I have 2003 XKR with Alpine premium audio.


The battery went dead whilst sitting in the garage, I recharged the battery and everything works as it should except radio is stuck in phone mode, I have checked all connections, mute line for short and reset several times. A couple of times it worked okay for a very brief period of time but then go back to phone mode. There were posts regarding the same issue on XJ forum but no definitive answer.


Has anyone else had this problem and did they come up with a solution?


The battery is only 1 year old.


2003 XKR Alpine premium audio

 

Just thinking out loud...you *might* have set the stereo unit into lockout mode which requires you to enter in the 4 digit code to unlock it. Inside the owners manual or the radio manual there's a 4 digit number :/ that's one thing to check out.. maybe remove the fuse for a bit and try again (not sure..) that sucks!

 

Yes, it really does. I think when it wants a security code it pops up a message enter code, which I believe is more for UK market than US or earlier US models, not 100% sure though. I have lived in the US for 25 years but am originally from England and those codes were a big thing over there before I left. The only thing that comes up on the radio is Phone. Tonight I did discovery by accident that once the car is turned off if I press the cassette tape eject button it turns off? But once the ignition is turned back on it pops up again!

 

I'll have to look at my manual to see if there's anything in there about that.. maybe the phone button is stuck down :/.. interesting because when I select phone on mine it doesn't come up at all since I never had that option.

 

just another thought.. if you do have the phone option.. do you have the option on the wheel to select modes? Perhaps use the voice command while pressing the button on the steering wheel and say "radio" to get it off phone mode? (just doing some searching for you..)

 

or you could try to enter in this code when in phone mode.. ##3#*#

 

I will give that a try, I have tried using the steering wheel controls too, also took out the head unit and checked and cleaned all the buttons, none were sticking. Thanks, I will keep you posted.

 

If you are interested in a try to buy replacement unit, hit me up.

-dsd

 

Mathew,


I let car sit over night, again with battery disconnected, connected everything up and it worked until I used steering wheel control for volume, then went into phone mode. So something inside the steering wheel switch is sticking or shorting. I had said it would work intermittently I am guessing that was when the steering wheel switch had corrected itself and I didn't press it again. I will be taking it off and looking to see if it can be cleaned up. I did try that code you gave me initially but no good, we know why now. But from a little research we shouldn't need a code on US models.


Thanks again for helping out and I will post end result because I know this will happen to someone else eventually.


Paul

 

well hopefully it's just a button stuck down forcing it into select 'phone mode' when you don't have that option or like you said a short in the wiring somewhere that is related to the volume up.

I don't know if you can do it but you could try just unplugging that wheel buttons and see if that takes care of the issue (then you know it's either the buttons or wiring inside the wheel..maybe contacts just stuck?) I know when I press mine it says "no phone" or something like that.. but I would guess if the button contacts stay pressed it would stay in that mode like pressing the button down constantly..

sorry that sucks I hope I never run into that! :/ for sure let us know what happens

 

Mathew,


I took the steering wheel controls off and phone button definitely not right. I fixed it , then rebooted, same phone mode issue, tried unplugging it same result. Must have been a coincidence that it worked until I touched the button.


However I just checked the xj8 forum and some replied that he resolved it by replacing the head unit with another used one, no "phone" issue since.


So DSD let me know what you have.


Thanks again, I will continue to update until resolved.

 

PM sent.

 

It may be worth making sure it's not a problem in the wiring between the button on the wheel and the radio before going for a replacement. On the wiring diagram I have it shows a single wire running from the steering wheel controls to the head unit and a variety of resistors between the different buttons on the wheel, such that when a button is pressed it creates a signal at a particular voltage that the head unit recognises. I would either measure the resistance at the head unit when the buttons are pressed or alternatively disconnect that wire from the head unit by releasing the pin from the multiconnector.

 

Bladerunner919 thanks for the idea, I still have the steering wheel apart, I am actually replacing the left (phone)switch, just in case. I will check the wire to head unit before replacing it.


Thanks

 

Dsd thanks for pm, I will contact you once I test this wire.

 

So problem solved!


turns out the stuck in phone mode was the steering wheel control. I took mine apart and could see it wasn't right, but disconnecting it from the head unit did not fix the problem though, which is strange. I purchased a replacement from ebay. Well the replacement steering wheel switch fixed the problem, I disconnected the battery several times to see if it was a fluke, it is working correctly. DSD kindly sent me his old head unit to trouble shoot with many thanks DSD also thanks to all that gave input.

 

niiiice well done