The battery on my son's 2005 Acura TL with 150K is having difficulty maintaining a full charge. He replaced the battery himself the first time it had problems starting but after it wouldn't start a month later he'd took it to a shop who sold him another battery. A month later when the car wouldn't start again he took it to a different shop where they sold him yet another battery. Both mechanics said the alternator was charging. Well the car won't start again today and he's called me looking for advice. I'm not sure what to tell him. What else could it be if the alternator is charging? Could it be the starter even though there's never been a problem with it? I am not in Milwaukee so I can't help him much but since I bought the car myself brand new I know the vehicle history and I've never had a problem like this. Any insight would be much appreciated.

 

https://www.google.com/search?client...+battery+drain

There's been reports in the past of a battery draining happening at the HFL (HandsFreeLInk) If that module isn't working, I'd unplug it to prevent the drain. Check out the threads above.

Another culprit is the A/C relay being stuck on as well.

 

Wow. I've owned the car since mile 1 back in 2005 and had never heard about this problem. Surprised to see how much info there is online about it and the lawsuit. Going to tell him to disconnect the HFL and see if that helps. Thanks for bringing this to my attention.

 

Yes sir! Happy to help

 

just to add to this, I hope it is the HFL unit, but if it isn't just know somewhere in the car you have a parasitic draw. Though the alternator is charging the battery while the car is on, as soon as car turns off and battery isn't being charged something is draining the battery overnight. good luck sir.

 

Milwaukee?..as in WI?? I'm close.
Did the HFL-disconnect do the job? Mine are all unplugged.

 

HFL should be disconnected on all TLs at this point. Not worth damaging batteries. Luckily, costco has been a real champ about it.

 

Their batteries have gotten shorter and shorter warranties as of late.. now the best you can get is 36 months replacement (i had to replace one last month). The one i replaced had 6 months left (out of 42) so they pro-rated the current battery to 6 months as well


I will still buy from them, but just a heads up that they're getting a bit more conservative with the car battery warranties

 

OP, I think the parasitic drain is tolerable if you drive every day. But once the car sits for 3 or 4 days at a time the HFL drain will really kill your battery