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2006 EX battery drain - bluetooth

Battery 
16K views 19 replies 7 participants last post by  law000 
#1 ·
Hi all,

I had this issue with battery drain caused by the bluetooth module quite a while back. There wasn't any info on this site of others experiencing this issue then, and I had Honda take a look. In the end after about 2 weeks and after being sold a battery that I didnt need and replacement of the micu which again wasnt linked, Honda garage finally narrowed the drain down to the HFT module. I had already been charged approx £400 in total and they simply unplugged the module and gave me back the car.

Recently I've seen so many other 2006 Ex owners have the same complaint.
Is there a way for us to get as much info together on people who have had this problem and present it to Honda UK who denied this being a fault.
 
#2 ·
It might be hard getting them to consider a fault from a 7 year old car, and it does appear that it is mainly 06 models with the HFT fault.

My car was 2 days old, and after reading info on here I just pulled the module and replaced the battery myself (as I couldn't rely on the old battery getting back to full charge, and warranty explicitly says it does not cover batteries)

I phone the garage, explained what I had done and that I wanted it logged, mainly so it doesn't affect my warranty
 
#3 ·
Bought a 06 plate 2.2 iCTDI EX-GT just before Christmas 2012 and it somehow still had the original battery on it.

After a month or two I finally decided was best to get it replaced during a service, due to occasional laborious starts.

Ever since then I have had a real bad parasitic battery problem (3 days to flat from fresh charge on new battery). I took it to Lings Honda and requested the firmware upgrade, which they said they did. The mechanic also performed some test with a laptop which failed the third stage and as such he says indicated I needed a new high pressure fuel pump.

This would cost over 2000 pound (same recon item on ebay for 200) + labour. I don't have this kind of spare cash and don't feel this "discovered problem" will solve a parasitic battery drain anyways.

I took it to a local trusted garage mechanic who tested for any drain, finding one and determining it was the car alarm. He will not disconnect it for me however and has told me to go back to Honda.

Frankly I would prefer to simply disconnect the alarm and see if this makes a difference, failing that I want to locate and disconnect the HFT module.

The car is taking a lot of turnovers to start when warm on occasions so I think I am looking at two problems.
 
#4 ·
If you have a multimeter it is easy to find drain.
The HFT module is by your right knee behind the dash. Simply pop the side panel off by sliding a spatula in it, then start unscrewing the revealed screws for the bits holding the bottom panel on, and the module is the black box that you will see as soon as you start doing this. It is easier to unscrew the box first to disconnect it due to the plug position.
 
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#5 ·
Thanks for the heads up on the HFT location. Don't have a multimeter myself but the local mechanic did the tests and found it was the alarm system.

I have read on here possible indications that the alarms siren has a a Li-Ion battery that once depleted can possibly cause a parasitic drain.

I am convinced that disabling these two things will stop the drain. While I can live without HFT (I don't do phone conversations while driving, period) I would rather not lose my alarm.

Am hoping some wise minded soul may know how I can simply replace the siren part without having to outlay the 500 odd quid for an entire alarm module.

I love Honda rides but daaaaaaamn, they don't half sting the wallet once your outside of warranty.
 
#6 ·
Not saying the local mechanic is wrong, but in my search to find what was causing my drain I read lots of threads on here and other civic forums and most of the time I saw MICU (which may not necessarily be the *cause* of the problem) and the HFT module. Only a few times have I seen people say about the alarm, but I never saw detailed information about the solution to the problem.
Where abouts in the UK are you?
 
#7 ·
South Norfolk atm but ready for a move..

I went to a Honda garage and they confirmed it had not had the MICU upgrade and say they did it for me. Still have the drain.

Have a few day trip ahead of me tomorrow for new potential work (thankfully requires long drives) and am going to get to bottom of it after this. Will go with the consensus and remove my HFT and see how it goes from there.

Apologies to OP if I am thread hijacking
 
#8 ·
I suggest you try to get hold of a multimeter and try the drain test yourself, then remove the HFT module and do it again.
 
#9 · (Edited)
I took the plunge today and after a bit of searching on here found the way to remove the HFT module... It has now been removed (Civ-Info to the rescue again)

Still no multi-meter (every last spare penny is being saved for a big move after new year) but I figure if I charge her up and let her sit a few days without the HFT module then I will soon know if this is/was the culprit..

Bloody hope so as am not looking forward to working out how to remove the alarm, or if it is indeed possible (this is what the garage claimed was causing the drain but I am going with civ-info recommendations first hehe)
 
#10 ·
Hi Black22

Seems I had identical issue to you just recently (2006 Civic).

Around July or August car was very sluggish at starting and then developed into not starting if left over weekend.

I took it to a local auto electrician and they concluded it was alarm related and that I'd need to take it to dealer (Donelly Honda in Belfast). Took 4 trips to dealer it seems to be fixed:

1. They changed air conditioning relay which apparently does give problems (but didn't check alarm or anything else!

2. They 'ran' all their diagnostics and concluded it was the hands free kit (HFT). Told me a new one was £800 + fitting. Kindly refused and asked them to leave it disconnected as I never used it anyway. Didn't have to pay for this.

3. Still happened so they replaced the battery, saying that it failed their tests. It was only changed 2 months earlier but maybe it wasn't a 'good' one or couldn't cope with all the discharging and jump starting I had to do. I asked them to check alternator charging and drain and apparently this passed.

