Alain Dumesny

after loosing 3 batteries over 2 years and getting stranded once (thank god for costco replacement, only had to buy one) and not having HFL working couple year ago I came across the bake method - worked twice for 6-3 months, and 3rd time I dropped a chip (BGA) so gave over. I recall people still having issue with new board from dealer, so why waste $$$ - lived without BT for a while but I would like to get it back. Wend to dealer and they want $500 for part only! (07 MDX). Only seen for $400 online, not the $200 mentioned back in '15...
I joined the 2 lawsuits (never heard anything) against Acura - lame they don't fess up to known issue in a luxury car and want to charge $500-800 for it !

left bad taste in my mouth... at least my battery is good now.

Gsteele

I used Godin Technologies in Florida, cost $45 USD in total, included return postage.
The HFl was quoted here in Canada at $800CDN
Godin did an acid wash the baked it - it has worked perfectly for 5 months now.

jdmvette

Thanks for the tip on Godin, sent them an inquiry about this service.

dadsnave

Again, in circa ~2008 TLs, you can completely eliminate the entire HFL issue AND get the advantages of navigation with always-on, live traffic by replacing the factory radio for ~$400.

See posts starting back in February of this year -- including one with pix of console with unit installed.

UPDATE: The newest Pioneers feature WIRELESS Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. You don't even need to plug your phone in: phone in pocket/purse + start car = ready for voice commands for texting, phone, NAVIGATION W/LIVE-TRAFFIC, podcasts, etc. Only reason to plug in anymore is if phone needs charging.

Dudley3158

If we remove the fuse for the HFL will it stop the battery drain or do we have to remove the HFL unit?

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

I am fairly certain the HFL does not have a dedicated fuse; best of you just unplug the HFL.

osvaldo516

I just installed a 2010 TSX HFL unit into my 05 TL.
Previously I had upgraded to the 07/08 TL Type-S never had issues with it as for battery drain stuff.
But, testing options..... it works fine better and clearer sound when making calls so far

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

Hmmm, I hadn't considered whether later model HFLs from other Acura vehicles would work in our older TLs; thanks for the information.

Octane

Thanks for this info. Would the tsx hfl be plug and play in an 07/08 type s?

petulo

I followed these directions and it worked for me as follows. I did it first time and the unit worked instantly after reinstallation for about 2 months with no issues. After that it started to have intermittent lapses and it eventually stopped working in about 3 months. I did the same process again and it has been working for a few days with no issues. Let's see how long it lasts this time. The procedure is easy to do.

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

Wouldn't it just be a hell of a lot easier to simply put in a newer HFL which doesn't seem to have these issues? I know that's what I'll do if/when my HFL goes Tango Uniform.

90DegreesSouth

2004 Technical Service Bulletin TSB-05-020 states “a locked up HFL system will account for approximately 200mA of parasitic current draw”
2008 TSB-08-057 says “control unit has an internal problem, which creates a parasitic current draw of 250mA"

Yes, Acura has known about this problem since 2004!

2008 TL

I've got a 2008 TL Base w/Nav that's been through 3 new HFL units and the problem STILL persists. Somehow I've gotten by almost 3 years since the last battery replacement but now it's draining again. I personally see no proof that buying new ones of these fixes anything as I see no proof that they have fixed the problem in manufacturing.

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

Interesting, maybe an old one would work better. I bought my 2006 nearly three years ago and the HFL has worked the entire time with no battery drain issues.

thoiboi

Stop using it. it's Just get a bluetooth to Aux adapter and call it a day. Works way better and can stream music too.

Mars1000

Does anyone know where I can buy a HFL for a 2007 MDX FOR 180.00 like posted on here? Best I’m seeing is around 320.00

Superunknown

Got any more info on this? The connectors on the 04-06, 07-08, and TSX are all different.

Mars1000

I have a 2007 MDX. I’m just looking for a module that will work well and not break the bank. Any suggestions are where to get one or to get mine fixed? I got my car from the original owner and the module was unplugged. I’m assuming it is bad like the rest of them. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

amace

Easier? Probably. But there's also the fact that replacements are expensive. In Canada anyway, I was quoted $700 from the dealer. I see used ones on Ebay for Under $200.

