robarsan

I still have the original battery, '06 RL @ 42K miles. There have been numeous posts that 4 years is about the limit so I'm curious what symptons people have seen before the battery died.

The driver 1 settings won't engage now unless I physically press the button. My fob batteries were replaced a few weeks ago so is it symptomatic of a weakened car battery? My vehicle inspection is next month and I'm wondering if I should just ask them to replace the battery. TIA

TampaRLX-SH

That was my 1st symptom (MEM 1 & 2) not engaging.

The second symptom was my telescoping wheel not fully positioning or retracting.

Then,,,,,*click, click click*. Dead battery. I was 2 or 3 weeks from the MEM 1 & 2 issue until the battery surrendered.


Some have reported XM issues and erroneous warning lights with weak batteries as well.

db22

I thought that there was a diagnostic screen for battery/volts in the 3 button salute?

KB1Spec

iTrader: (4)

My battery is soon to be replace too. 19XXX miles and its an 08 RL

getakey

yup - those are the symptoms plus the non-telescoping wheel as Tampa says
Mine went on like that for 6 weeks before I suspected battery. Luckily got it changed before it went dead

robarsan

Thanks for the replies. Three weeks to go until my service appointment. Hopefully the battery will hold out until then.

MaxAlexand

I left my car at the airport for a few days @ 0-5 degrees, when I came back, it cranked slowly, but fired up. Then, the next afternoon, after driving about 50 miles then sitting 9 hours at work - I walk up to the car and notice the sunroof is not fully closed. Looks like someone bumped the switch to retract the roof, but then stopped. Seemed odd, but I figuered I bumped it while raising the rear shade. Once I got in the car, I hear wind noise, and notice the drivers window is down about 3/4", no, ALL windows are down 3/4"! WTF! The car started fine, so I hit the switch to raise the windows on at a time, they all went DOWN about half way, then fully closed. That was 3 weeks ago, and nothing since. Just seems like she doesn't crank over as strongly as before. Anybody ever experience that?

robarsan

Sounds to me like a key fob mis-hit. If you unlock the car with the fob button, release and hold the unlock button again.....it will open all the windows and the moonroof and will stop opening as soon as you release the button. When you manually closed the windows, maybe they were still in the cycle mode (they went down half way before coming back up). I could be wrong but that is the only scenario that makes sense to me.

rlerman

I have an 05 with an original battery. A few weeks ago the steering wheel would not telescope all the way when I shut the car off. I normally drive 12 miles, then the car sits all day, then 12 miles home. After a longer 2 hr drive, the steering wheel began telescoping again. Seems on short trips the alternator doesn't have time to recharge the battery fully...suspect this only happens on the older batteries. BTW, had my battery tested when I had the brake fluid changed a few weeks ago and it passed.

getakey

Where did you have it tested? I know there are different types of tests. Mine passed a simple voltage test, but failed more complex load test.
I think it is rare to have an 05 original battery still good. From what I noticed on the forum, most 05 batteries started to fail 3rd/4th year. Mine failed in year 3.

rlerman

it was a load test, think it came out at 440 out of 580 CCA, which equates to a pass. Car starts fine, no hesitation. Guess I'm one of the rare ones. Date on battery is from 05 so I know it's original. of course, now that I've said how great my battery is, it will fail.

Treblig

Has anyone gone with an Optima battery when it was time to replace?

scottj

Just so you'll have company I'll hex myself and chime in, too. My 05 is still on the OEM battery. It seems a bit tired when the temp is in the teens but overall is holding up amazingly well.

zRLmarine

i replaced mine about a month and half ago, the only sympton i had was that my XM radio would go in and out, and then it stopped working altogether. my dad has an 04 TL, and this car gave him no symptons whatsoever, just died on him completely. i bought the acura battery $116 but u get the 100 plus month warranrty of whatever it is.....

gcook

my telescoping steering wheel stopped working.. it go in and never come out unless I manually brought it out.

medrxman

Why fool around. Rule of thumb replace every 4 years(5 at the most)

rlerman

Well, I am going to bite the bullet and replaced my original 05 battery tomorrow. I had it tested a few weeks ago and it passed, but there is now no more blue in the indicator window on the battery and that's not good. My dealer is running a special $80 for the battery plus install, which i will do myself in the parking lot while I'm there. You have to turn in your old battery or they charge you an additional $12.

robarsan

My service appt. is tomorrow for fog light replacement, state inspection ....etc. I am having them just check the battery. If they need to replace it, they quoted $160 for the 7-year battery with installation. Is that the same battery they are quoting you for $80?

rlerman

I don't know, but they didn't tell me about the special, saw it on their website for $80 plus install after I called them. The price they quoted on the phone was $109 plus install...I'm hoping they will still give me the battery for $80 even though I don't need them to install it otherwise its off to Walmart for the Everstart for $75.

