MMclendon - thanks for your efforts! How do you cleanly remove the bezel to get to the BT module?

TIA, hwax

 

Piece of cake:
- use a valve adjustment feeler gauge (available at any car parts store) and insert it in the surround of the sunroof switch- pull lightly downward and it will dislodge the switch- unplug it and remove it.

- then, pull down the light assembly (releases with light pressure downward)- you don't need to unplug the light harness.

- now visible are 4 8mm bolts- take these out and the whole trim piece will come down. The HFL is on the side of the bezel that faces the ceiling of the car. 3 #10 torx screws hold the HFL cover in place.

Removal can be done in <5 minutes.

 

So I replaced the capacitor to the new, recommended one in this thread and my HFL will at least get past the "Booting Up" screen but I cannot pair a phone still. This was a problem before and then the unit got stuck trying to boot up. This eventually caused my battery to die multiple times.

I guess its good the unit at least boots up now but what do I do about the failed pairing. All diagnostic test in the car say the system is good. I have tried searching for the HFL from phone as well as pair the phone through the car's menu.

Any help is appreciated.

 

Thanks for starting this thread.

One of my colleagues took her Acura TL to the dealer because her HFL bluetooth is no longer working. They told her they tried pairing several cell phones with it, and it no longer works. Duh (she knows that much). They wouldn't tell her WHY it is no longer working. They just told her that it would cost 700 and some dollars for them to fix it. Well, I led her to this wonderful forum (which she joined), and she's read this helpful thread. I hope this will help her.

 

Thank you!

 

very very simple

 

This service bulletin will also help alot.

http://www.box.net/shared/ahv7hm987a

 

I just did this. Easy as pie and it worked.

I am so excited right now that I didn't have to spend $400 or search ebay every few hours and get lucky.

My cap was $0.71. I got an extra for next time.

Few notes:

1. You can see this in the pics linked on page one, but just in case you don't know what to look for, the cap has a side with a white stripe. The white stripe goes out, or up if you use a slide-through cap and bend the leads.
2. My old cap had a rubber insulator on top. I cut mine off with an razor and used a dab of superglue on the top of the laid-down cap to serve as the same type of insulator between the cap and top board.
3. Probably a good idea to leave some room between the cap and board.
4. I got my old cap off by gently, but firmly, rocking it back and forth. Both leads came out which I snipped off, removed the tray and then de-soldered. Is there a better way to do this?

Here is a pic of mine for further reference:


Thank you so much!

 

Does anybody know if this fix will work on the HFL in the 2004? My buttons are not working on the steering wheel. The phone is recognized on the radio screen. I do not have a Nav. Thanks for your help.

 

don't bother with this fix unless you are an electronics pro. take it to the dealer and they should replace the whole hfl unit for you even if you are out of warranty

 

Message to Mike M,
Thanks very much again! The repairs have been done to the sis in law's MDX and I connected it tonight- fired up perfectly. Mine was working fine, but I had the upgraded cap installed anyway.

 

Update - although my hands free works now, it will only work when the unit is cold. It gets quite warm. Once it heats up, I just get the "booting up." It would work first thing in the day and if I let my car sit for an hour or so in between boot ups. I rigged it to hang in the open air by sliding the harness out of the side of the trim and it works significantly better with only a 20% fail rate since it can cool (my supposition anyway).

I guess that I will try a higher quality cap to solder on? Worth a try... bought some audio grade caps to try out.

Also, I wrapped my cap in insulator when I had it out - it was dangerously close to contacting the power board.

 

I have a problem with mine as well,sometimes when i get a call i hit the button to answer and it picks up but then goes right back to radio. The person on the phone can hear the radio and me swearing in the background. I am still able to hang up with the steering controls, but if i hit the talk button a second time it asks for a command. Any ideas ? This is not all the time.

 

Do you use your cell phone for multiple blue tooth profiles? I do. I have a cordless phone system in my house which connects via bluetooth to my cell phone so I can answer and make calls through my cell phone with the cordless phone system. However, if I don't manually disconnect the home profile before leaving the house, my cell phone/Acura blue tooth connection gets screwed up. They will connect and I can dial out and receive calls, but there is no audio once the call is connected. I have to shut the phone off and then back on and everything will be back to normal.

Anyhow, long story. Might help you out if you're running multiple profiles...

 

My board is different - out of an '04 TL, here it is:





Has anyone replaced the failed capacitor on this board? Which component - the silver with black top next to the copper coil with the 2 orange and 1 yellow dot(s) on top?

I guess I have to accept the possibility that there is no HFL in my car anymore...that and half of my indicator lights are burned out!

Appreciate the advice!

Howard

 

You got it- it's the one with the rubber (I think it's rubber) black cap across from the white multipin connector.

 

way to beat the system!

