Battery in 2003 TL/S is six years old and is not holding charge. I will probably replace within the next two weeks. Looked in service manual and ther are a whole bunch of things that I will have to reset (power window up, idle set, radio). Someone told me that there is a way to replace the battery without having to lose any settings. They didn't know how but had heard some people at the dealership talking about some procedure. Does anyone know of such a procedure.
Thanks in advance for any help.

 

Wow- all I did was make sure the radio and nav security codes were written down, and I knew where that was-- so I could reset them~
they automatically lock down on power loss as an anti theft device

It does force an ECU computer reset but the engine relearns how you drive- its no big deal on that- you wont even know
Loses the radio preset- but who uses the radio when you have cd!!
Were you looking at an aftermarket manual or a acura factory book?

 

If the battery is not holding a charge replace it as soon as possible-
the car suffers when low voltage, and the alternator gets extra wear working overtime
You can even get warning lights on the dash unrelated to the battery light

 

You and I are in the same boat. My 2003 TL-S was acting a little slow in starting this past winter even though it is garaged. Sick of being ripped off by local Acura dealer I decided last Thursday to get oil and filter change at local Honda dealer. Same parts etc at a lower price (so I thought ). Asked them to check original battery and told them about sluggish starts. SR said both battery cables were loose and new battery wasn't needed. Then they came back and said a load test indicated battery was on last legs. Sounded reasonable so replace it.
$100 for battery and $46 labour (labor for you Yanks). First intersection where I had to wait for light I thought car would die. Tumbling at idle. Next stop - same thing. Took car out Friday evening on a 10 mile run and tumbling idle would scare a race car driver. Saturday I decided maybe a vacuum line had been pinched or pulled by accident and popped the hood. Nothing evident at first glance. Removed battery shield cover and there is a battery with a new Honda label. None of the little pull-off's have been removed. The mechanic is supposed to pull the ones that indicate the month and year that the battery was installed. Neither did I receive a certificate that says the battery model # ----- has a 5-year pro rated warranty or whatever. Three years down the road I am supposed to dig out the oil change bill that also includes the battery replacement? It sure looks like the battery clamp bar was never removed because the bolt threads still look oxidized and when I tried to turn one of the nuts the whole bolt turned. The hook at the bottom end would have torn the slot open if I applied any pressure. How the hell did they get the new battery in there without removing the clamp bar?
The battery top is sort of dusty but I did not want to clean it off until the dealer sees its current condition. You would think the installer would at least wipe the top of the battery from dust gathered while sitting on a shelf in the parts dept. The auto club (AAA) use what is known as a battery pack that they clamp onto the cables before removing an old battery. This way you do not lose any presets etc. The dealer did the same with my car so no presets were lost including (I hope) the computer settings. I thought the crappy, scarey idle may be because the computer is re learning my driving habits. Not so sure any more. So battery replacements can lead to the job from hell. Needless to say I will be going back to the devil I know (Acura) and not the devil I don't know (Honda). Stuff happens! JC

 

When new batteries sit on the shelf they lose some of their charge, and they were not full to start with- they leave the factory charged enough to test continuity and voltage.
By driving around 30 minutes without the AC -radio or lights on, so all
the juice the alternator is making is going to the battery to fill it up- then you should be good.
Yes techs or parts dept are supposed to remove the month year stickers- and in
many cases the shop may have `special fred` doing things like running the cars thru the wash rack and install a battery.
If the hold down nuts were corroded- they may know a way to move the bar so it releases
and the battery comes out.
Wiping dust off is a courtesy, but again- I dont thing the top tech did the job!

On the car with bad cables- just by having loose cables, they will arc and cause internal battery problms- that should be part of your owner maitenance of looking over things once a month.
After they fix the big problem THEN they can test the battery condition

If your battery last 3-4 years- you had a winner!!!!

 

shop i used to work at had a little tool that plugged into the cigarette lighter or power adapter that kept the memory settings while exchanging battery. of hand, i dont remember what the tool was called.

 

A ziner recently tried that lighter tool- didnt keep the radio settings though.
Are the TL lighters powered hot all the time? For a car with a Not an Ashtry, it would be reasonable that they didnt even have a lighter!! let alone powered all the time- my guess on that matter- too lazy to go get the test light out and see.
Its not a big deal to put the radio station presets back in- and everyone needs to know the radio and nav security lock codes anyway

I have not seen the AAA machine that hooks on the cables
Makes sense on newer cars of other brands with their freaky computers to use that.
The ECU reset on our cars is not a problem- you would do that when doing a performance mod on the TL- so the engine computer relearns all the performance available!!
Sometimes its done as a troubleshooting procedure- get a check engine light- try a fix- reset the ECU- go drive.

 

It was an Acura TL factory manual.

 

According to manual, resetting the ECU requires a procedure for the ECU relearning the idle.
I was going to try using a battery pack but I didn't know if it would work. Since you mentioned Auto club uses it, I'm going to give it a try.

 

The 12 volt outlets lose power when you turn the car off so those Memory Saver battery things won't work. The current is cut off with the ignition.

 

Where ever you bought the car from should have the code. That's what happened to me, I bought the car used, and on Sat evening my battery went, and I ended up buying a new one, and the clock, radio, and anti-theft lost memory, I had to wait until Mon and call the original dealer and fax them a copy of my registration, and they gave me the code, since i was the second owner. IT SUCKS!!!