tdecast

Most of the reports of this problem I've noticed are 2005 TLs but mine is a 2008 and Acura USA claims my car doesn't fall under the TSB.

I drive about 30 miles total a M, Th an F and about 120 on Tu and Wed. Barely use it on the weekends.

I replaced my factory battery in Aug '12 after it died and then died again the day after I jumped it. Figured it was dead and old so I replaced it with a Red Top Optima, supposedly one of the best.

2 months later I'm gone for a week and its dead... I just moved to DC from Texas so I figured maybe its bc of the cold. Dies again when I leave for about 5-6 days over Thanksgiving - again chalking it up to being cold. Dies again over xmas and new years when I'm gone for 3 weeks - assume its because i was gone so long.

Then in Jan I'm noticing it dying after 2-3 days and I realize theres a problem. Have Advanced Auto Parts check the battery but it checks out fine. They gave me a loaner battery so they could kill the Optima battery overnight and test it. The loaner battery dies overnight on a very cold night. Next day they give me my Optima back and tell me theres a parasitic drain.

Been able to deal with it since I drive so much and have been carrying a portable jumper with me.

Had some minor body work done and had my sideview mirror replaced but when I got the car back the battery started dying within a day, at least to the point where I need a jump to start.

Brought it back to AAP but they said the battery was still checking out fine so they won't replace it.

Had an older mechanic try and find the drain but he couldn't find it and as far as he could tell, everything was checking out ok (starter, alternator, etc) and he thought it was a bad battery.

Finally found out about the HFL issue so I disconnected it but my battery is still dying.

My uncle thinks that maybe somehow the HFL is still draining even though I disconnected it... doesn't seem plausible to me but I'm about ready to take it to the dealer and bend over...

After long trips i.e. my Tu and Wed long commutes its fine. Thurs it starts fine in the morning but by the afternoon when I'm off work it's having trouble starting.

I really don't care about the HFL but I'm getting sick of having to jump it 2-3 times a week and I can't imagine that's good on my Optima battery.

Any thoughts on what I should do and what I should tell the dealer if I should have to go that route?

carz0159

just go to the dealer, and tell them that the batterys diring everyday, you tried a different battery, same result, its dieing every time you turn it off, so you think theres a short somewhere.

is it still under warrenty? if so you should pressure them into fixing it.

dont leave with the car and make sure they fix it!

also, i could be that the battery wires are corroded and shorting somewhere

johnny3

Make sure you have your radio code #. Remove your neg. batt. cable & put an amp meter between the cable & batt. post (ign. key off) look at the amount of drain. Start pulling fuses till you see the amps drop, that will be the circuit where the problem is ( there can be several things on that circuit), that should narrow things down to where you can find the problem. There will allways be a very small amount of drain-- .25 amp or so for things that stay energized when the switch is off but yours will be much greater than that if batt. is dying overnight.

Siebec

I have been told the A/C relay can go bad and get stuck on even when the car is off. I would check that as well.

tdecast

i think this is what my mechanic did... he even checked all the grounds and couldn't find anything. he's an older guy though and may not be familiar with all the electronics in newer cars.

tdecast

well, thats kind of what i'm planning on doing but i'm trying to figure out if there is any ammo i can bring so i don't get screwed too bad.

thought about bringing in the TSB, printing out all the posts regarding bad HFL, showing them that I have the same problem, etc etc.

My car is not under warranty anymore as it has 80k miles.

I feel like my mechanic would have caught the battery wires being bad when he checked for a drain...

carz0159

as ammo, you can print forum pages of people with similar problems, there are tons, myself included. A 5 year old car, even with 80k should not have this problem

mr_grand_prix

iTrader: (2)

I am currently having the same problem after I've already disconnected the HFL..

Project_CLean

iTrader: (2)

dlking58

Here's my story:

So....my husband has a 2008 Acura TL which has just 10,100 miles on it. (He's retired and only drives around in our little town). The car is practically new - still smells new. BUT:

It has the dreaded battery drain problem. About 6 months ago, he took it to the dealer for testing and they couldn't find anything which was draining the battery. The service guy just kinda mentioned that there was some talk that it might be the HFL, so we came home and did more research on the web. We disconnected the HFL and took it out of the car completely. Inconvenient, yes but not as much as a dead battery. Things didn't improve much - there were sporadic problems and after more research on the web we disconnected the trunk light in the middle of May 2013. We thought the problem was solved - no more dead batteries. BUT:

Today the battery is dead again. The car was just driven 3 days ago. Now what? We have this practically new car that we're slowly dismantling trying to solve this problem. Any suggestions? We really, really don't want to trade in this beautiful, almost-new car, and if we do, we probably won't ever buy another Acura because of this issue.

Will Y.

Replace the battery: Assuming it is the original that came with the car, it's at the end of its life.
Then reconnect the HFL and enjoy the car.

Welcome to AZ.

dlking58

Thanks, and I hear what you're saying, but we did that long ago, before removing the HFL. Got a new battery, it went dead the next day. Took the car back to the battery place, they tested it, and even though it was OK gave us a new one. That is the one which then went dead, causing us to go to the dealer, then remove the HFL, then remove the trunk light. It's not the battery. I've learned that there's a long-standing issue with a "parasitic battery drain" in Acura vehicles of all types, but even the dealer can't find it. Google "Acura battery drain" and you'll see entries going all the way back to 2001.

j_u

iTrader: (5)

had the same problem about 3 months ago. i disconnected the hfl, had the starter and alternator and battery tested and checked out fine. i was convinced it was the battery so i had it replace and the car ran fine but a month later my starter went bad. someone told me its rare but when the solenoid on the starter goes bad it could drain the battery fast. had that replaced as well and no more battery drain.

Will Y.

I've not heard of any widespread or common parasitic drain problem in any Acuras other than that from a bad HFL, which was the subject of two TSBs for the 3G TL.

Take the TL to a good independent mechanic-- preferably a Honda or Acura specialist-- who can use a multimeter to locate the drain. I have doubts about some dealer techs properly diagnosing certain problems that do not throw a code.