Just replaced the capacitor and the bluetooth seems to be working fine!! hopefully it stays working.. no way in hell i was gonna pay for that damn part

 

Just as another data point here. My HFL failed about 2 months ago. It wouldn't even respond to the steering wheel buttons. I replaced my capacitor with the one referenced in this thread.. (from mouser electronics). Hooked it back up last night. It worked. I was psyched. I paired my phone. Tried to call voicemail, but my phone had no service, so I did a "phonebook list" just to kill time until my phone (Iphone) got a stronger cell signal. It spoke my entire phonebook. Then since my phone now had cell service I went to call voicemail again, but it had lost pairing with my phone. I could not pair the phone at all anymore. The HFL didn't even show up on my phone screen when trying to pair as it usaully does. So, apparently the bluetooth portion was beginning to fail or at this point failed completely. I still had all the voice prompt functionality. I called it a night.... figured I'd check it out in the morning. Well this morning even the voice prompts are gone and I'm pretty much back to where I was. I'm gonna fool around with it a bit more. I'll let you guys know how it goes. -- Mike

 

Same exact thing happened to me last night into this morning. I got the booting up message but the system then started to work shortly after (it said no information available but wouldnt pair). I tried everything possible and my iPhone 4 will not even see the HFL. I tried 2 different caps (50 and 25v) which were recommended here.

 

Update: I installed the ISBT21 and it works nicely, though the incoming phone's volume is loud.

Otherwise, I now have:
- wireless Bluetooth streaming of music (press the radio's 2 button to pause/play) and
- hands free calling (press the radio's 4 button and the iPhone's voice command activates, allowing you to tell the phone who to call)
- answer/end by pressing the radio's 1 button
- menu options are on the 6 button: outgoing mic volume, streaming volume (music/podcasts), pairing, other BT functions.

 

I pulled the overhead module out per instructions here and the Acura service bulletin at

http://www.box.net/shared/ahv7hm987a?sid=GAN_1296799475

I pulled the circuit boards apart at their multi-pin connectors and looked at the offending capacitor, but it looked okay (not bulging). I almost bought the replacement caps from mouser.com http://www.mouser.com/Search/Product...7-EEE-FK1H221P but decided to reassemble first.

As I was looking at the overhead module, I noticed that fine blossom parts from a near-by tree where I park the car had worked their way into the module, indicating to me that moist air had also gotten in there, possibly causing corrosion on the many contacts.

After I reassembled the boards and reinstalled the module, I tried pairing the phone again and it worked fine.

My guess is that the HandsFreeLink module suffered some contact corrosion and quit working.

So, before you start soldering capacitors, disassemble and reassemble the boards from each other, clean the contacts with some contact cleaner (I didn't even do that, though; I just reassembled and that scratched through the corrosion) and try the system.

I park my 05 TL outside and I live near the beach. After 4 years, I think the sea air got to the contacts. This is because the module is right next to the moon roof. It's asking for trouble. If it had been mounted in the dash, I'm sure it would work without issue.

 

Here's a couple shots of the Pac-Audio ISBT21 Bluetooth adapter that plugs into the PXAMG Gateway unit tucked behind the center vent unit in my 2005 non-Navi TL.


https://acurazine.com/forums/members/sidecar-206083-albums-pxamg-isbt21-bluetooth-2005-acura-tl-fix-7048/

Notice the small mic mounted just in front of the speedometer on the steering column (it plugs into the ISBT21 and threads through the dash; people tell me my voice sounds fine over the phone):

 

Thanks for this thread you guys, I will try to clean out mine first and see my other options. My HFL voice works but it won't pair with my phones.

 

So I took apart my HFL. Both boards looks fine. Just blew at the connectors and cleaned out some debris that were in the housing. Plugged everything back together and now I have bluetooth!! Paired with my iPhone and calls are fine. Thanks to all that posted on how to get to the HFL unit.

 

I did the disassemble/reassemble thing and had the HFL working fine again for about 4 days, then it stopped again. I'm going to do it again this weekend and see if there is further cleaning to do. Let us know if yours reverts back to dysfunction as well.

 

Yeah, after I did the module boards disassembly/reassembly, it worked for one whole day. Probably need to clean everything much better using a real contact cleaner. But I won't.

I'm so happy with the PXAMG/ISBT21 combo, I'll never go back to HFL.

The only thing I've lost is the call/hangup buttons on the steering wheel. They are replaced by the 4 button on the radio (which, in Bluetooth mode, is a much superior voicedial that accesses the iPhone 4's full contact list as opposed to teaching HFL each name and number) and the radio's 1 button that accepts or hangs up the call.

The radio's 2 button plays or pauses the iPhone if it's playing music or a podcast, but if a call is made or received, it pauses automatically, because that's what an iPhone does by design.

I sure hope HFL works better on the newer models. My wife's Ford Edge Sync system is FAR superior, as is my truck's Pioneer aftermarket solution and now this for the TL.

 

Well, my HFL quit working 2 weeks ago on my '06 TL. Just paid the dealer to look at it, and similar to others in this thread they tried to pair a phone to it and then told me it was broken. Thanks, that's $50 well spent. The price they quoted to fix it was much higher than I've seen in this thread $900. So, obviously I'm not doing that.

