Hey everyone.. I bought my 2007 TL-S in July of 2012. Two weeks after buying it, I had to replace the battery. I thought, no big deal. Well, in January of 2013, six months after that new battery in July, I had to have it replaced again. At that point, I was getting curious as to why this was happening. So, I got onto this site and looked around. I found that the bluetooth could "boot up" even if the car was off. Which made sense to me because my bluetooth isn't working. Everytime I try to use it, it says "booting up"... so a light bulb lit up in my head and I thought, thats why my battery is dying.

I didn't think about telling the service department what my thoughts were because I thought that was the last of my battery issues. I was wrong. That second battery lasted until September of 2013. So when I took my car in, I told them about the bluetooth and I also noticed my memory seat light on the door lights up when the car is off. So I had them check that out as well. They told me that the bluetooth booting up wouldn't be an issue so they didn't even look into it. They told me they connected the battery to a machine (sorry, don't know what machine they used), they said a cell was low but they couldn't find what was draining the battery. So.. they just gave me another battery. I was so frustrated when they told me they couldn't find anything, I went off on the service guy.. I told them that this happens every six months so I will be seeing you in January! He told me that this battery should be ok and blah blah blah. Of course, I didn't believe him.... with good reason...

End of January, car won't start again. I wasn't able to get my car in because of my work schedule and this last week we got dumped on with snow. In the meantime, I was outside in the snow, around my car and I noticed that my entire car was covered in snow (duh..lol) except for the bluetooth antenna.. it was like the snow didn't touch it. That told me that the antenna was emitting heat, meaning trying to boot up... so I took a pic of it for proof. So on Thursday, I took my car to the dealer again. I showed them that pic and they FINALLY believed me. They said they've never seen anything like that before. They took the car back, tested it and my theory was shot down. It wasn't the bluetooth. They wanted to keep the car for 2-3 days to figure out whats going on but I didn't want to be without my car for a week because of my work schedule. So I am taking it in on Wednesday morning after I get off work.

My question to you guys, what could be the issue? This will be battery #4 since July 2012. I've been asked if I use a laptop in my car.. that's a NO. Everything in my car is stock. I'm getting soooo frustrated. I'm to the point where I want to trade my car in. I absolutely LOVE my car but I'm to the point that if this issue doesn't get fixed then I'm getting rid of it. It's a guessing game if the car will start. I carry cables and a Power Pack with me at all times! Very unnecessary!

Please help!!

Thank you,
Toma

Here is the snowy pic I took of my antenna...

 

That's the navigation antenna. My money is on your handsfreelink. Our cars are famous for the HFL going bad. Turn it off. Either disable it or get it replaced. Try pulling the fuse first.

 

Im going to agree with MarcoNorthPolo , and say get your HFL fixed. 3 batteries failed on one of my current TL's. Replaced the defective booting hfl and NO MORE BATTERY issues.

 

im an acura tech here in my home town and i have replaced countless hands fee links(including my own on my 05 TL) due to them shorting out staying on and killing the battery. Easiest way to see if it is or not is to feel the plastic trim piece thats behind the 2 center map lights and the sun roof switch. Thats where your hands free link unit is located and if its warm then its staying on and u need to either disconnect it or replace it or else u will keep going thew batteries

 

Thank you so much guys! Just curious, how much is it to replace the handsfreelink? I'll be checking the trim piece soon!

 

HFL replacement is free and takes 5 minutes if you do it yourself. The fact that the HFL stays "booting up" and doesn't connect means the HFL is dead. I can't believe the stealership would tell you that isn't the problem. Never go back to that dealership.

And by the way, there's hundreds of posts on this. So next time just search HFL or "battery drain" on the boards and you'll find the problem.

Anyway, follow this video and disconnect your HFL to stop the batter drain.

 

The HFL module is @ $180, IIRC.

Owners should DIY rather than paying a dealership for an hour of labor because HFL replacement is very easy, but the part costs @ $180.

Also, owners can disassemble the bad HFL, pull out the circuit board(s), and bake the circuit board(s) in an oven for 9 min. @ 385*F to see if that resolves the HFL's problems-- it has worked for some owners, so they didn't buy replacement HFL units.

