Syphony radio stuck on "PHONE" mode

[Jaymoid]

Hi All,

I have a 55 plate Skoda Fabia Ambiente, which has overall been brilliant - except the radio.

About 6 months ago the symphony stereo just displayed "PHONE" on the display, and wouldn't go away - you could press every button on the damn thing - turn it off and on again and it still said "PHONE". Whats more annoying is that I have never even had my phone plugged into the device.

So I took it to my nearest dealer (DM Keith - Leeds) where they said that it was the first time that they had seen it and spent over 3 hours taking it out, recoding it and re-fitting it. And then it worked as normal....

.. until this Saturday morning.

I phone up DM keith again, and ask if I can have a new radio seeing that its clearly a common problem and that the radio is at fault. However they say they will check it for defects, but will probably just take it out - re code it and re fit it - which will probably be good for maybe another 6 months. If they find a fault with it they will get Skoda to replace it. This means I have to go in at least twice, and sit there for hours... on my weekend :(

Anyway - I was wondering what your views are on this:

- Should I just get a replacement stereo?

- Has anyone else had this problem?

If I get a new radio would I be able to get one that is the same size as the symphony one? Is that a standard size? as most radios seem to be slimmer?

Thanks in advance.

James

p.s. if anyone can recomend any good CD/MP3 players that don't look like a flight console that would be great too. Cheers.

[Davy-B]

If you go into the menu - hold the TP button - you can turn the phone functionality off completely. Can't remember the exact menu description but think that it's something like 'Phone In'.

Does that help atall?

I think that the symphony is a bit bigger than a DIN standard radio but an adaptor is available to allow you to fit one.

You'll also need an adaptor cable because although the connectors will fit a standard unit, VAG cars have the permantent and switched 12v swapped around (why this is, I don't know - anyone?).

I would stick with the factory unit (provided it works) because I prefer the appearance (vis your flight console comment) however the consensus on here tends to be that an aftermarket unit offers considerably better sound quality.

[Jaymoid]

Thanks for the reply Davy-B, Unfortunately, holding down the TP button does not bring up the menu to turn off the phone menu - unsurprisingly it just stays on "PHONE" :(

Anyone else got any ideas?

Cheers.

[gadgetman]

Do you have a phone kit fitted, or could there have been at any point?

If yes, could the phone kit be faulty?

[Jaymoid]

Do you have a phone kit fitted, or could there have been at any point?

If yes, could the phone kit be faulty?

Nope, and nope my car was new from the factory :(

[Davy-B]

Does it keep saying 'phone' when the radio is nominally off i.e. when you've got the power button pushed in?

Have you tried disconnecting it from the battery?

Make sure that you don't have the keys in the ignition. Check you've got the security code then pull out the fuse (number 45 see Fabia-vrs.com - Fuse Panel Layout) push the fuse back in.

[Tom_vRS]

Its clearly a faulty unit - push for a replacement.

[seano47]

sorry to hijack the trhead mate

but i have problems with my cd player were it will make a pop noise on the speakers then say SAFE then sometimes i re enter my code and then it goes LEARN whats that does anyone know

[Davy-B]

seano47 - that sounds like the power to the unit is being cut off. Perhaps the connector isn't plugged into the back properly?

[seano47]

cheers Davy-B ill have a look

[Davy-B]

Let me know if it gets sorted...

[Jaymoid]

Just thought I would update you guys as I forgot to at the time. The radio was replaced under warranty and hasn't been a problem since (fingers crossed) I guess it was just a dodgy one off fault (I hope!)

[MikeW]

My Symphony has "crashed" a couple of times. A large "crack" came out of the speakers and it has rebooted itself.

[ToddyRigg]

Mine does exactly the same thing

stuck in PHONE mode, nothing I press will do anything , any ideas ?

[hxdave]

with regards to the 'PHONE' setting on the symphony, how does this work? is there another piece of kit that you need to use this function? if so - what do you need and where can you get it from.

kind regards

[Rob.]

ToddyRigg.

If you've never had a phone kit fitted then it sounds suspiciously like it's the same as the OP's fault. He mentioned a Skoda dealer re-coding it.. perhaps this could be a permanent fix for yours?

Technically, it sounds to me (I've fitted a 3rd party phone kit to work through the Symphony) like it could be an earth or cross talk issue, as the hands free sends a signal to the HU to put it into phone mode... This is done by installing a missing connector pin into the radio harness, so popping the radio out, cleaning/blowing the dust a moisture out of the connections, and then re-installing may fix this... but maybe not forever as it could be a fault in the unit.

hxdave

The symphony head unit has the ability to automatically select an audio input from a phone kit and play it back through the car speakers. Lots of kits will do it, it's quite a time consuming job though and you have to order extra connectors to go into the back of the symphony as they're not there as stock, ones for the audio signal to get into the symphony unit, and the others so the hands free can send a "phone please" signal.

It all actually works quite well! far far far more info on this site by VRStu.

http://www.fabia-vrs.com/technical-info/mobile-phone-car-kit-integration/

[subwarier]

I have exactly the same problem with my Fabia 2, radio stuck on PHONE mode, turn the engine off and lock the car up and the display is still saying PHONE, pulled the fuse and I have a little portable radio on the passenger seat for the time being until I can find time to pull the radio out and have a play with it.

ps I'm a Newbie here, Steve from Walton on Thames

[Marc81]

I had this problem once on mine, did a search on here and someone advised just to remove the fuse for the stereo from the main fuse box and then put it back in. Worked a treat for me. Can't remember which number fuse it was but your handbook should identify it. Saves messing around taking the head unit out.

Edited 3 June, 2010 by Marc81