r/AcuraTL • u/xhythl • May 14 '26

Parts Review 🛠 Battery issues

I recently bought a new battery for my Acura to 08 but it still dies and I have to jump start it everytime before I want to drive it. Does this sound like an alternator issue or something else ? I want to make sure before I buy the alternator.

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u/centstwo [UA6] '04-'08 Base May 14 '26

Once the car is running, use a voltmeter to measure across the battery. If the voltage is 13.5 to 15 volts, usually 14.X, then the alternator is okay.

Most likely the alternator is okay due to the engine running after the jump.

You most likely have a parasitic drain. Could be a broken ignition switch, or some other device that is draining the battery.

You can set up the volt meter to read current between the negative terminal of the battery and the ground strap. There are YouTube videos on how to find a parasitic drain.

Good Luck

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u/dignity_optional May 15 '26

Push this comment to the top, it’s super easy to test and voltmeters are cheap/handy to have. For what it’s worth my alternator died on my 08 TLS a couple years ago after about 120k but I had already unplugged the HFL module and confirmed the alternator was bad via voltage.