I reflowed the solder using a proper hot air soldering station yesterday, and revived my HFL. It should be a more permanent fix than the baking method.

A hot air gun can also work, but a soldering station has variable heat controls and will give you better control over what you're working on. Definitely the way to go.

dadsnave

See my posts from Jan/Feb 2019.

UPDATE: You can now go CarPlay or AndroidAuto wirelessly for ~$400.

J Smith

We just bought our '08 this weekend and the PO unplugged the HFL due to battery drain. I'm going to try the baking fix, but if it doesn't work I guess I will have a good reason to upgrade the head unit for my wife.

DMZ

Stealerships would, for something that takes about 15 minutes tops.
.

stokesey

Do you have more info on this solution? 08 w Nav, looks like XM is connected to Aux input. Wondering about cost and difficulty. Thanks

I disconnected HFL within 10m of purchasing the car. I hate dead batteries

tpz76

If anyone is skeptical about doing the bake in the oven trick for the HFL, I baked mine out of my 08 TL-S and wouldn't ya know it, it works now! My phone still won't pair, but its a new iPhone and from what I've heard anything newer than iOS 10 or 11 won't link up to the 3rd gen TL HFL. Oh well, at least I got my voice commands back.

peter6

Time will tell. I baked mine and then it failed. Then I narrowed it down to bluetooth chip and did a reflow on that with air soldering station and flux, and again it worked for some time. Now my HFL is sitting somewhere in the trash.

Superunknown

2000s-era BGAs with RoHS-complaint solder are fundamentally flawed. You can re-flow the solder, but it will eventually fail again.

texsn95

I just did mine in my 08 (baked 12 min at 385 covered in foil) that of course had been unplugged from the previous owner. I got as far as telling the system a 4 digit code and to start the pairing process but they would never detect each other. Since this is old tech, does it have an issue connecting with the newer phones?

horseshoez

iTrader: (2)

Nope, my 2006 HFL unit has no issues connecting to my Pixel 3XL.

NBP04TL4ME

My 08 TL-S connects fine to my iPhone 12 Pro.

texsn95

Hmm thanks. Did you turn your bluetooth to pair before it asked for the 4 digit code or after? I was able to delete a previous profile so it's kind of working.. I have a Sony Xperia xz1 compact so maybe it's just a weird phone.

texsn95

Well my phone finally saw the HFL, paired it with the code, gave it a name, and said "setup complete".

I try to make a call and it says "phone not found", but when I go through the "list" and it says the name I gave it. I look at the bluetooth pairing page on my phone when it's trying to connect and it seems like the connection is dropping out, as it did during the pairing process sometimes. So there's not a stable connection...maybe I baked it too long! It's insane how prevalent this problem is that was never corrected over the years, like the dash.

Ah well it was worth a try. I may sell the car soon so that's why I started looking at this. It was my spare car when I had an E60 M5 but now have moved to an F10 which is quite a bit more reliable.

Curious3GTL

My car used to do that. I could get all the way to pair and it just never found the phone. Eventually it just failed completely and killed my battery.

Rick Feltman

Hello everyone, I hope this will help end some of you frustrations with the dead battery syndrome from the HFL. I had the same issue with my battery dying after sitting for two or three days. After 3 battery replacements I decided to search accurazine and quickly realized I am not alone with this problem. The HFL is the reason for the battery drain for most of the Acura cars. I disconnected the HFL and the problem was solved. But I could no longer use by Bluetooth and hands free commands which is not ideal. So I decided to dig a little deeper into the problem as I have a lot of knowledge on circuits and I use to work in car audio back in the late 90's. The first thing I looked for was a wiring diagram of the HFL gray plug. I found on the wiring diagram and there are two pins that give power to the HFL. Pin number 15 Gry/Blu which is a constant 12 volts and pin number 16 is Yel/Red which gives it 12 volts when you turn the key to accessory. I quickly realized my unit was warm to the touch even after the car has been parked in the garage overnight. My HFL worked fine but I had several mornings where my battery was completely dead and I had to jumpstart it.

