Recently my car radio has this problem. When I turn it on, it goes to phone function. This car had an old telephone from factory. I have removed it long time ago. Curiously, when the car's engine is not running, the radio functions normally. If I turn the engine on, the radio goes to phone and displays it.
Any solutions, ideas.
Thanks, Joe

Did you remove all the components or just the ones in the console?

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I was doing an evaporator core replacement, so all components were removed. After putting everything back, this is the only problem I can detect.
Joe

To clarify my answer, only the phone handset was removed. The piece in the center console. No other part has been removed.
Joe

Do you have any suggestions? It will be appreciated.
Thanks, Joe.

When you removed the cell phone did you just unplug the handset from the center console?

There are 2 more elements that need to get disconnected.

One is the display head in the dash. The other is the electronics box in the trunk.



Have a look at my thread Analog Cell phone update - 1998 W210 to see where the devices are.

If you unplug both of these boxes then there is nothing left connected in the phone system. I suspect the phone controller is grounding pin 3 on the radio ISO connector, this throws the radio into PHONE mode.

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