My 2004 TL is having issues. I have been through two batteries over 3 years. I finally brought the car to the dealer and they told me the Voice Navi and the HFL is draining the battery when the car is off. They say it will be $1200+ to install a new system. Is this something common with this year/model. They also tell me the can just shut the entire voice system off to save my battery, but that will leave me without HFL and any voice commands. I feel this qualifies as a recall issue. Has anybody else experienced anything like this?

thx,
elbo

 

Not to sound like a jerk, but buy a car battery with maximum warranty and keep changing batteries. It's a hassle but way cheaper solution and down the road when you sell the car you won't have to worry about it anymore. As a matter of fact you can brag to your buyer "and I just put in a new battery!"

 

$1,200 would buy a LOT of batteries, even without a warranty to buffer the expense.

A small drain can develop in any piece of electronics, it is fairly common (about a 1-1,000 chance). For example, my home is completely outfitted with a state-of-the-art alarm system. One of the window sensors (out of 12) loves to eat batteries at the rate of 1 per year ($8.00 per cell) - but the rest go through one about every 5-6 years. It is a tad annoying that each time I get a "low battery" warning, it is typically the same window. However, it is WAY cheaper to keep putting cells into it than to replace the sensor. It is just one of those things.

You can check for recalls or TSBs by calling Acura support. I wouldn't expect one to exist, but you never know.

 

A $1200 quote sounds like .
There is a TSB for the HFL drain issue for '04 TLs (up to '06, IIRC). The HFL was designed to stay active to permit use of a connected phone for up to 30 minutes after the car is turned off, but some HFL units were not shutting off after the 30 minutes.
The HFL part cost is now about $180 on-line for those out of warranty or unable to get a good will replacement. Replacement will take about 10 minutes for a careful, complete novice (really easy, probably 2 minutes for a tech!); there are a couple of threads on this.
For the Navi cars, there is a possibility of a bad HFL "delay box," mentioned as the final possibility in the TSB, but I have not heard any cases of that being the cause of a drain. The delay box is a $600+ part now, located on the transmission tunnel behind the console stack.

I have not heard of any cars with the Navi voice-activation causing a draw after the car is shut off (the Navi shuts off completely once the ignition is off), so I'd question the service advisor about how they determined the voice activation is involved, other than using the HFL unit's microphone.

 

hey where online can i buy the hfl for 180. ?? i need one asap

 

I'm having the same issue with my 06.

There appears to be a couple issues, one is the HFL not going to sleep.

The other seems to be the navi display not shutting down. There is a module that will fix it but it isn't listed in the oem parts listing online.

I am drawing over 600ma. If I pull the backup fuse, it will drop tp 200ma and if I pull the radio fuse it drops to 20ma.

There was also a post about the door multiplex module drawing current but I removed the door panel and the draw still exists.

Electrical issues can be tough to track down and depending on what the dealer is thinking they need to swap and if it's out of warranty, $1200 isn't hard to accumulate.

Buying a good battery and having to worry about it going dead isn't an option for me.

 

I purchased mine from Tim P. @ Acura of Peoria, d.b.a. oemacuraparts.com, a vendor & sponsor here.
Local Acura dealers may match the price; I got a $220 price without asking from one dealer.
The HFL units have different part numbers due to interior color (they come attached to a bezel or frame around the map light/sunroof switch console. Mine was: http://www.oemacuraparts.com/acura/t...p-a02za-acura/

For disassembly and replacement, see pages 3 & 4 of https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-audio-bluetooth-electronics-navigation-94/bluetooth-fails-792642/.

Ruh-roh...
Check the HFL TSB first-- you may have the HFL "delay box" problem.

Although the HFL is listed under the "interior light" menu, the delay box is not. Best to call oemacuraparts.com to see how it's categorized.

G/L.

 

My 07 s is having a drain issue. Dead after 24! My 04 did also!.....this sucks!
Hopefully its the hfl

 

I think I'm having the same issue. Just bought my 06 TL and the previous owner said they put in a brand new battery from the dealer since they were measuring lower than expected volts on the older battery.

So brought the car home. Sat for about 1 week while I was getting insurance/DMV papers sorted out...totally dead on a brand new battery.

Looked online and found this nice write-up: Sparky's Answers: 2006 Acura TL, Battery Goes Dead

Basically HFL is notorious for causing slow drains and not turning off. I could careless about the HFL function so I will just unplug the module and hope this fixes the issue.

 

Update:

Just got done disconnecting the HFL module. Easy as pie to do. Basically pry off the sunroof switch with a thin flathead, disconnect. Then pull down on the dome head light and disconnect. Then unscrew 4 8mm bolts to take down the trim piece which you will see houses the HFL unit.

I disconnected it and since the harness plug was kinda big and no where else to put it (and since the HFL is probably bad anyway) I simply unscrewed the HFL unit from the trim piece (you need a 6-point internal Torx screw to undo, if you have the tool) and took out the actual HFL unit so I can just let the harness/plug rest in the empty space.

The HFL unit was slightly warm to the touch and that was all I needed to know that this was the culprit to my dead battery after just 1 week of having the car sit.

Finally some peace and comfort knowing that is fixed.

So yeah, unless you really want the HFL functionality, no need to pay $1200 to the dealer or $200+ to buy the HFL module. If you can live without the HFL, it's 15min and $0 to fix the problem.

 

You can disassemble the HFL and bake the board(s) to see if that fixes it.

 

Ahhh interesting.

I know this trick from the desktop PC world. I had a dead video card that I baked in the oven to let the soldering "re-flow" back and it worked for a week but then died again so I just got a new video card for the computer.

I guess similar thing can be done for the HFL unit. Looking at it looks like its two boards connected and the bottom one has the large green harness plastic plug...which I'm not sure would be a good idea to put into the oven?

I'll do some more research. Honestly I don't really care for the HFL at all but maybe I'll do it when I'm bored or something. heh

 

I going to have to remove my HFL tomorrow cause my battery going dead every day or so

 

There are two power wires going into the unit. One is constant hot and the other is switched with the ignition. I rewired the constant to be switched, as well. Seems to have stopped killing my battery but I can't be on the phone (through the radio) once the car is off. That's never a problem for me, though...

 

Hit the HFL key and say "Transfer" and the call will be moved from the HFL to your phone - if you happen to be on a call and you need to shut off the car.

 

This was helpful. It is indeed pretty easy to remove it. I used below youtube video also.

 

Hey 6mt4tw, can you tell me which are the two power wires to the HFL and which one is the constant? I have the same issue and your solution seems to be the easiest, cheapest and the one that still allows the use of the HFL. Brilliant.

 

Bumping this thread. I'd also be curious to know.

I've dealt with three faulty HFL units so far. One completely died on me, and the other two began draining my battery when the car was off.

If anyone has a solution, please share!