I am using a 12 volt bosch relay which is acting like a switch to turn power on and off to HFL with the ignition. I believe the issue is the HFL circuit board is suppose to stay on 30 minutes after removing the key from the car, however the unit gets stuck on for some reason and drains the battery. So I though why not put a relay in that will open the circuit on the 12 volt constant wire so when the car is off the HFL is off. All I am doing is using the relay to switch on and off the gry/blu wire which is usually12 volts constant going to the HFL. You will no longer be able to keep using bluetooth once you remove your keys as it will turn off power immediately to the HFL. So either keep the car running or turn key to accessory when parked and finish your conversation before removing key. That is the only difference, but worth not having to worry about a dead battery in the morning or after a long day at the office. Ask me how I know?? Here is what I did to fix the problem and it worked. I hate cutting factory wiring but this fix is only cutting one wire and tapping into another. So you really are not hurting the wiring much at all.

1: Peel back the tape on the grey harness that plugs into the HFL. You will cut he Gry/Blu wire and leave about 3 to 4 inches of wire on the harness plug side. (disconnect battery as this wire is 12 volt constant and you do not want to touch any
metal in the car with this wire)
2. You will need 20gauge primary wire and cut 4 12" pieces of wire to wire up a bosch relay.
3. Extend the wire you just cut by crimping or soldering one 12" wire to each side of the wire you cut to extend both sides of the gry/blu cut wires 12".
4. You will need a 12 volt bosch relay and connect the gry/blu wire on the car side you just extended to pin87 on the relay. The gry/blu wire on the harness side you extended will plug in to pin 30 on the relay.
5. You will need to splice or t tap another 12" wire into the yel/red wire (you do not cut the factory yel/red you just tap onto this wire) and plug this wire into pin 86 on the relay. This energizes the relay so the gry/blu wire can connect or disconnect with the igntion..
6. the last connection on the relay is pin 85 which you will run a 12" wire from pin 85 to any ground in the car( I used one of the bolts that hold the HFL panel in for my ground and it works great)
7. I would test and make sure you have 12 volts on pin 30 when you switch the ignition on and it should read no voltage when you switch the ignition off.
8 I then used electrical tape and taped up the wires and located the relay to the drivers side of the map, You will see a metal strip you can move to push the relay by the visor. Make sure all wiring is covered with electrical tape and away from any sharp metal edges.
9 plug in the HFL harness and put the car back together. You will no longer have any dead batteries and the HFL will work as long as the ignition is on.

This should work on 07 08 acura TL, you will have to get a diagram for the 04-06 as the harness is green so it might be different pins on the harness for the 12 volt constant and 12 volt accessory. Keep in mind my HFL works, it was causing a battery drain. if your HFL doesn't work at all this will not fix that problem. This is only for the battery drain.

Another thought I had was just cut the gry/blu wire and the wire that is on the harness side tap into the red/yellow and cap the car side of the gry blu so it will not touch any metal and short out. My concern is now you are relying on only one circuit powering the unit. Putting a relay in is using both circuits like the engineer originally designed, we are just switching off and on the constant now with the ignition.

Make sure you really understand what you are doing with the relay. Wiring the relay wrong could cause a dead short and possibly damage circuits in you car. Do this modification at your own risk. I verified all my connections with a meter to make sure it was reading the voltage correctly.

ghuns

My HFL hasn't worked since we bought the car several years ago, but never drained the battery. The system functioned properly, right up until you tried to pair the phone and would never connect. I never cared much, but since we can now get ticketed for using a cell phone, I figured I'd try to fix it.

I pulled the main board and gave it a 10 minute, 385 degree bake in the oven. Took it out to the car and plugged it in without completely putting it back together, phone paired right away. I called the wife to tell her how awesome I was. She agreed, and I started reassembly.

As I was putting the boards back in place, I looked down at my phone and noticed it was no longer connected to the HFL. I tugged on the connector that was plugged into the board and saw the HFL reappear on my phone. Something was obviously still loose. I pulled the boards again and this time baked them both at 385 for 10 more minutes.

