I have a 2007 TL that would not pair. I took it to the dealership today and they say the unit is bad. They offered to replace the unit for just over $500. It appears from what I read here this may be a very common problem but no relief. The technician appeared to be very familiar with the problem saying they had been as high as $900 dollars but were back down now to just over $500. This is very fustrating for me as i am not technically inclined to be replacing capacitors. Ugh so what to do.

 

I pretty much just gave up. I have too many other projects I'm doing with my TL atm to take the oven baking temp fix. I'm really not interested in paying the Acura dealership here anything. They tried to screw me once.. I won't make it in for a 2nd attempt. I've never had Bluetooth in a car before (of my own) so I'm quite used to not having it. I'm sure further down the road I'll give it a try. Then I'll go back and read this entire thread lol.

 

Buy the entire HFL unit from one of the AZ vendors for @ $200 and replace it yourself in about 10 minutes.
Instructions start @ post # 219 in this thread, and you will be pleasantly surprised at how easily the HFL unit can be replaced.

Welcome to AZ.

Ignore the capacitor change posts at the beginning of the thread-- go to post #219 re: changing out the unit; I think the baking instructions come in posts a few months after that.

 

I've been trying to follow most of the posts on this subject, and it appears as if the bluetooth module for my 2007 TL-S has died. (Confirmed with dealer, who wanted $542 to R/R.)

I'm wanting to order a new one and replace it. However, I wanted to confirm that the part (39770-SEP-A62ZA) I have found is the correct part that contains the bluetooth module:

CONTROL UNIT, HFI (GRAPHITE BLACK) .
2007 Acura TL TYPE-S 5AT.
Stock Code 39770-SEP-A62ZA ; 39770-SEP-A61ZA
Manufacturer Acura
Categories Electrical
Assemblies INTERIOR LIGHT

Price: $214

What worried me is that it doesn't say telephone or bluetooth in the description. I just want to make sure I had the correct part before ordering. Thanks for any help/confirmation you can give.

BTW: I really appreciate this forum...lots of good info here!

 

A Google search for the part number brings photos of the part from Rosenthal Acura, and it is the HFL, which is referred to as the "telephone assembly, hands-free" for the '04-'06 TL.

Welcome to AZ.

 

First time poster here. What a wealth of information from the board members. Thanks so much.

I have a 2008 TL who's BT/HFL stopped working just yesterday. (I guess I should consider myself lucky!) My brother is a competent solderer so I was thinking of going the capacitor replacement route.
Good move? Or should I try baking it first? I haven't read every response here, but if I go about the capacitor replacement route, is the preferred replacement capacitor still 50V 220uf 105C 10mm, or something else?

Again, thanks.

 

Here's what I did on my 06 TL about six moths ago. I bought a new board; problem solved! But soon after my power steering rack started to leak. The dealer also said that I had a cracked motor mount and my struts were drying out. So what did I do after more than 10 years driving Acura's? I sold my TL and bought me a new Optima. I saved more than 10 grand compared to a new TL. And you know what? The Optima does everything my old TL did, and more! I don't buy luxury brands of anything anymore. Trust me, you are just buying an illusion. You think you are special because you drive a TL? Think again!

 

I just got my 08 TL about a week ago and this is the first thing I looked into, took it to the dealer and they said it wasn't covered under the 60 day warranty. Yea it sucked but I was thinking of putting a double din in anyways and that comes with bluetooth. I did not want to run the risk of having the battery drainage problems due to the HFL like some people have so I disconnected it. Other than that, this is my first day actually registered on the site, thanks for all the helpful information guys!!

 

Woops.. so about 2 months ago I baked my HFL board in my toaster oven. It worked great through a lot of very hot weeks here in Southern California (95 degrees). But now it is back to never booting up and not turning off. I'll likely try re-baking it. I don't recall seeing anyone going for a re-bake?

 

Go with baking first. The capacitor replacement was unsuccessful for the OP, and only worked for one or two members, IIRC.

There were several posters in this and other threads that did bake a second time when the original baking didn't work or fixed the HFL for only a short time.

If baking a second time doesn't fix the HFL permanently, the choices are to buy a new HFL for $180-$200 or disconnect the faulty one.

Welcome to AZ.

 

I was today setting up the pairing in my newly bought 2013 RDX. My wife's S5 works perfect. My own HTC One pairs, then drops after about a minute. I can connect it back, but it keeps dropping all the time.
I have successfully had the same phone connected in dozens of rental cars.

Anyone has any idea in to why it would disconnect like that?

/Mats

 

Hey guys

My module was stuck on "Booting up.." and handsfree didn't work. It was also perceptibly hot to touch when I removed it (car was off!) Battery wasn't doing too well, so I'm guessing this was the issue. I just bought the car so I don't know if it died or anything as I drove it every day but I wouldn't doubt that it would.