I was also told that the HFT was left disconnected and printout clearly stated 'all systems were going into standby'. I wasn't too happy about having to pay and had a bit of debate with the service guy about what would happen if it still didn't fix the problem.

4. Guess what - still didn't start! Being an electrical engineer and totally fed up I finally decided to measure the drain current (using some tools from work) it was still 200mA jumping to 500mA when car was locked!!

I was armed with the evidence from previous time but thankfully Didn't have to pay for this.

Turns out that the HFT had been reconnected after changing the battery the previous time, so they then disconnected it again and kept it for a couple of nights monitoring drain current and said it is now OK.

Got the car back on Friday 8th Nov and so far so good (measured drain current myself and it is < 50mA which is more like it). At least I hope so because it is sitting in an airport carpark for 2 and half days so better start when I get back!!

Cost me something like £185 in total - could have been a lot worse I guess - just more the frustration and inconvenience of having to take it back so many times!

I also figured out how to remove the HFT module, so will be keeping an eye out for a very cheap second hand unit from a breakers yard for example.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Hey Culliard, a nice meaty response indeed. I just happen to have a unit sat RIGHT HERE under my monitor here that your more than welcome to hehehe >_<

Seriously though, your response is kind of good news to my ears. I have already had the oil pressure sensors replaced (£280), New battery (Yasua @ around £50 fitted), diagnostics with (supposed) firmware upgrade via honda (45 quid) along with the parasitic drain test via another mechanic (£50). About £420 all in and still the problem persists.

Not a massive amount to waste comparatively speaking (when placed next to many others peoples vehicular woes) but I can throw no more money on my car go at this time.

Lack of money makes for a gain of knowledge though, even if basic.. Now my wipers are playing the nice game of staying on when turned off and deciding to stop when they choose (usually mid screen) and thanks to civ-info I am already pondering ripping out that little spindle and cleaning it out.

My other gripe with the car is the high pressure pump playing up, meaning occasional fail on warm starts (meaning a parasitic drain is last thing I need) leaving me having to wait for the car to cool down before I can use it (has caused a right pain in the arse or two at petrol stations). Alas this problem cannot be solved cheap, I just hope it does not develop into a bigger issue.
 
#12 ·
HFT- Battery Drain

i have a 2006 EX and my HFT has not been working for over 6 months now. as with most i am not overly concerned by this. but now twice in the past 3 months my car has failed to start after being parked for more than 2 days.

is there a link or video explaining how to remove the HFT unit as i am very much an amateur when it comes to DIY car repair and would like to try this before handing over to my mechanic who has already replaced the battery and was now telling me it was a pulley connected to the alternator( i think) but from reading this thread it is clearly the HFT
 
#13 · (Edited)
It's real easy.. I have no pictures but I can repeat what I gleaned from on here (as per law000 above)..

Open up the driver door. Before getting in look at the side panel of the cockpit dash. It is a triangular plastic cover. Remove this (use a spatula or similar). Go in from bottom left section. Guide the spatulas direction towards the window. Then with a firm tug towards you it will release itself.

After this, you will see a single screw (posi) holding the bottom section of the dash cover (goes under steering wheel). Undo that screw then pull on that bottom section, from the right side first (again a generous but not aggressive pull).. It will 'un-click' from position and fall down in your hands..

Look on the reverse of this dash cover and you will find your HFT module attached.. 2 more mounting screws to be removed along with a multipin connector and you can then replace all your trim and are sorted (it all clicks back in nicely)..

I have 2 more days to wait to see if I have cracked this. If I can do it then anyone can.. It's not even tricky. I just hope my late night attempt to describe what I did helps somehow :)
 
#15 ·
his profile says he was last online April 14.

Are you having similar issues?
 
#17 ·
From my experience it was the HFT module. You can confirm with a multimeter if you don't fancy waiting to see if it dies.
Its easy-
Open drivers door
Prise of panel at end of dash, a blunt knife or spatula works very well
Undo the few screws that are holding the lower dash in
Gently pull down on the lower dash from the driver side

The module is located a few inch from the edge of the dash, so you dont have to pull down much
You can then unplug the unit - its a fiddle, you may want to try to unscrew the unit to get to the multi plug easier.

If you have a multi meter you can test the drain inline by removing the negative lead bridge the connection with your meter. I think my reading was about 0.5amps with HFT, then something like 0.002 amps without.
 
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#19 ·
Thought id share my 2 cents as this thread has been super helpful :)

Im also proud owner of 06 EX and started having flat battery issues few weeks ago. Initially thought that its just the battery being old and replaced with Bosch S4021 one. Needless to say it didnt help all that much and i started experiencing flat battery issues after just one day of not driving. Fast forward lots of forum reading and mumbling, i was finally armed with a 5$ multimeter yesterday and carried on checking the fuses. The battery drain was roughly between 200 - 600 mA, interestingly enough bouncing up and down every 15 seconds or some such. I believe it was fuse number 16 (under the bonnet) which stopped the drain and HFT is one of the devices connected to it. Decided to disconnect HFT to see if it makes a difference, following the advice in this thread. Surely enough, amps dropped all the way to 10(ish) mA right after so am remaining hopeful that ive managed to sort the issue.
 
#20 ·
Hi Vipah - that's good news and I'm glad that the forum was able to help.

I'm now finally looking to get the Xcarlink to allow iPod connection, and also replace the HFT system completely.
 
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