# Radio problem: Stuck in "Telephone" mode?



## ekauffman17 (Dec 27, 2013)

Hello all,

New to the forum and hoping someone may have had this problem before...

I have a 2008 Altima 3.5 SE Coupe. Recently the radio has somehow put itself into telephone mode. The display screen will only show "Telephone" and none of the buttons will do anything (CD, RADIO, AUX, etc). It will not play any audio whatsoever. The car is NOT equipped with bluetooth for phone connectivity, so I have no idea how this is happening.

I have tried disconnecting the battery for a while, no change. I have also tried unplugging the wiring harness from the back of the unit, but this did not work either.

The guy at the Nissan dealer said that all they could do is replace the unit. (If this is the solution I am definitely not doing it through the dealer.) Has anyone heard of this issue before, or know how it can be resolved? Any help would be greatly appreciated...

Thanks!
Eric


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## Outkast (Jan 29, 2006)

have you checked the switch on the steering wheel to make sure it's not stuck? Otherwise you'll need a radio cause the Bluetooth is controlled through the radio


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## ekauffman17 (Dec 27, 2013)

Well I got in my car this morning, and after about 5 days of not working, the radio has fixed itself. It is now working properly, and there is no "telephone" message on the display. I am glad it's working, but I wish I knew how it happened!

(Note: I found one other forum with the same issue, different model Nissan, and the person also said that it fixed itself after a couple days.)

Outkast: Thanks for the advice, but actually my car does not have the button on the steering wheel since it is not equipped with bluetooth.


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## ekauffman17 (Dec 27, 2013)

I spoke too soon, its back to telephone mode... this is going to drive me crazy!

Does anyone know where the radio gets the bluetooth/telephone signal from? I'm thinking its getting a faulty signal from somewhere, maybe there is a way to disconnect it?


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## Outkast (Jan 29, 2006)

well it gets it from the bluetooth control unit but if your car doesn't have Bluetooth it wouldn't have that unit.


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## JoeNeub (Feb 3, 2015)

I've got a 2011 Titan with the same problem. Mine has Bluetooth, phone works fine for both incoming and outgoing calls. CD changer will allow CD's in and out but nothing will play nor will the radio.


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## nurseshannon (Jan 17, 2016)

ekauffman17 said:


> Hello all,
> 
> New to the forum and hoping someone may have had this problem before...
> 
> ...


I have the same problem w/ my radio displaying "telephone" on the radio in my Nissan Armada. I'm on day 3 & its driving me crazy. I called Nissan dealership & the service guy said he has never heard of this...grrrr!. It's a 2009 & I dont think its equipped w/ bluetooth. I have pushed every button & nothing works. Any suggestions?????


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## Jilsaneurysm (Mar 27, 2016)

I have the same issue with my 2010 Rogue. Had it parked for a few days, then started it and radio is in telephone mode. Vehicle doesn't have Bluetooth. Nothing on the display panel is responding. From reading the thread, clearly this is an issue with Nissan vehicles. Dealership has been no help.


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## Nissan10 (Nov 27, 2020)

Jilsaneurysm said:


> I have the same issue with my 2010 Rogue. Had it parked for a few days, then started it and radio is in telephone mode. Vehicle doesn't have Bluetooth. Nothing on the display panel is responding. From reading the thread, clearly this is an issue with Nissan vehicles. Dealership has been no help.


Did you ever find a fix? Just bought this car for my daughter a month ago and last week the radio just says telephone and won’t do anything else. Not equipped with Bluetooth.


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## jdior288 (10 mo ago)

i am having the same problem, my car has been sitting for a few days and i get in it today and it says this, someone has to know how to fix this problem. it's driving me crazy!!!!


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## CalvinJ (8 mo ago)

This is my first post to the forum. I do not know if this will help but here goes. I had my battery go dead after not using it for 7 months (mostly thru the winter). I got the battery charged and put it in the car and all was good, except the radio. It only display the word "Telephone" I could not tell if it was on or off, it just displayed Telephone. The buttons made no difference. My car does not have Bluetooth. I went on like this for about a month. I tried disconnecting the battery over nite, but it did not change anything. I read online I should get the code off the radio to reset it. Well, my friends, after taking out the radio, which was not that hard. I found out that there was NO reset code anywhere on the radio. Turn on the car to ACC while I had the radio out and there was the "Telephone" message again. So I thought, even if there was a reset code I couldn't enter it anyway so I turn the ignition off. For a 2007 Altima, I was not going to buy a new radio. So while the radio was out of the dash I disconnected all of the wires connected to it. There were three different sets. I then looked all over the radio again to make sure I didn't miss anything. I plugged the wires back in and put the radio back in.
At this point, I thought oh well no radio or CD player. I started the car and there was no "Telephone" message on the display. I turned on the radio and it worked!! So did the CD and the steering wheel radio controls. I'm just guessing here, but I think that unplugging the radio for a while is what worked. BTW, don't call Nissan with this problem. I called The corporate customer number about this and they to me that they never heard of a non-bluetooth Nissan radio the would display the word "Telephone". Hope this helps someone.

Regards,
CalvinJ


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