When I put them back in my phone paired right away and no amount of wiggling and jiggling made it lose connection. It's been working for a week now. Fingers crossed it stay that way.

B Sc

I just performed this lead removal (not board removal or bake, not keen on that part) and confirm...

On my Canadian TL I lost the voice command feature. I was just sort of getting used to using it for temp control and some more of the esoteric commands that would take more than a single button push to reach, too. Bummer.

BUT.

I can live without it and / or add it to the list of 'have to put up withs' that this thing seems to have accumulated (seat memory NEVER worked and there was never a warranty provided free module replace to first owner apparently, sunroof rack gears near worn out cant open sunroof any more, and the very common and 'popular' Navi system FLAW where the time clock cant be adjusted and the GPS time clock is dated to many years ago, also cant adjust....)

No idea what this other 'only in Canada' feature is...

IF I was smart about things, I wouldve done a parasite draw test BEFORE the pull and then after, to see how much of it was solved by pulling off the lead. Havent gotten to the end of now five pages of this thread, anyone else do a before/after with engine both on/off?

This AGM battery I got was not cheap and allegedly one of the best... and less than a year in its been drained to the point it had trouble starting once or twice already.
Alternator test shows alternator is doing its job fine, but even with that the battery is less VDC than ideal when cranking ... so not sure but the battery might have been damaged too much to recover already.

The other common leech being the A/C module, has anyone WANTED to give AC up by disabling that?? Not me!

ghuns

Worked perfectly for a month.

Today was our first 80 degree, sunny day. When I got in the car after work it was HOT. I notice after a few miles my phone wasn't connected. I gave the overhead console a good smack and poof, the phone connected. A little later I hit big ole springtime in Indiana pothole and poof, phone disconnected. Another whack to the overhead brought it right back.

This morning it, cool in the lower 50s, phone stayed connected the whole drive in to work.

ROM0716

Hello everyone. I am new on this site and I have been following several threads. There are so many of them that I can't even make heads or tails about anything anymore. I own a 2005 Acura TL AT with 150K miles and I haven't experienced any of the problems you guys been talking about, other than the fact that my original battery (stamped dated June 2004) finally died on me this past February. Must have been one heck of a battery!! I replaced it and, of course I had to input the Navi and Radio codes. Everything worked like before. As a matter of fact, I have been using my HFL for a long time without any problems. I was able able to sync all my iPhones, including the 11 Pro without any issues. The only problem I experience happened after Daylight Saving Time when my clock didn't update, my Navi clock went to 0:00 and my calendar froze at January 1, 2002. None of the adjustments buttons worked. My Navigation was working and tracking but I lost all my saved addresses and even my "Go Home" address. Several members posted, that by upgrading your existing Navigation Screen and DVDROM Drive, with parts from a 2007-2008 TL model, would solve the problem. I did just that. However, there are a few functions, on the new upgraded Navi Screen, that do not work and one of those, is the ability to export your phone's contact list into the Navigation System; also you can search and find places of interest and have the Navigation System dial the number for you. For that, you will also need to upgrade your HFL to a 2007-2008 model. And I understand the connector on an existing 2005 HFL is different from that of a 2007-2008 HFL connector.
I was wondering, has anyone here attempted this conversion? I am asking for some kind of guidance. Like I mentioned before, the upgraded Navigation Screen is working great and as an added bonus, I was able to use the latest Navigation Maps (White DVD 2021), plus I now have the ability to have a backup camera (still waiting on that)
Thanks for any information you can share with me.

David_BNSF

iTrader: (1)

Has anybody synced to their HFL with one of the iPhone 12 models?

NBP04TL4ME

Not sure this belongs in this thread, but yes I have. I had an iPhone 12 since Nov and haven't had any issues.

DomGSR-T

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the information, I have a question on this, is there a way to get access to the gry/blu wire closer to the fuse box? Would be easier to connect this wire to a switched circuit... Anyone knows if it's possible?