MonkeyTrucker

Pretty simple fix in my opinion.

I'm guessing those that this didn't work for had a 50/50 chance of success and likely overlooked the polarity of the capacitors.

I took some more pics, and maybe I'll do a whole write-up since a lot of the prior info is scattered so much.

Anyway, great to hear it working ... just can't seem to pair my phone now.

I have a Google Play Galaxy Nexus GSM.
Anyone paired this phone before?

MonkeyTrucker

Fingers crossed that this works for me.

http://forum.android-rsap.com/viewtopic.php?f=33&t=221

acura_dipset_tl

iTrader: (40)

^ nice work man, keep us updated if it still continues to work in a month or so.

MonkeyTrucker

Worked!!

I now have HandsFreeLink!

MonkeyTrucker

I'm on the road the rest of the week, but will put it all together this weekend, or maybe one boring evening in my hotel

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Well, the cap replacement didn't work for me and I did pay attention to the polarity. It worked for a day or 2, then started bugging out again.

mzilvar

iTrader: (3)

Would like to know if it keeps working.

I noticed whenever I worked on the HFL if it was unplugged for a little while and plugged back in it would start to work again for a few days or so. This was with my failed unit that would get stuck 'Booting Up' if I tried to do it from the console.

What I did is wire in a switch in the 12V always on wire so I could force it off when I got out of the car. That worked for about a week and now the HFL won't come on at all, even after disconnecting the car battery. I could try it again to see if it will, but right now its pulled from the car.

I've been considering installing a parrot HFL in its place, removing the steering wheel control switch, placing the parrot switches in the area where the old ones were and jumpering the mic wires to the shielded audio wires that run down to the radio, then pulling the two audio wires from the connector and using the stock mic with the parrot system.

It would get the HFL electronics out of the roof console, let me re-use the stock mic and not have the ugly little parrot mic hanging out somewhere and have the controls still mounted on the steering wheel.

It also adds an aux-in input, USB input & iPod connector.

Its about $300 for the electronics and I could do the work myself, but right now I just dropped a ton of money on my car (Type-S rear lip, new C-Mod grill that I'm going to wrap in CF, ATLP quad exhaust thats being made and $500 in parts for my 105k mile service that I'm coming up on ) so I may re-visit the HFL sometime later ..

I have 2x failed HFL units now, my original lasted years and the replacement (from dealership, $180 installed myself) only lived about 5 months ...

Would be cool if the cap thing works out and it keeps working but I have a feeling it may just die as well since just pulling the HFL and re-installing it will get it to work again for a few days.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Cap didn't work for me...honestly, at $300, I'd save up and just find a way to do a custom touchscreen upgrade to the radio. Good jump off point for a system and ALL the new units have bluetooth and GPS and Satellite capability.

In addition, to be honest...I DO use it when I talk while driving, but generally speaking. I hate being on the phone no matter where I'm at.

mzilvar

iTrader: (3)

I might go that route, I've been considering doing a tablet in the console with the new Google Nexus 7, at $200 or so it would be cheaper and also looked at new head units, this one is on hold for me right now though.

Lazer187

iTrader: (1)

where are you guys getting your capacitors from? what specific one should i order? thanks.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

yeah, it's in this thread somewhere earlier on. It tells you what to order and where...I think it's mouser or mouzer dot com or something like that.

AbyssBlue2005

So this capacitor fix is supposed to help with the not pairing issue correct? My car will ask for the code but it never finds a phone.

mzilvar

iTrader: (3)

Sounds like a different issue altogether.

I'm pretty sure the capacitor is supposed to get the HFL working again after they become defective and stop working altogether.

They just hang, draw power & kill your battery. Wouldn't have any voice response from the HFL if you had this problem.

trx123

After trying the capacitor fix, and cleaning the connectors several times, it worked off and on for a while and then it stopped working altogether. Then I went on a trip for 10 days. When I came back home, my battery was totally depleted. I immediately placed an order with www.hondaacuraonline.com for a replacement unit. Total cost including shipping was $166.44 It is now working fine. The part number for my color was 39770-SEP-A02ZA, (moon lake gray) I am sure Honda and Johnson Controls know exactly the root cause of failure, but they won't or can't say.

