom..... Apparently it's so important they can't even take a leak.......

polobunny

True.

I'm 1.86 miles from work, but even on longer rides I still don't check texts or answer calls. Everybody can wait. I got a phone car mount and I have used it once for a 3 hours ride to have GPS.

Thomasv

iTrader: (2)

I have this issue as well...so sick of having to pop my hood every single day to unhook and hook up my battery. Really makes me feel like a dumbass driving an entry level luxury car that has so many issues.

Questions:

So if I pull that light panel in my car and disconnect the HFL, it disconnects the bluetooth as well?

Seems logical since the hands free would operate using bluetooth...just want to make sure. I avidly use my phone for spotify and prefer to connect via bluetooth in order to avoid having to plug it in to my stereos built in phone connection. The sound quality is better with this built in connection but it limits my ability to move my phone while driving.

Should I disconnect it behind the light panel, remove the fuse, or do both to disable the HFL?

Will Y.

Disconnecting the HFL deactivates Bluetooth.

You should remove the HFL or unplug its connector rather than removing the fuse-- IIRC, the fuse is also used by some minor controls.

Pulling the HFL is a 5-minute job at most: pop out the sunroof switch, pull down the light panel, unplug the panel and then remove the 4 bolts holding the HFL bezel in place to get to the HFL plug connector.

Caveat: you'll also lose voice controls if the HFL is disconnected.

YeuEmMaiMai

cheaper to by a Motorola Roadster 2 and cheaper yet to just buy a headset. I chose to buy the Motorola...

Thomasv

iTrader: (2)

wanted to update this post with answers to my own questions...

1. im a retard. My head unit has its own bluetooth...so if i disable my HFL, i can still listen to spotify.

2. I disconnected the HFL and now my battery drain issue has been resolved. The easiest way to see if this was your problem is by placing your hand on the plastic just above the rear view mirror and checking to see if its warm about 20 minutes after you turn the car off...I did, mine was warm so I disconnected it.

I had already lost my HFL controls when we installed my head unit...and we had to install an aftermarket hands free at that time too..so, literally, I am not losing anything by disconnecting the stock one. win/win

MDX255

I was having the battery drain on my 2006 MDX and I just disconnected HFL. and hopefully that works. I don't uses it much, but I would like to have the option. Would a new unit drain the battery, or does that just happen when it goes bad? Is there a better unit available than Acura's?

Keffdog

Replaced with a red top and it still did it twice! Mysteriously cleared up. Original battery tested good after a full charge.

NBP04TL4ME

A new unit should fix your issue. Some have bought used ones from junk yards. If you search here on AZ, other members have had success in baking theirs in an oven. Issue is weak or light solder and heat helps spread it.

What did you replace and/or "still did it twice?"

stevenxD

Oh man I know exactly how you feel! I can't believe I waited this long to research this (procrastination at its best). It used to be every 4 days of not driving the car, but it recently got worse where it would die after a day of not driving so it forced me to look it up. I'm going to disconnect the HFL first thing when I get back to my car.

Thanks for everyone that contributed to this thread!

acura user 07

Problem is blue tooth. As car gets older, problem is more common.
Blue tooth keeps draining the power. Costs >300 to fix. Alternative is to deactivate the blue tooth

goat96_25tl

I'm about to break down and take my car to the stealership. I've disconnected the HFL, put on a new alternator. Shit is frustrating.

They should have answers to this problem by now.

whitebic

did you check the battery cable/terminal for corrosion or cracks?

goat96_25tl

Yeah, cables and terminals are perfect.

NBP04TL4ME

Just as a sanity check - did you check both ends of the cables? IOW, not the ends connected to the battery. Other AZ members have reported the ground cable working its way loose from the frame. Might be worth a look if you haven't done so already. While this wouldn't necessarily drain your battery, it certainly wouldn't help with starting.

coderbill

I have the same issue with battery drain on my 2006 TL. If I don't drive it for a couple of days the battery will usually be dead. I have to then charge it. Twice now I have taken the battery back to Sears (Gold Die Hard) and they tested it and it was good and charged ok. Put it back in the car and no problem. But almost on a daily basis the battery can be low. Was thinking maybe an alternator problem but it provides a 14.4 charge at the battery. My HFL has mostly not work for a couple of years now. Sometimes it will come back to life. Could the HFL be still an issue like others have seen? What should I ask the dealership?

whitebic

try disconnecting the HFL.

