Time to fix: ~20 minutes
Money saved (hopefully): ~$800

1. Remove the HFL, as so (not my videos, but good):

2. After you have removed the HFL circuit board, use a heat gun (or hair dryer) to gently melt the solder. This is a common fix for the PS3, so have a look here for how to do this without destroying your Handsfree link circuit board:

3. Wait until the board has cooled a bit (i.e. doesn't hurt to hold it), and reinstall.

4. Enjoy Hands-free Link once again. Spend $800 elsewhere.



Further notes: If you are using a hair dryer, you will have to wait MUCH longer and hold the dryer much closer to the board. I personally recommend getting a heat gun, and then you'll have the perfect tool for toasting marshmallows, crusting creme brulee, and starting fires anywhere.

Here's a great one (click me)

Here's a great one (click me)

Enjoy!

 

This concept is already being utilized as a fix with people baking their boards in the oven for more even heat distribution.

 

Figured I wouldn't be the first to think of something, but thought I'd share anyway baking might actually be better... but not as fast.

 

The HFL unit itself costs about $180 new, I don't think the dealer would charge you 6 hours labor for replacing it lol.

 

Not sure if you have another model year or what, but most posts I've seen say that the stealership wants $700 parts and the rest labor. But good on you if you can get it for cheaper

 

You must be going by online prices of dealers that haven't updated. I've checked about 3-4 dealers in my area and another 2 out of state and all are no more than $200-$225. It used to be that much, but it's come down a lot.

 

there is some confusion in this thread.
HFL units are ~$200 brand new from dealer. the only people who have it for $500+ are canadians. it's got something to do with an extra feature I believe, but canadians have tried the US HFL model with absolutely no issues. never heard of $800 though, it must be $500 for the canadian part, and $300 for labor.

Also, I've heard about this "heat gun method" but in my opinion, its still not the correct way. If it's solder that broke loose, do it correctly and use a soldering iron, they are not expensive....

 

Most of the components on the board are SMT (Surface Mount Technology) and are actually soldered through an oven. Solder paste is screened onto the board, the components laid on top and then run through the oven. The oven brings it through a specific heat profile that soaks the solder to a certain temperature to outgas all the flux, then goes through a liquidous state followed by a cool down that hardens the solder.

The heat gun is essentially the same but sped up.

 

yeah when dealing with micro chips, a soldering iron is like taking an axe to it when a scalpel is needed. It's the same concept as baking GPUs, "towel" trick for the xbox 360, etc.

 

as a repair tech for 25 years (component level) I have no issues using a heat gun. it is faster and works over larger areas and will give the same results as a soldering iron when used properly

 

Interesting, thanks for the info.

 

Mine has been dead for over a year. I unplugged it a long time ago so it would stop killing my battery. After reading a few of these DIY's I decided to try the oven method. 385 Deg for 10 minutes after preheating. Let it cool for 30 minutes, installed and it works perfectly. We will see for how long. I wish I tried this sooner as it has been riding around unplugged all this time.

 

Either way, thanks for sharing!

 

So you can disconnect the HFL unit and stop the madness of a frequently dead battery? No other effects except the Bluetooth doesnt work, correct? Don't use the HFL anyway.

My Wife's 2006 TL has been having the battery drain problem and I googled and found this info. It is a Godsend!

 

Just curious...has anyone tried this method and has it worked longer than a few days??? Oven method or heat gun, blowdryer? I have had mine out for 2 years because of battery drain.

 

There's more to the Canadian unit? I just bought a new unit from the US and I don't seem to have lost anything, although, maybe I just haven't discovered it yet.

Honestly, with the pricing you posted ($200 in US and $500 in Canada), that to me just seems like normal Canada vs US pricing, lol. Canadians get gouged like you wouldn't believe for everything. I haven't bought parts, besides oil filters, in Canada in about 8 years.

 

That one user, flint, says it worked with the oven method but maybe he'll be back to post an update.

