Hi, I've owned my 2012 TSX since late 2019. Bought from a dealer and it needed a new battery by May 2020 and I just assumed the battery that came in it wasn't too good. At first the new battery performed OK, but once cold weather hit again I began noticing a slower crank, so began purposefully driving the car much more often just to keep it charged. About 2 weeks ago it needed a hard jump to start. I drove it 100 miles then had the battery checked out. Checked out OK. Two days later, drove it 20 miles. Two days after that, took a short trip (prob 3 miles.) 5 days later, slow crank again. Frustrated, I take it into AutoZone and they check the battery out. They tell me it is within spec for its age (not peak, but tested as good) and that Honda just has an issue with their batteries where the cars really need to be driven every day to keep them charged.

I asked about a trickle charger and was told one could not be installed on a Honda battery. I'm at my wits' end with frustration. I do not want to have to drive the car every day when I don't need to go anywhere and not knowing whether the car is going to crank the next time I DO need to go somewhere is causing me a ton of anxiety.

If anyone has any advice I will be very grateful. Here are a few things I am wondering about:
1. Is a battery tender different from a trickle charger and could I hook one of those up to it? It has a charging dock that I never use.
2. The guy at Autozone told me NOT to replace the battery because the new one would eventually end up like the current one, testing at "normal wear and tear" spec. I'm thinking $150/year (how long this one took before it flaked out on me) would be worth it for peace of mind.
3. Jump pack? 2 weeks ago when I needed a jump, they guy tried to use one and it didn't work. He had to cable it to his truck and then gun the engine to get me going, so I'm not sure I'd have any better luck.
4. Is there a superior battery I don't know about that I can buy where the charge would not drain so quickly when the car is off? The one in it is a Napa Legend, 3 year warranty. I'll happily spend the money on something like an Optima if that would fix the problem.
5. It's hard for me to believe this is a thing with all Hondas/Acuras, since my last car was a 1998 Acura RL and I frequently let it sit for 2 weeks or more and never once needed a jump in the ten years I owned it (well once, when it really needed a new battery.
6. Could I hook up a switch to the battery to disconnect it somehow when the car is parked? Would that help? Keying in the radio code is easy enough.

I will be grateful for any advice anyone can give me. I just don't want to have to keep starting/driving this car every day. I am not very technically inclined. Also, I absolutely adore the car except for this one issue. Thanks!

 

Likely the bluetooth module not sleeping correctly. Pretty common on the TSX. Parasitic draw testing would confirm this.

 

I've run across that suggestion reading about battery drain in another thread, and was already planning to just go pull the bluetooth fuse this afternoon. I'm not technically inclined and don't own a battery monitor thing to check the draw but think I can probably follow instructions and with help of the manual find the bluetooth thing and just pull it. I never use the bluetooth. Thanks for weighing in and I will let you know if it works!

 

I believe the Handsfree Link Control Unit (Bluetooth) is attached to the passenger side undercover. You should be able to pull the undercover off by hand.

Then disconnect the 28P connector (large connector) from the side of the control unit. There should be a plastic tab on the connector, press down on the tab while pulling the connector out.

Passenger undercover removal

 

Thank you! This is exactly what I need except apparently I am too stupid to understand it. I loaded the picture of the panel you linked to into my phone and took it out to my car to see if I can get the thing off, but I can't seem to understand the diagram. Is it under the glove box or behind it? The diagram looks like it is behind the glovebox and that the clips are on top of the glovebox. However I looked at the panel just above the glovebox and cannot see anything resembling the clips in the diagram, it is just a solid chrome-colored plastic strip. Below the glove box there appears to be a plastic cover with some electrical stuff behind it, this appears to be just under the glove box though and not behind it as shown in the diagram. Should I be trying to remove that cover?

I also tried opening the glove box to look for access points but saw nothing, and the diagram doesn't seem to indicate that you access it from inside the glove box.

There is also a panel of fuses on the lower right. That is easy enough to get open but I'm pretty sure it is not in there, it just looks like fuses.

What am I not seeing? Thanks.

 

OK I am looking more closely at the diagram and maybe it is a bad diagram and not me. It is the location of the pin holders (C) on the diagram that is throwing me off. In the picture they appear to be above the glovebox. Are they really somewhere else (like behind the cover of the electrical panel thing underneath the glove box) and they just drew them there to show what they look like? I am going to go back outside and try to get the thing under the glove box removed and see if that makes sense. It looks only half attached anyway, like someone else removed it and did not put it back on properly.

 

Pin C goes into slots under the glove box area. Putting it back together is just aligning the pin and clips, then pushing it back on.

 

Done! YAAYYY! I feel like a rock star! I just removed the HCL module and disconnected the light. Is it OK to leave the light disconnected and do I need to do anything else if I do not want to replace the HFL module? THANK YOU!!!!!!! You are awesome and I cannot thank you enough.

 

You can leave the light disconnected; but, it is just as easy to plug back in the ambient lighting.

The HFL control unit could have just been left there; but, disconnected. Either way.

 

Thank you kind sir or madam. I am very very grateful. Hopefully this will improve my battery drain issues. Will post a follow-up after a week or so.

 

Great, let us know if the battery problem is resolved later.