 

Sorry, I meant it's free to unhook it. I don't really use it so I'll probably leave mine undone. But yea, if you want to replace it'll be a few hundred.

 

I felt that trim piece that morning and it is warm.

I took my car in this morning and told them about it. The service guy told me that they disconnected the bluetooth and tested the battery last week and found that there is a different surge coming from somewhere in the car. So they are keeping my car for 2-3 days to figure it out. He obviously didn't believe me.

The service guy called me today and said that they worked on it for 4-5 hours and still can't find whats going on. My car is at a Honda dealership and he told me that they don't have the right manuals for my car so they've been on the Acura Tech Line a couple times today. Is he just feeding me a line of BS? I can't take my car to the Acura dealer because of the warranty I bought. I have to go to a Lithia dealership.. well, that's what I've been told....

Thanks again everyone for all your help. I do appreciate it.

 

And another thing, I've see soooo many posts on different websites about the HFL going out on all types of Acura's. If there's so many complaints about it, why isn't Acura doing something about it?

 

I was having the same issue and it was fixed by just unplugging the link (I dont use it). And if i were you i would just unhook it and see if it fixes the issue. It sounds like the dealer just wants to charge you diagnosis time that may not even be needed.

I talked to the Acura dealer up here in MN and they told me it would be 180.00 at least to diag the issue. I let them know there is a TSB for the HFL and they still said they would want to diag the car themselves... Dealers suck! I never payment anyone to work on my cars and this is why! Just unhook the HFL yourself and see if it fixes the issue. Its free to try.

 

Why don't you just believe what people say on here when there are hundreds of people saying their problem is fixed?

Just read what we said... if the Bluetooth doesn't connect and just says "booting up" then it means the Bluetooth is bad and needs to be replaced. Obviously the dealership isn't going to tell you it's in easy fix when they can just charge you for hours and hours of diagnostics.

 

The HFL is disconnected. I picked up my car Thursday morning and a friend and I disconnected it ourselves. So now, I won't be dealing with the battery dying anymore.

I guess I don't understand why Acura won't send out a recall on this issue... well besides the money they're making. I understand the HFL part costs $180 and you can do it yourself but why pay for something when Acura should be paying for it??

Anyways, thanks again everyone for the help.

 

who makes the HFL unit?

not Acura.

 

I don't understand why people automatically think that there should be a recall when something goes wrong on their car. I agree that it sucks that it costs this much to fix but in hindsight, when you buy a car with a lot of accessories then that just means there are more things to go wrong. Why assume that the HFL should last a hundred years though? Your car is 7 years old and things are going to fail. If you kept a cell phone for 7 years and it stopped working are you going to try to get a free phone from the company because the phone died?

Guess what... even if manufacturers have the technology to make products that last 30 years they want to make money by making us replace parts. That's the way life works.

I do agree that something like the faulty transmissions should be under a recall. Or any part that doesn't hold up to its expected use. But for little things like electrical components, you have to assume that they're going to go bad after a few years.

 

I'm sure things have changed over the last 10 years, hopefully for the best, but can't place Autozone and Advance hook their diagnostic system up to your car that shows the draw while the car is off? Wouldn't you be able to tell is the HFL, or something else, is drawing from the battery with the car off?

 

you have to check voltage with a multi-meter.

a good battery will show 12.something volts when the car is Off.
from here, you can find the culprit by tracing or looking for something that's drawing from the battery.

 

I took it to Autozone.. according to the guy that hooked it up, everything checked out fine

 

I was just wondering. I've read a few other sites that acura owners asked the same question so I thought I would ask here... its alllll good!

 

Guess that's both good and bad news. The only other thing I can think of is either a bad starter (have you noticed any difference in starts) or a bad alternator. Check the connections on each for rust,oil, corrosion. Could be a case where they work correctly most of the times (hence the good tests) but strain the battery at random times.

 

The HFL was disconnected this last week and so far it's been starting... Only time will tell I guess... lol