I just took out the HFL unit since it was killing my brand new battery in just 1 week.

I have done this oven method with my laptop video card (only worked for a couple weeks before the video card died anyway).

So another question I have is the bottom larger board has the big green plastic harness plug, which would be safe in a 385F oven for 10min?

 

Hi there everyone,

I've been browsing this forum for the past couple months now, and I must say, every question I've had (so far), has been pretty much been answered on here! Great help when your trying to do some mods to you car. I am still kind of beginner when it comes to mods, but I am proud to say I tried this mod today, literally just finished 5 minutes ago, and it was successful!

I was having the same problem as others. HFL kept saying booting up. As far as the battery draining goes, I didnt experience this problem, but I think I may have a solution for it. When you go to the HFL option and press the select button, it then prompts you booting up, if you don't press anything, this message will continue to stay there. All I did was press the select button again so the screen says "HandsFreeLink", and thats it! I didn't experience any battery problems, and my HFL has been down for about 2.5 weeks.

Again I'm not sure if this is a solution, just a guess, worth a shot anyways!

As far as repairing it goes--------I did everything the way the video explained, and used a blow dryer for the heating part. Heated the unit for about 12-15 minutes, waited 15 minutes for it to cool down, and then popped it back in and paired my phone!

I am curious to see how long this solution will last,
I don't use the HFL that often, but it does come in handy. Thanks again for this post, one of many that has helped me in the short time I've owned my TL (About 4 months now)

 

^Thanks for the update! Looks like the heating method does work. But for me I'd rather avoid the hassle and I'm not gonna use the HFL function anyway so better to save headache for me. Maybe down the road when I'm about to sell the car or something I'll try to get this fixed.

 

For cars with navi the voice commands for everything is disabled by disconnecting the HFL.
When my HFL failed I had just installed an expensive lightweight battery and the constant drain and recharge ended up killing the battery. I thought the drain was from other work on the car and went for a year with the HFL draining the battery. I would not leave a failing HFL connected, since it could kill the battery at any time.

 

Thanks for the idea.

Question: what type of problems does this solve?

My HFL will not sync properly, essentially the dashboard readout screen freezes during the HFL and Phone pairing process. (using an Iphone 5s, last tested on a 4s). Is this a problem with the HFL Circuit board or perhaps some other issue?

Correct me if i'm wrong but the HFL should work with any bluetooth device, yes?

 

It should work with *most* bluetooth phones, but there's always a chance of a failure in the pairing process. I can tell you that my 5s pairs fine with my HFL.

It could be your phone, though, and not the HFL. The iPhone implementation of Bluetooth is hit and miss, and I find that restarting the phone before I pair it with a system is always a good precaution.

 

just got a wholesale price quote from Acura of Santa Monica ... $649 for the part..

retail $900!!!! Was offered the Wholesale price and said kthxbye.

Problem: HFL Freezes during pairing, unable to pair any device.

Attempted Resolution Heat-gunning it right now... will update with outcome when its installed

 

^make sure you move the heat gun slowly in a circle until you visibly see the solder melt (it will get shiny quickly. once you do that, let it cool off and then spray it with some circuit board cleaner from radio shack.

 

If the heat gun/baking doesn't work, my response to your post in the other thread was:

AZ vendors oemacuraparts.com and acuraoemparts.com (both are on-line parts departments of Acura dealerships) sell [HFL units] for $180-$230, with the price depending on interior color and model year, IIRC.

Also check Sierra Acura in Alhambra-- they were quoting $230 when I got an HFL from Acura of Peoria (oemacuraparts.com) for @ $190.
IIRC, Santa Monica Acura was quoting $600+ for an HFL back then too. It has good prices on wiper blade inserts and some other stuff, though.

 

Wiper blades prices lol

thanks for that info. Will look into those vendors asap. Those prices are way more reasonable.