For the first time since I bought the car I am disappointed by it. My experience has been great up until now. It is too bad that Acura is no doing more since apparently so many of these fail. Conveniently they have engineered the product to last just long enough to make it through the warranty period.

Sidecar - thanks for the pics and information. If the fix recommended in this thread does not work for me, I will probably install something aftermarket. Has anyone installed a parrot in their 3G TL? If you have and haven't posted, please let everyone know what your experience has been.

 

My HFL just stopped working about two days ago, i ran diagnostic test (and it came back OK)
- systems is good in both English and French
- tried resetting my phone and pairing ...didn't work
- tried the wife's phone.....didn't work
- shut off car and restarted car....didn't work

i may try take out hte unit and clean it...and see if that works..where can i get contact cleaner?

 

I have an 05 TL but am unable to find a capacitor rated at 105c, will 85c work or am I asking for trouble with it?

 

update...i was able to remove the unit...took it apart and back together again..
while it was "hanging" from the roof ...i tested the pairing..and it worked.

once i assembled everything i tried again to make a call and it failed...i'm guessing its a crimped wire possibly or even the cap...i did spray it lightly with compressed air..to see if it would work..but it didn't ...

 

can some one who tried this fix comment on long term effects? is it still working for you guys who reported success? i know this thread is relevantly new but i just wanna see if its still working for u HFL pioneers out here.

 

I was able to get mine to work again by replacing the capacitor. The unit would still drain the battery, however.

 

what do you mean drain the battery?

 

Add my name to the list of '06' TL owners with a failed HFL unit. Been to the dealer who quoted $700+ for new unit. I've done without it ever since. May try replacing the capacitor. Nothing to lose!

 

seems like every1 who has tried it was successful. go for it!!!

 

I bought my TL a few months ago and my HFL had a lock code on it. The lady I bought the car from doesnt know anything about. I tried using the few common bluetooth codes that I know and none of them worked. I even brought it to ACURA and they tried to hook their computer up to it and reset it and it still didnt work. They wanted me to bring it back to to perform another reset on it with the battery cables but I havent. Perhaps someone may know a quick fix so I wouldnt have to waste any more time with the dearership. Thanks.

 

Me to I am going to try it.

 

Just ordered a high quality cap from Parts Express and some contact cleaner. Going to have to do surgery on mine soon to see if I can wake it back up. It rarely starts up, giving the Booting Up message on the info panel most of the time, and won't respond to the button controls. Occasionally it will work, but then fails to pair.

This is my last shot before I hit aftermarket BT. If it fails, I will contact my local pro audio installer and get both a replacement bluetooth and mp3/USB installed, and my 15" sealed sub wired to the trunk. A shop near me AMS does great work.

Anyway, THANKS SO MUCH for this thread. I recently recapped some vintage speakers, and so it will be pretty sweet to potentially save hundreds of dollars using my ~$40 of solder gear to fix a ridiculously overpriced HFL module.

 

Wow, so I'm not alone after all . The HFL/bluetooth on my 05 has a mind of it's own, it'll connect/disconnect my phone randomly. Then when I'm in the process of pairing my phone up to it, I get to as far as naming my phone then it shuts off on me. Also for some reason, when I say the number 3 she reads it back as 8 . I plan on calling my local Acura dealer & see if I can get it replaced under extended warranty.

 

I sat down and changed out the capacitor on my board the other night. I then put the board back in the car and buttoned everything back up. I powered everything up and still no bluetooth detection of my phone.

I was ready to pack it in, then I read something that caught my eye in this thread I think. It was about someone leaving the unit dangling and having the unit pair. So, for giggles, I ended up dropping the unit from the roof and trying to pair.

Sure as a heart attack, my phone all of a sudden detects and pairs with the hfl. That was enough for that night. The next day, I drove around town. I noticed that the hfl would come and go. This was with the unit all buttoned up again. So, while I was driving, I gave the roof in the general area of the HFL a Fonzie Tap and it would come back on after a few seconds.

I haven't had a chance to open things back up, but my guess is that the cable harness has issues. I had an HP laptop that several months ago had a bad monitor. I opened it up and found that the wiring harness that had dozens of wires in it was being kinked and about 3 wires had frayed inside of their insulators. I have a feeling the same thing is going on here. There is a nasty bend in the harness in my unit. I have a feeling that with a few years of heat, etc., and with some bumps, that some wires in that kink have frayed internally and that is what is causng this issue. I have a feeling that if the capacitor is in fact bad on the board, it is a byproduct of the cabling issue (i.e. a short, or something like that). It also could account for the sporadic nature of this fault (i.e. different people having different issues with varying degrees of the unit actually working).

Sometime this week, or this next weekend, I am going to take things apart, take a few pictures and see if I can diagnose for sure if there are some bad wires. I did replace the capacitor on mine, but in hindsight, I have a feeling that there was nothing wrong with it.

I will post later with updates on what I find.