So I baked it for 8 mins @ 200C and handsfree commands began working. However, I still cannot pair my phone. I begin to pair, and it asks me to name the phone. I give the name and then bam - system reboots and the phone is not paired.

Do I have to buy a new module? I've removed it for now.

 

Hi Thanks for posting the pictures for repairingthe Hands Free Link. I just wanted to make sure the capacitor to replace is D1220H UD. Mine has a rubber cap on it for holding the circuit board above it.Thank you all for finding a complex problem and providing a simple answer tofix the problem. My Acura TL is happy for all of the support provided by AcuraZineCommunity.

 

Just stumbled upon this treasure trove of information after my '06 TL had battery drains couple of times & had to jump start it. It seems it may be the HFL issue, since I started experiencing dropped calls via bluetooth just before the battery drains.

I am a total noob when it comes to fixing cars or electronics & need a little help in picking the right tools for this fix.

This is the part number I found on acura parts world:
TELEPHONE ASSY., HANDS FREE *YR240L* (LIGHT CREAM IVORY) - 2006 ACURA TL (39770SEPA02ZC)

Has anyone purchased this part and confirm if it works with the light cream ivory model?

Also, I gather I need at least 3 tools to perform this fix.

1. Preferably a plastic pry tool (I understand you can make do with any flat surface tool)
2. A tool to remove the 8 mm bolts.
3. A size 10 torx screwdriver.

I have ordered a plastic pry tool from amazon. I need some inputs before I the tools required for # 2 and # 3 above. I would really appreciate if someone could tell me which tool I should buy to perform these steps.

Thanks for all your inputs and hopefully I am able to change this myself

 

You will need a socket [ratchet] wrench or socket driver [screwdriver handle with socket] for the 8 mm bolts-- less than $10 for a cheap ratchet wrench set, less than $20 for a decent small Craftsman or Husky set.

You do NOT need a Torx driver if you ordered the ivory-bezel HFL to match your interior--the Torx driver is only necessary to swap the HFL module's bezel/plastic shell to use in a different bezel (i.e. buying a "moon lake grey" HFL because it is in stock and swapping the unit into an ivory or parchment interior).

G/L.

 

+1 on the bake method, at least for now.

will get a new unit if it breaks again.

thanks guys!

 

Bake method help me get the diagnostic check to say "is ok" versus "needs to be serviced", but still won't pair / find iphone or LG phone. I'm ok without it, but wanted to give this thread a run to see if anything worked for me.

 

How do you run the diagnostic?

When I select the HFL screen on my gauge cluster, in the bottom right corner of the gauges, all it says is "information not available". I never get a "booting up" message. Is this normal?

Just last week I was no longer able to connect my phone to my HFL, which worked fine since I bought the car. Not sure if I should try baking the chip or not. Recommendations?

 

My HFL was fine and then started the "Rebooting" thing. Car (2006 TL is new to me so gathering what I should do...) I have to laugh living in Arizona this time of year mine gets rebaked daily! Wondering if the sun exposure isn't what started the problem off in the first place? It has actually come back working 2-3 times but not for long!

What I'm gathering is a replacement part for $200 is the fix after years of this thread?

 

It's the quickest and most certain fix.

Welcome to AZ.

 

Sigh... Anyone??

I don't want to spend $200 if that's not even the issue. I tried baking the chip yesterday and no nothing changed. Woe is me.

 

I have a 2006 Nav TL that's having the "Handsfree Rebooting" problem and I get that it is the HFL issue and at the same time I want to stream music and since I don't have an AUX even I'm leaning towards a GROM BT3 for that purpose. My question is: Why couldn't I just unplug the bad component (factory BT module) and let the GROM BT3 replace the HFL interface AND modernize the TL with BT and iPod/etc. plug in capabilities? Surely you can't have two BT devices at the same time doing the same thing so why wouldn't the GROM BT3 kill two birds with one stone?

 

FYI. I had to replace the HFL module in my 2006 TL. Two years ago, my cassette player sh*t the bed so I installed a Grom unit with bluetooth in my car so I can connect my phone to either for bluetooth phone headset profile. The Grom unit itself is kind of flaky, but that may have gotten better by now. Besides providing an aux jack, I'm able to connect my phone's bluetooth media/audio profile to the Grom which sounds pretty good.

 

I was hoping someone would tell me the Grom BT3 is a substitute for my HFL and I could unplug or ignore my "rebooting" message and unplug it if need be to save my battery... BUT nobody chimed in with that assurance SO I'll give it a go and see if losing the HFL buttons is worth $200 to replace? BTW where do I buy the replacement module for the Factory HFL anyway?

 

You can buy it from OEMAcuraparts.com (Acura of Peoria in AZ) or AcuraOEMparts.com (Delray Acura)- if it's one of the pre-07 cars, it runs ~ $180 and installs in 5 minutes, and you should have your HFL back to normal.

 

My HFL does not work either. I will try the bake first... lets see

 

FUUUUUU!!!!

