Envoy-Radio display shows "phone" radio will not work

[JRSabo]

I have a 2003 Envoy. Today I noticed a red light on the rear view mirrow adjacent to the On Star buttons ( I am not an ON Star subscriber). I pressed some buttons on the rear view mirror and the red light cleared but I then noticed that the radio dislpay showed the words "phone" to the right of the time and in place of the radio station. Every once in a while I will hear a loud pop in the speakers. I cannot clear the words "phone" from the display and the radio will not work. I visited a GMC dealer and they had no clue. THe manual for the car does not provide any information. I called a local car radio repair place (The one that served the dealers with regard to radio repairs) and they want to replace the radio. Any suggestions before I spend several hundred dollars replacing the radio? Is this related to On Star and the rearview mirror controls or just conncidence?

[Envoydude7]

Well, it sounds related to your OnStar. I know you do not subscribe but that popping is a good clue. It always makes a similar sound when I call OnStar. I do not subscribe either but have called them for info on doing so. It switches to phone on my radio and then goes back after the OnStar people hang-up. Try calling them. I am amazed the people at the dealership had no idea.

Good luck!

[envoyxuv]

The GM dealership should absolutely have a clue about what's wrong with the onstar. The L.E.D on your rearview mirror is a status indicator. It's green when things are normal, and red when a code is set in the onstar module. The only way to pull the code is with the tech 2. To see if you can remedy the problem, you can disconnect power to the onstar at the rear fuseblock. This fuseblock is under the passenger seat behind the driver.
To access the fuseblock, pull up the seatbottom strap. Once you get the cover off the fuseblock, all the fuses are marked on the inside of the cover. There should be a fuse marked "OH BATT/ONSTAR" , fuse 27. It is a 10 amp fuse. Pulling this fuse should power off your onstar and return normal operation to the radio. If this DOES correct the problem, the most likely cause is a failed onstar module(This is of course dependent on what the code actually is). If at any point you are interested in subscribing to onstar, the upgrade to the digital hardware is cheaper than paying for a new onstar module, and the upgrade includes a new module.