Here's a link to the coupon, maybe you can show it to them and they'll honor it...

Scroll to the bottom...
http://www.precisionacura.com/specials/parts.htm

robarsan

Thanks for that info. 100 month warranty ~ 7 years, must be the same battery. I'll show them the special that your dealer is advertising and shame them into knocking down the price if I do need to replace the battery now.

BTW, you may still get the battery for the same price, but if the dealer doesn't do the install I think that affects the warranty.

lausy

I just brought my 06 in yesterday. My symptoms were the tilt not coming out all the way, slow crank and XM radio going blank if the car sits a couple of days. They already tested it to be bad and it will be replaced under warranty.
They are also replacing both door handles and motor mounts. I'm not sure how or why the motor mounts failed, but looking at the TL forums, it looks to be a common thing. Since everything was still covered under warranty, I didn't question them.

rlerman

Replaced the battery today, 100 month warranty, 36 month free replacement. $80+tax, no issues with the warranty if you do it yourself as I did. I noticed immediately that the MID was brighter. Had to enter radio and nav codes and reset seat memory, other than that, it was a 30 min job.

robarsan

Right now I am in the middle of my service appt., as the state inspection failed due to "play" in one of the tie rods. Since I had already been waiting for an hour and a half, they gave me a 2009 RL as a loaner and they will call this afternoon when the car is ready.

First, the cracked fog lens that supposedly would fail inspection in fact is not included in the inspection critera. That would have been $240. I told them not to replace it. Different service managers different stories.

Second, the battery failed the CCA test and needs to be replaced. I was told when the appointment was made that the 4 year warranty on my battery had expired after I had given him the VIN number. The service manager I dealt with this morning said that my battery warranty is still good so I will get a new battery and tie rod at no cost.

robarsan

That's good you still get the warranty. I mentioned the install/warranty after reading this on the Acura site...

Acura Genuine Replacement Battery. Each includes a 100-month limited warranty (when installed by an authorized Acura dealer), 3 years free replacement and a prorated warranty for the balance of 100 months.

feeenux

...on my third battery ('05 RL purchased new). Most common problem was steering wheel and column wouldn't return to preset position...

robarsan

Thought this was worth mentioning. After reading over the service receipt, it stated that an OBDII scan was performed as part of the state inspection. The tech found a dropped code B1177 which is a "low voltage" warning. I thought when the ECU drops a code you're supposed to get some sort of warning. Evidently not.

Also wanted to give props to Prime Acura of North Hampton. I've seen negative views of the Prime dealerships in Mass but the dealership here in NH has been great. I brought a $25 coupon yesterday to the dealer because I thought I was going to be spending approx. $500. The coupon is good for any service over $75. Since it turned out that all the work was covered under warranty, the only cost I had to pay was the $50 inspection fee. The manager told the cashier to apply the coupon anyway so I only ended up paying $25. Just giving credit where credit is due.

lland

My steering wheel retracts O.K. but doesn't return to the "driver" position. '06 with original battery. Time to have it checked!

LL

lausy

That was my first symptom. I also experienced XM problems as well as slow crank when it was really cold. My service advisor insisted the wheel problem was normal but after they tested and changed the battery, all is back to normal.
I am a little concerned that the front motor mount had to be replaced. Even though it was covered warranty, wonder why it failed so early. I admit I tend to drive spirited at times, but you would think it would be engineered to do that!

Jackzilla

Just a FYI on battery failure symptoms. Our '06 RL began showing the steering wheel failure to extend and loss of seat memory symptoms last week. So, I decided to check the static battery voltage myself -- before driving 90 miles to the Acura dealer on a wild goose chase. Battery voltage (with engine stopped) measured 12.81 volts -- about as good as it can be. So, since the battery had removable caps, decided to check the fluid levels. Easy to do on front three cells, but required disconnection of battery to check the three rear cells. Last three cells on rear were slightly low, but not enough to make any real difference.

Long story short, after cleaning the battery terminals and reconnecting the cables, all symptoms of a failing battery disappeared. So it would appear, at least in this case, the symptoms were purely the result of dirty battery connections. Car starts fine now and no more failure of the steering wheel to extend to the set position -- or any other odd behavior.

Take it for what it's worth, but checking and cleaning the cables can be a lot less hassle than a trip to the dealer only to have them tell you the battery is OK.

neuronbob

Great suggestion, Jack! Thank you.

KES

Easy way to clean the battery terminals is with a can of coke. Pour it on and it cleans the terminals like magic.

triniexr

I parked my car for the winter and my battery is completly done. 05 RL Aspec with the original battery, 68,000km. I can't even unlock the car with the remote now. I trickle charged it and that didn't work. Im thinking of going with the gel pack batteries, this car has a lot of electronics in it which draws a lot of power.