I received my replacement HFL unit, installed it, and my Bluetooth STILL doesn't work!!!

Dammit, I just spent 200 bucks and my phone still will not pair with the TL like it used to. Now what do I do? I'm so upset about this. Gah....

My car does have Navi. Not sure if it makes a difference. Running the diagnostic, my TL says the HFL is just fine. So lost...

 

Siiiiiigh... Anyone?

 

Hmmm... Disconnected the new HFL and the battery, then put it all back together again... And now it works! Yeehaa!

 

The HFL unit in my 2008 TL keeps showing "booting up" recently I have had my car's battery drained twice in two weeks - initially I thought my battery was weak but looking at the thread it seems like it could be due to the HFL unit not turning off. My questions are:
1. If I disconnect the HFL unit, will it prevent the battery from draining?
2. What prying tool did you use to remove the bezel? I am planning to buy a plastic one from amazon but I am not sure what size I would need.

Appreciate your help!!

btw my car has 39,600 miles..

 

1. Perhaps...
If your battery is more than 3 years old, the battery itself can be bad. The battery should be tested, under load.
If your battery is new, it's more likely that the HFL is causing the drain than any other issue.

The only way to check if the HFL is draining the battery is to use an ammeter to measure the power draw after the ignition has been off for more than 30 minutes.

2. I used a feeler gauge blade and a thin pocket knife blade on different occasions to pry and pop off the sunroof switch.
Insert fingers into the sunroof switch hole to pull down the map light console. The HFL bezel's four 8mm. bolts can then be seen and accessed.

 

Thanks for your response.

I got a new battery from Acura in dec 2011 under warranty so my battery will be 3 yrs old in a couple of months assuming they gave me a new battery in 2011.

I tried using the feeler gauge however the thinnest blade did not fit inside the gap. I was planning to buy a plastic pry tool from Amazon so as to not scratch or damage the bezel and was wondering if anyone had any recommendations..or alternately if the hfl has a dedicated fuse I could pull it to prevent battery drain.

 

The .008 in./.203 mm feeler blade worked on my sunroof switch edge.
The blunt sides of a razor blade or back side of an X-acto blade would also work; try to keep the cutting edges angled away from the plastic edges of the switch and housing.

All you need to do is to slip the blade in and get the switch's edge (doesn't matter which side) separated from the housing far enough to pull down with a fingertip.

I think fuse #6, which is for the interior lights, is also the fuse for the HFL, if you want to pull the fuse. Disconnecting the HFL itself is thus a much better option, and will take less than 5 minutes from start to finish.

 

Will, thanks for the suggestions. I will try over the weekend and report back on how it went.

 

oops. the bake method worked... for about two weeks.

guess I need to order a new unit.

 

Been trying to follow this thread for awhile now. I think I'll give replacing the capacitor a shot. Just to be clear, I need a 50v 22uF 105C cap? I read the 220uF cap is incorrect.

Baking the unit seems to be a temporary fix and I want to find the source of this instead of just throwing the whole thing in the oven and hoping it works.

 

So after a few days of trying to figure out the issue with my HFL on my 08 TL-S, I finally came across this thread. My issue started when I noticed that my buttons on the left side of my steering wheel stopped working. There was nothing that I could find that would indicate that something I did caused this issue, like an accidental reset of something. I tried over and over to try and get the HFL to reconnect with my phone, and nothing. Then I finally had this bright idea to get on here and see of anyone else has had this same issue with their cars. BOOM....I'm not the only one having this issue. I'm actually quite surprised that Acura/Honda hasn't taken a bigger role in getting this issue fixed as is appears that it is pretty wide spread. So now I'm a bit stuck on what I should do. I'm somewhat handy with electronics, so the whole replacing the cap thing doesn't seem to difficult to me. But the ease of just replacing the entire unit is also quite enticing. What distributor seems to be offering the better price for these modules? As it sits right now, I'm leaning more on the total replacement as opposed to a cap fix/temp fix. I just don't really feel like going to my local Acura stealership and paying $400-$500 for this part. Please lead me to the right seller/distributor, and I will start on the road to fixing this HFL the right way. Thanks.

 

Check AZ's vendors-- oemacuraparts.com and acuraoemparts.com (they are both internet portals for Acura dealers, at discounted prices). I bought an HFL from Acura of Peoria, which is one of the above two sites.
The HFL is part of the Interior Light assembly and will cost between $180 and $230 depending on the dealer, bezel (interior) color, etc.

You can also run a search on the web using the part number to see if any other merchants are selling it for less, but one of the vendors will probably have the best price.

 

Hey everyone.

So baking actually worked for me.
I put it all back together but now the mic doesn't work at all.

It can't hear anything I say.
At least I fixed the Bluetooth (it's been over a year that it hasn't worked) but kinda useless since no one can hear me.

And now the navigation commands don't work either.

Any ideas?

 

so does our HFL work with the new iPhone 6? anyone did it yet?