So the TL (2011) will be 4 years old in April and with 17K miles on it the battery crapped out last night without any warning. It’s been starting and running fine and then my son goes to start it and it’s dead.

So I pull the battery, but now it’s close to 9:00 PM and I could only find an Advanced Auto still open. So I purchased one of their Optima Hi Performance battery’s with 720cca, dropped it in and all is well.

This is the second time this has happened to me with an Acura battery without any warning. The first time was when we had our 2005 MDX and right over the 3 year mark the battery dies while my wife is getting gas.. Drove it all day, she stops for gas and the MDX is dead.

That is when I first learned from service to have the Honda / Acura batteries checked right around the 3 year mark. So I had Acura load test it end of August during service and we were told told all was good.

It kills me, these cars warn us about everything, but yet when the battery starts getting weak there is no warning until you can’t start it. Fortunately my son was home when it happened so the only big deal was finding a store still open. So any of you out there with a 3+ year old battery in your cars have it checked before you’re left stuck without warning.

 

same thing happened to my 2012 TL... all good one day and the next morning all dead....only dashboard flashing....and silence
dealer replaced it under warranty...

 

Cold temp will significantly reduce the storage energy of an auto battery.

If the battery is already weak, cold temp could be that last straw.

 

I had more or less the same thing happen to me in my 08 TL Type S. OEM battery was 45 months old and was working fine, with no indication of issues or any warning. I parked my car on Friday night in the garage and it sat all weekend (we used the Mrs. MDX over the weekend). Monday morning the battery was dead, dead, dead. So dead, I could not open the car with my key fob. Had to open the car by using the key in the door. Put the key in the ignition, and got nothing - no dashboard lights, no starter clicking. It was as if someone had taken the battery out of the car. I jump started it with the MDX and and drove for about 35 mins. It did start on its own after about 4 hours of sitting off, but I drove straight to the dealer. They tested it and said it tested low and I had it replaced under warranty.
In terms of the cold impacting a battery, I absolutely agree but in my case it died in October in my garage.
2nd Acura battery is still working fine 39 months later.......

 

I just replaced the battery on my 2012 and it gave plenty of signs. For the first couple of days, MID displayed "low battery" followed by "replace battery" on the third day. I was pleasantly surprised that I got such warning in advance. However, I was not happy that OEM battery only lasted three years and less than 30K miles. Ironically, a week later I had to change battery on my wife's MDX at 5 year mark and 60K miles. MDX didn't give any warning, however. Cold climate did both in, I would suspect.

 

Lucky you, I wish I would have taken any type of warning.

At least I did back in Dec with my middle son's and my occasional daily driver 11 Accord (30K). The weather turned much colder and one morning I got the slow / weak cranking sound. It load tested weak so I changed it before we got stuck.

 

JT4 is your car still under warranty? I took my car to the dealership for a quick oil change and told them to also check my battery since it died on me once when i left my lights on for an hour. They replaced the battery at no cost..

 

Batteries are a pain! Acura just replaced mine on my 2012 TL under warranty. I never noticed any issues but they checked it and said it was bad. My 04 MDX burned through batteries every couple of years without any much warning. I replaced with OEM and Interstate and they both failed before their time. They just don't make them like they used too. With that said my Audi went 7 years, lol. They all claim a warranty but it's so difficult to get it done you just give up and buy one yourself. Acura was giving me $40 back on warranty (YAY!) but charging me $150 (BOO) to install it. It was a lot cheaper to just do it myself.


Sorry about the dead battery!

 

My dealer actually surprised me.
My car was at the dealer for T/C and tranny filter and the dealer checked and changed the battery under warranty without me even asking to check.

 

I think I am going to have one of the Optimas put in today.

Just to clarify - putting a non-OEM battery in doesn't screw with the battery management system does it? I didn't know if that system was meant to work with OEM batteries so it'll throw errors or something if a non-OEM battery is installed?

I assume not, but you never know!

 

^^^Just fyi, from what I've read recently...Optima batteries aren't what they used to be. Buy with caution.

My car gave me a slight warning before my battery crapped out last year. It basically just took longer to crank up at one point, then the next time it wouldn't start. I was fortunate that there was a security guard at my work driving by right then and they always have jumper cables.

 

Seen this posted more than once by more than one member. FWIW - I have always used Sear DieHards and have never been let down.

 

I had this problem and it took 2 dealer service departments and an Acura Master Tech to figutre it out after two dead batteries under warranty. What happens is that the homelink computer (expensive) develops an open after about one hour while on their amperage draw machine. Evey other dealer only tested it for a few minutes and it was fine. But after a while (and during i.e., the night) it would draw down the battery as it was drawing big time amps. The replacement of the homelink conputer solved the problem. The battery replacement only solved the symtom as it is fully charged. Sometime you can develop a bad homelink computer and bad battery as the battery is drawn down so much it can't recover froma charge. Hope this helps.