The heat gun technique did not resolve the problem

 

Will i've looked into the prices a bit further

I have part # 04397-SEP-305ZA from Acura

part # not found at Acura Parts @ AcuraOEMparts.com - Genuine Acura OEM Parts from Delray Acura

$512.13 ~ Acura Parts | OEM Acura Parts | Factory Acura Parts

$498 ~ 04397-SEP-305ZA - SET HFT *NH528L* - Bernardi Acura Parts & Accessories

$484 ~ SET HFT *NH528L* | Genuine Acura | 04397-SEP-305ZA

$502 ~ 04397-SEP-305ZA - Acura SET HFT *NH528L*

 

help me find the killer deals you referenced !!!

 

Uh, here's my HFL unit ("telephone assy, hands free") for $192 from Acura of Peoria: TELEPHONE ASSY., HANDS FREE *NH528L* (MOON LAKE GRAY) for 2005 Acura TL|39770-SEP-A02ZA.

Acura Parts for Less has it for $182.

I think you are using the superseded (prior) part number-- the HFLs were given new part numbers several years ago.
Just do a search for "telephone assy, hands free"-- it'll be part of the "interior light" in the "electrical" section, and there will be a diagram of the parts.

BTW, call Santa Monica Acura with the correct part number and you might get a better price.

 

Mine's been dead for probably a year now. Now I just talk over AUX, but try avoid phone while driving altogether. My dealer quoted me around $600 parts and labor.

 

I have a problem board and wonder if anyone has actually hooked up a 12V source and measured the current drain? What is it supposed to be with a good board, and what are the bad boards measuring?
Rmb550

 

I actually did this a few days ago. Seems to work like 80% of the time. Somtimes when i turn my car on it wont work. Turn the car off for a few seconds turn back on and phone and hfl connect.

 

for the HFL, no but that leak in your blinker fluid line is not a cheap fix
lol JK

 

Barely used mine when it was working, just unplugged it for now. I'll get to it one day...

 

So I was having this battery drain problem about a year ago. I unplugged the HFL unit and put everything back. Recently I've been having battery problems again. Last week, my car had a sheet of frozen dew over it, except for a spot around the top of the windshield where the overhead light and HFL unit is. The battery was completely dead after sitting <48 hours without running.

Does anyone have any ideas? What would still be running up there with the HFL unplugged? I haven't pulled fuses and checked for current draw yet. I just wanted to see if anyone had any more wisdom on this.

 

Are you sure you disconnected the HFL and not something else? I had the same parasitic draw problem with mine after 2 baking attempts and just pulled the whole HFL unit. Seems like yours is still getting power...

 

I knew that it had to be the culprit. In my laziness, I left the unit in there and just unplugged it. I figured the clip must have just slipped back in when I closed everything up.

I opened it back up, and sure enough it was plugged in. It wasn't enough that the plug snapped back into place, but it was in enough I guess that the pins were making contact and it was still getting power.

I pulled it out and baked it at 385 for 10 minutes as flint suggested earlier in the thread. I let it cool about 15 minutes and reinstalled it and paired my phone immediately! It's sat for multiple days twice now without running, and we've had very cold temps down into the negative Fahrenheit temps. I can say the battery would have been completely depleted with 95% certainty before the HFL fix, but this time it fired right up without hesitation! We'll see how long it lasts, but it saved me $200 for now, and I have bluetooth capability back that I've been without for the past year or two.

I tried this without success on my PS3 a couple years ago, but a PS3 motherboard is a little more complicated than this HFL board. Thanks, guys!

 

I have a 2005 MDX. I followed the video instructions and baked the HFL for 8 minutes at 350. I did place it on aluminum foil. After it cooled, my iPhone 5 connected with no problems! The only expense incurred on my end was the $10 cost for a Torx screwdriver set from Advance Auto.

Thanks for taking time to post the video.

 

Need to try this fix! Hopefully it works for me as well.

 

I had to bake it twice as did several others on this post. The first time only lasted about a day. So far, the second "bake" has lasted over a week.