NBP04TL4ME

coderbill - The HFL is a known and well documented cause of battery drain. If yours is only functioning occasionally, I would absolutely disconnect it and see if that solves your issue. I wouldn't be surprised if it does.

coderbill

Ok, I can disconnect the HFL but I thought somebody said there was a fix for it or was that only on the 2007+ TLs? Does anyone know. The dealer closest to me didn't seem to know about this. Will try and let everyone know.

Will Y.

If the HFL is causing the drain (sounds likely in your case), the fixes are: 1) remove the HFL, disassemble it, bake the HFL circuit board in the oven and reinstall, or 2) replace the HFL.
There are a number of threads on fixing & replacing the HFL. A new HFL costs about $200 now (cheaper from vendors, although your local dealer may price-match) and takes less than 10 minutes to replace.

Jmark

Guys don't automatically assume the HFL is bad! Test amp draw before and after disconnect to verify. It maybe the HFL, but why disconnect unless you must.

Like others I've spent many, many hours trying to track down the dreaded parasitic draw(including HFL disconnect).
The HFL in my 3G TL is fine, everything in the car works fine, several new batteries. But the draw is still there. The dealer couldn't find anything either.
So it's likely a short or malfunctioning electrical component, that I haven't found yet.

I've put a battery tender in the car to keep the battery charged

So

NBP04TL4ME

You may be right in that it is not the HFL, but coderbill has already stated that his only works intermittently. Add to that from a diagnostic perspective, disconnecting the HFL is relatively simple to do and from there he can determine or rule out the HFL as a culprit.
Otherwise what would you suggest he do???

coderbill

Well guys I have an update. We got an ice storm in Dallas yesterday and my car was completely covered in ice....EXCEPT for a small 6" circle just above my rear view mirror! From reading the posts it was clear that the HFL unit must have been on and warm. So this evening I removed the unit, inspected it (I know electronics and have soldered since I was 8 or so). But it looked ok. I figured well I can buy a new one or try the baking process to see if that would work. I baked it at 385 for 10 minutes sitting on top of a small glass bowl. Let it cool and reinstalled in the car. Low and behold it came back to life. Works like a champ.


Clearly there must have been a large batch of units that did not quite get manufactured properly or maybe just time and heating and cooling cycles in the car stressed it. Spoke to Acura today and there are, of course, no recalls on this bad part even though it could and has left people stranded. I never left home without my jumper cables. We will see if it lasts. Thanks everyone!

NBP04TL4ME

Sounds good!

Hardman0725

We have owned our 2009 Acura MDX for close to five years now, and we just recently started having battery drain overnight. We took it to the dealership today, and they ran every test under the sun and could not find any problems, most notably no problem with the HFC or the A/C relay. Any ideas, or is this one of those problems that the dealership might not catch?

mrlunecy

iTrader: (1)

My 06 TL has been having the same parasitic drain issue for a long time now. 2 days to a dead battery. After some diagnosing here are my current draw readings from the under dash fuse box when everything is off;
Total parasitic losses cycle from 350-800mA
Fuse #7 (Backup); 340mA
Fuse#6 (Int Lights); 250mA
Fuse #5 (Radio); 63mA

I see the hands free link is off of fuse #6, so that's a quick check I'll do soon. Fuse #7 has a ton of stuff on it (audio display, gauge control module, power windows/mirrors, etc.) so I see that one being a pain in the Ass.
On top of everything, my XM button stopped working during my troubleshooting, so now my iSimple is out of service until I find a fix for that, also.

Will post any useful discoveries. Any advice is appreciated, thanks!