Tonywp75

I just replaced my unit a couple of days ago too. Got tired of not able to use handfree, I rarely ever use it but when you want to..its broken. My unit been broken for a couple of months and recently my battery started to get weak and eventually died while pumping gas. I wonder if it was related to the HFL, i tried unplugging it maybe it trigger something. Who knows..but after $168.24 im fixed.

brokebluetooth

I have read alot of the posting on the HFL issue and want to attempt the replacement of the capacitor but need to know where the circuit board is located. Any help greatly appreciated

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

It's in this thread...gotta sift a little.

(overhead compartment near your mirror)

brokebluetooth

Thank you - looked and saw most of the text but apparently not the details. Thank you.

brokebluetooth

I just ordered the replacement - Thank all of you for posting. I miss(ed) my hands free phone!

Hiller39

Ordered and replaced mine in less than 10 minutes. Thanks for the help guys.

Acura Del-Rey - $152 part, $14 ship, 3 day delivery

ResistaNce

Hey Acurazine, my HFL doesn't work, gets stuck in booting. When I tried to se it I noticed te next day my battery was dead. I don't think the HFL disables.

I have a 05 TL with navi, my question is can I just disconnect the module from the top console to prevent the battery drain or unplug a fuse? I don't care to use HFL currently an no funds to fix this.

MonkeyTrucker

Yes, there should be enough room under the right side headliner to tuck it after unplugged. That's where I found mine from the previous owner "dealing" with the issue.

csmoore

After many attempts to isolate the intermittent, I finally gave up and got replacement module. It was $154 at HondaAcuraOnline. Easy to replace, now works great!

Carl

07BLKTL

What years does this issue effect?

I had my cars windows tinted yesterday, when I got in the car the HFL was on and wouldn't go off. I could press the buttons and get it to work through the menus and it would search for phones, but I didn't have the blue tooth turned on so it wouldn't connect to my phone.

Finally got home and managed to turn it off and back on and the HFL went off of the dash and the clock panel and the radio came back.

Turned the car off and went inside.

6am my car alarm was going off. Fought with it for 20 minutes and finally had to just unplug it.

Checked my battery today and it's tested out as good and it had a 70% charge.

They went ahead and charged it up for me which was nice, and I put a new battery in my remote.

My car is a 07, I've not tried to connect my phone again through the HFL system.

bibledriver

Add me to the list. Ordered my module last night from OEM Acura parts. Then this AM I saw CSMoore list the site 2 posts up at $20 less. Oh well, at least OEM Acura has a good record.

Also, thanks for this thread and for the hours of phone calls to Acura and even Johnson Controls about this issue. I feel it is part of the reason for the price drop we witnessed.

Turbocoop

iTrader: (3)

Sorry if this is a dumb question- but how do you know if its stuck in the booting mode? Im confused cause mine stopped working, I let the car sit for a few days and the battery was dead, I just felt the module after it sat overnight and it didnt seem warm... The problem Im having is the "handsfree" doesnt show up in my bluetooth menu on my iPhone like it used to. The phone recognizes other items with the bluetooth so the phone isnt the problem. The steering wheel buttons still work for the HFL, I just cant get it to pair. Does this sound like the module is bad or not? Im gonna try resetting it by disconnecting the battery and see what that does...

Will Y.

Check the HFL status through the MID by scrolling to and selecting "HandsFree Link"-- it'll show "booting up" if that's the problem.

G/L.

count by 5s

Hi Everyone. I just read through all 11 pages of this thread and have a question. If I missed the answer someone please direct me to the post number. My 06 Navi went out a couple months ago. It would say "booting up" when I pressed the "call" button. My battery started feeling weak afterwards but I never associated that with the bluetooth. This past week the battery actually died twice and required me to jump the car. I finally decided to search this forum and came across this very informational thread.

