skaai

Been a longtime lurker, rarely post, but I made a brief video I thought might save a few folks some time.
If you have a 3rd generation Acura TL (2004-2008) and leaving it parked for more than a few days leads to a dead battery, you should immediately unplug the HandsFreeLink module found in the mirror. I even made a brief video showing you how to do it:
I know this is a common topic, so why share and make another video?
because I was dumb enough to think I'd already fixed the problem a year ago, and I don't want others to make my mistake, so I make it clear how to do it right.
what if my problem is different?
I suggest pulling out the module for parasitic drain issues because statistically speaking, it's the most likely culprit, but as in all car repair, there are a million other things it could be. But it's still wise to go after the most likely problem first... I wish I'd been that thorough a year ago!
what was your mistake?
in 2017, I thought I unplugged the handsfreelink module only to later realize I'd unplugged the garage-door opener module in the same place.
is that all the video has?
no, since I am obsessive about taking notes, I also sampled the current drain at the battery and (though it's not needed for this) thought some other electrical nerds might find this information useful for something else.
is that your car?
no, I grabbed a picture from Wikimedia Commons, my acura is blue and covered in dirt, so i didn't want my dirty car to distract you from the actual troubleshooting, yet I wanted folks who see the image to recognize their own
So if this saves one person from wasting more time, it will be worth it.
oh, and here is a copy of my excel sheet in the video.

thoiboi

Sweet man, thanks for the input!

6for2

Thanks for the video. I haven't had this issue (yet) in my '05, but I will keep it in mind if it turns up.

TL-k100guy

Watching your video made me believe I have the exact same problem with my 2007 TL, including the warm spot above the mirror. I haven't tried it yet, but did you consider simply pulling the fuse for the HandsFreeLink. I thought of that, but the user manual doesn't identify a particular fuse for it, though there are a number of fuses that are unidentifiable to me, such as LAF, SRS, IGP, HAC, and others. Any thought on this approach?
Thanks,
Steve Hazlett (TL-k100guy)

Joecop67

skaai

sadly, I took apart so much of the car that I learned more than may be useful to you. If you don't mind obsessive-level details (some of which might be inaccurate as i'm no electrician), here goes:
The most direct fuses are the ones under the driver side, the ones in the engine compartment are (by logic and lots of sweat) more general, so removing those kills even more stuff, but if you insist,

• Fuse 15 [under hood] will disable the dash fuses 5,6,7,8,& 9.
• Fuse 6 [under dash] removal reduces current draw to 0.080 (notice this is 2.29 times greater than the 0.035 we want). it also kills the courtesy lights, ignition key light, alarm unit, map lights, roof console, trunk light, and vanity mirror light.
• Fuse 6 + fuse 7 [under dash] removal reduces current draw to 0.040 (which is within range of 0.035 goal). In addition to 6, it additionally kills the climate display, combination switch, gauge module in the instrument cluster, power windows, navigation, blinking LED, power window driver side (maybe all?), and the radio seemed useless too.

In short, fuse 6 shuts off most of the HFL, but removing it is more trouble than simply unplugging the HFL from the roof as in the video.

Aaron Sommers

It would be awesome if someone could repair this at the circuit board. I'm sure it would bring great joy to those owners capable with a heat gun and solder iron out there...

***edit***
https://acurazine.com/forums/3g-tl-problems-fixes-114/hfl-fix-youre-welcome-hands-free-link-fix-900427/

TL-k100guy

Actually, I already did that before I sent the above query. I was just curious if anyone had done it that way.

TL-k100guy

You're right, easier to simply remove the HFL, which I went ahead and did. It was as easy as depicted in your video, between 5-10 minutes..
Thanks

patricknaj69

Thank you for the video and info.

Chrome35

Can someone explain how to find the fuse or a pic of where to look? Prefer that method over the battery I think. saves all the hassle of reseting my after market deck etc