escheib

Hey everyone. So, I'm new here and I'm that stereotypical girl who doesn't have a clue about cars. With that being said, I'm here in hopes of finding out why the battery in my 2013 TL would be mysteriously draining.

I was involved in a fender bender at the end of June. The damage was minimal; I needed the front fender replaced and a new driver's airbag. No other problems were noted or made aware to me by the shop that did the collision repair.

I finally got my car back with the repair completed 2 weeks ago. The first night I had it, I was cleaning the inside of the windshield before having to go to work(3rd shift) because it was filthy from them replacing the airbag and I couldn't see out of it. I had the 2 dome lights on for maybe 5 minutes so I could see while I was inside cleaning it. Then a message came up on the notification screen telling me to check the ABS system. This happened once before when I left the stereo on too long and my battery died. I tried to start the car and the battery was dead. My boyfriend jumped it so I could go to work.

I noticed for the next week that it sounded reluctant to start when I'd turn the ignition, but it would still start. Then this past Saturday night I was leaving for work and my car wouldn't start. I borrowed my boyfriend's car to get to work. He jumped my battery so I could go to work last night(Sunday), then the battery was dead again when I tried to leave work this morning. A friend gave me a jump so I could leave and I took it right to Advance Auto Parts to have the battery tested. Made the mistake of turning the car off when I got there and the battery immediately died again. They tested it and said the charge was extremely low and the battery was probably shot because of the shop not grounding something properly when replacing the air bag. Jumped it again and took it straight to the dealership that did the repair. They tested the alternator and said it was fine, the battery is not holding charge because it's completely shot. They said there is nothing they could have done when replacing the fender and airbag that would have caused a short or unconnected wire. I want more opinions on the whole situation because the dealership already screwed me once when they had my car the first time and I don't trust what they're telling me.

Could the accident have caused some kind of connection to the battery to be jarred loose? I don't want to find out after replacing the battery that there's some other reason it's being drained and end up going through another battery. Any ideas?

Takehold66

Just my opinion but I don't think the accident has anything to do with it. The batteries in the TL are not great. Mine died after 2 years. Many here have had similar problems with the batteries not lasting long. Your is at least 3 years old and you did run it down once or twice so I would say the problem is the battery. Go to Auto Zone and get a Dura Last Gold. You should be good for at least 4 years.

csmeance

Typical car batteries are Lead Acid, and once they are discharged it's impossible to get them back to a full charge. The more you charge and drain the battery the worse it gets.

Your first task is going to be to replace the battery. You can buy the battery online (cross shop and look for coupon codes) and pick it up instore and it's usually a free installation. If you want to save some $, bring the BF and some tools along and you can change it in the parking lot, very easy to do

I like to purchase AGM batteries (twice the price, twice the lifespan) because of how durable they are. I got mine from pepboys with a 35% off coupon found online for around $150.

Once you have the new battery installed you'll have to check and see if there is something draining the battery.

You have to perform a "parasitic draw" test. You'll need a multimeter (shows volts, amps, etc). I recommend you get one with alligator clips at the end!
You'll attach the meter to the battery (red cable from meter to positive/red on battery) and the black wire from the meter will go to the car's wire that was previously connected to the battery. Turn the meter on and go to miliamps mode on the meter.

Close all the doors, hood and trunk, lock the car and take a look at the meter. It should be around 200mA right after you lock the car. After 10-15 minutes of the car being locked, it should be under 50mA on the meter.

If it stays above 50mA after 10-15 minutes of the car being locked you have an electrical device drawing power with the car off. To figure out what it is, pull a fuse out of the fusebox and repeat the parasitic draw test. If it does not drop below 50mA with a fuse removed, replace it and remove the next fuse until you find the circuit causing the issue.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

not sure if the 4G TL's suffer from the same HFL (hands free link) parasitic battery draw that the other Acura's have.
check to see if HFL is working and not stuck in a boot-loop. an alternative test would be to place your hand on the HFL unit above to see if it's warm. would indicate that it's always drawing power.
lastly, you could check with a multimeter

escheib

Thank you both for your insight. The dealership installed a new battery so I'll see how things go with this one. If the stock batteries aren't very good then you're probably right that it was due to crap out anyway. I'll be back if I encounter any other issues. 😃

escheib

It was probably a combination of the fact that it was an older battery anyway, me accidentally running the battery down about a week prior to getting in the accident, then the car sitting at the shop for a month without the engine being started, and leaving my dome lights on too long. I hadn't had any issues with the battery before all this and I don't know if the previous owner of the car might have run the battery down on occasion as well. It leads me to believe it was just the end of days for my battery and not caused by a parasitic draw from something else.

thoiboi

winner winner chicken dinner
Sounds like you found your problem..