I read here that the bluetooth unit is still draining the battery even when the car is off but my question is, why is it doing that only after the unit has failed? While the unit was working there didn't seem to be this problem. I'm thinking about buying a new module and installing it myself but I'd like to be sure that this problem of the battery dying won't continue with a new working bluetooth module. I can't think of anything else that would be killing my battery other than the failed bluetooth unit. Why would the failed unit be draining power while a working one does not? My battery is Bosch brand and only 1 year old. Anyone that has had the battery drain problem, did replacing the bluetooth unit also solve the battery problem? Thanks!

mzilvar

iTrader: (3)

I think it drains the battery as part of the failure due to the HFL not properly shutting off when you turn off your car once its bad.

This is why I wired in a switch to the 12V always on wire, so I could manually force it off with my unit that was failing. It worked pretty good for a while, but was a little buggy with getting the car to recognize it depending on when I turned the switch on after getting in the car (e.g. before care was started or after car was started).

Mine did finally kick the bucket though, not long after I installed the switch I could no longer get it to recognize the HFL at all, about a week or so with the switch.

I just pulled it out of the car and have yet to replace it yet.

I was also checking some of the wire connections to the HFL, one looked like a data line for comms (probably to the radio or something?), there's a 12V always on (even when the key is off/removed) and a 12V supply that turns on when the key is on.

Will Y.

The bluetooth is set to stay on up to 30 min. after you turn off the car, in case you are on a phone call.
The failed bluetooth won't shut off 30 min. after you turn off the car, & stays on.

The HFL is set to stay powered up until 30 min. after you turn off the car.

count by 5s

Thanks for the reply mzilvar and Will. I was able to unplug the bluetooth unit over Thanksgiving and my car starts great now! What a difference! My battery always felt kinda weak and I could not figure out why. Now it cranks up like new. Now I just gotta figure out if it's worth shelling out a few hundred bucks to get a replacement bluetooth unit.

Will Y.

The replacement is @ $160-180 if you're in the US (Canadians may have a different unit). Check the main 3G TL page for a 10% discount thread on top of that from either oemacuraparts.com or acuraoemparts.com, who are both Acura dealerships and vendors here.

I replaced my HFL about a year ago and still love it, since it's used at least 1x every three car trips-- usually to call my wife or work.

Johnny_b

It's been almost a year since my HFL went out and decided today that I want it back. I'm ready to pull the trigger on a module but I'm not sure if it's the problem. My phone connects flawlessly, and I even got it to transfer my new phonebook tonight. The MID displays my battery life and antenna as well. However, people still can't hear me but I can hear them. And it doesn't understand any commands anymore. I don't see anyone else with this problem. Navi and climate control commands work fine.

Is it safe to say that the HFL unit is toast?

stevenwhess@sbcglobal.net

My battery was being drained and thanks to this forum, I was able to determine it was in fact my HLF. I removed it, reinstalled the over-head console without the HLF circuit boards, but now my interior lights on the over-head console don’t turn off, either manually or automatically. They worked fine before I removed the HLF. Is the circuitry in the HLF tied to turning off the lights? Has anyone else experienced this? Thanks in advance for the help.

stevenwhess@sbcglobal.net

Never mind - In looking at the light console, I found a switch that when flipped, keeps the lights on full time. I've had the car since 2006 and never noticed this switch. I must have hit the switch while doing the removal/install

Next4u

Hi there,

I'm new to this site, i purchased a used 06 TL and have the problem you are all describing. Can anyone repost pictures of the capacitor that needs to be replaced? The link posted by mmclendon are no longer available. Thank all for the help.

theklassic

Just my , I tried the capacitor fix and it didn't help, I eventually had to bite the bullet and get the replacement module.

raburns

Add me to the long list of failed '06 TL Bluetooth victims. Mine just quit all of a sudden last week and nothing works, not even the button talk button remembers me!

kane337

I have a 2007 and my Handsfree link just went out. Phone won't connect and the button on the steering wheel for the Handsfree will not respond.

risco

my ps pump is overflowing would that be a cause

I'm not surprised in the least at Acura's unwillingness to help and overcharging us. They have the attitude of replacing whole systems instead of repairing. If you've ever read the transmission threads and power steering threads, it's the same over there. They've been replacing transmissions over $90 switches and the wrong fluid. Replacing PS pumps over a $.77 O-ring.[/QUOTE]