Radio won't turn off. Draining battery

blacknchrome

LVC Member
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Jan 13, 2010
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Location
SE MI
I seem to be having an issue with my radio not turning off after I remove the key from the ignition and open the door. The radio is stock and I have never removed it nor installed any audio equipment to the car. The radio displays the word "phone" in the bottom left corner, which is something I have never seen before. I am not noticing any other electrical issues, just this. I have removed the radio fuse so that the battery doesn't die. Any ideas or suggestions as to what could be causing this?
 
What year is your LS?
There's a pin on the back of the radio (which one depends on which year) that you ground to activate phone mode on the radio. It was used with the factory AMPs phone when that was offered, and later was used with the bluetooth phone adapter that the dealer could add.
When that pin is grounded, the radio goes to phone mode and stays on. (You wouldn't want to drop your call just because you turned the key off.)
Either you have a factory phone or bluetooth adapter, or your radio is defective. It's probably the latter, since you should know if you have a phone or adapter.
If you don't have either, then there is not even a wire connected to the phone pin and it would have to be an internal problem in the radio.
 
Thank you very much for your help. I will look to see if there is anything occupying the pin behind the radio. The previous owner may have used one of those features that I wouldn't be aware of. If there is nothing there, then I will most likely replace the radio with a stock LS nav unit.
 
Thank you very much for your help. I will look to see if there is anything occupying the pin behind the radio. The previous owner may have used one of those features that I wouldn't be aware of. If there is nothing there, then I will most likely replace the radio with a stock LS nav unit.

Do you have stock THX navigation now?
If not, there is a whole lot more to it than just swapping the headunit.
 
No, I have the 03 6 disk (non alpine) headunit right now. Is it worth doing a conversion or is there something better that I should consider, that would look as close to factory as possible?
 
No, it's not. It's much easier to go aftermarket and get more features. (Don't get me wrong, I have factory nav and it is better in some ways than aftermarket. I just wouldn't go to this trouble to add it after the fact.)

Things you need at a minimum to add factory navigation are:
Nav head unit
Nav DVD drive unit (this is needed for the headunit to work at all)
Sub-woofer amp
Four channel amp (goes in trunk, the nav headunit can't drive any speakers without it)
Multiple wiring harnesses that run from the front to the back and to each door.
GPS antenna

If you want voice control (factory systems have this) add:
Auto dimming mirror with factory microphone (used only on nav equipped cars)

If you want the steering wheel buttons to be labeled and work correctly add:
nav option steering wheel button assembly

If you want the full THX sound add:
THX door speakers (4) and subwoofers (2)


Advantages to factory nav (compared to most aftermarket):
Fast boot up
Always knows where car is pointed even if not moving, or moving slowly
Even knows where you are when the sat signal is lost
Easy to use interface with big touch buttons, few menu levels to traverse

Advantages to aftermarket nav:
Works with iPODs, MP3s, USB, phones, ...
Much easier to install
Cheaper for newer maps
Some can be customized
 
You could also get a factory radio off eBay pretty inexpensively. You could also ask your local dealer where they have radios repaired, call them and see what they charge for a swap. I did this years ago for the 2000 and I paid ~$170 for a "new" radio.
 

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