Air conditioning problems on a 166

[Rocco166]

Hi all

I have had my a/c regassed and the "tx" valve replaced cos it leaked all the gas out while parked up for 8 weeks - when I collected the car I was told by the service manager that my compressor is not 100% and might need to be replaced - on the way home set the AC to LOW and got cool air but definitely not COLD air and even on recirculate the temperature was nowhere near as cold as it was before the AC stopped working (pre-regas)  so I am thinking that I may need a replacement compressor - has anyone had to buy one and how much did it cost??   

I used the car yesterday and even with the AC set to LOW, I got 5 minutes of hot air on FULL fan speed and then slightly less hot air for the rest of my journey, I've booked the car back in for another AC test but am peeved that the AC seems to have dropped it's bundle after 80,000 k's and 6 monthly servicing 

[colcol]

You should always start the car every week and turn on the aircon as this circulates the oil and refrigerant and keeps the seals from drying out and the R-134 refrigerant is very fine and is prone to finding ways of leaking out, when they regass the air con system the air con service techo should check the low and high pressure gauges on charging station to check if the system is working allright, a slightly worn compressor, like a slightly worn motor should still run ok, but not quite as well as when it was new, if your aircon works ok at first then after a few minutes it starts to put out  hot air, most likely it has moisture in the system, this is how it works, the TX valve, [thermostatic expansion valve] works like a needle and seat valve in a carby, it meters the fuel but in the case of an aircon in regulates the refrigerant, now if you have moisture present then you only need one drop of water and this will turn to ice in the tx valve and block the flow of refrigerant causing hot air to blow through the vents, try turning off the aircon for a few minutes and then switching it on again, if it blows cool air for a while, then the ice has melted and you are getting refrigerant through the system until it freezes up again, the solution to this problem is to change the receivor dryer, that is the black "can" at the front of the car, this filters the oil and refrigerant and stores the oil and refrigerant waiting for mr tx valve to open to meter the gas through the car, it also contains silica gell that absorbs moisture to prevent it circulating in the system, however on hot days the silica gell gives up the moisture and then it circulates through the system, the solution is to have the gas taken out of the system have the gas recycled, that is filtered and dehumified , then have the aircon system put under a vacumn that will  "boil" out any moisture and then recharge the system and see how you go from there, Colin.

[Rocco166]

Thanks for info Colin,  yeah I had thought that my mum would at least start the car when it was in her custody but she prefers the lofty ride in her Q7 so it sat in the garage for 8 weeks gathering dust - a lesson learned there 
I've booked the car back in for a another check - as the AC was only serviced on Monday - hopefully it will be an easy fix and done for free 

[Rocco166]

OK, long story short - the car went back to the AC guy this morning and again came back as a faulty compressor which he can replace for $1800 all up, so for the time being I'll take the car back and see what happens...over the weekend the AC seemed to be OK, it got cold and stayed cold although the " Air Conditioning Fault - visit workshop" warning flashed up once on the centre console display - IMO if the compressor was faulty then surely the AC would not be getting cold at all??

[colcol]

If the aircon tecko connects up the manifold gauge, it will be shown that the compressor is not putting out enough pressure, just like doing a compression test on an engine, however you said that its now cooling ok, so means the compressor is working, so the onboard computer throws up an alarm, so that may mean there is an electrical fault in the climate control system, there may be a dud sensor that tells the aircon brain that its cold, so the aircon stops sending cold air to that vent, or maybe there's a door in the evaporator that isn't opening, i think you are going to have to go to a dealer with the diagnostic computer to sort it out, but before you replace the compressor have it pressure checked, there are ways it can be done so you don't scrap a slightly down on performance compressor, Colin.

[Alfa166]

have a look at this site it has a few tips on things to look at for 166 air conditioning

http://www.bba-reman.com/content.aspx?content=Alfa_Romeo_Technical_Help

[bteoh]

Rocco,

Where did you take the 166 for the air con service? I need to get my 156 done as after 3 re gasses, it still isn't cold . Must be a leak somewhere but wasn't sure who to take it to. Cileberti's has an aircon guy which I may take to but just wanted to find out if there's anyone else that knows the alfa air cons well?

Cheers,
Brian

[colcol]

Have the airconditioner techo stick a thermometer in the vent, to see what its pulling the temperature down to and make sure the aircon person is a qualified air technition as there are some that are not, and the problem is due to licencing requirements, you cannot buy the R134 refrigerant gas without a certificate, and the dodgy ones use the wrong gas, such as lighter gas and LPG [seriously], its a gas, and it cools, but not too good, we have a few around my area who have signs up, "$80 regass', what model 156 do you have?, tell us how you get on, Colin.

[Rocco166]

Where did you take the 166 for the air con service? I need to get my 156 done as after 3 re gasses, it still isn't cold  . Must be a leak somewhere but wasn't sure who to take it to. Cileberti's has an aircon guy which I may take to but just wanted to find out if there's anyone else that knows the alfa air cons well?

Hi - I did go to Cileberti's and got their guy to have a look at it (twice) but both times he reported back that the compressor is at fault - I am even less convinced about it being the problem now because the whole climate control in the 166 has "lost the plot" and is constantly coming up with an AC fault and refusing to do as it's asked (the entire control freezes at the last setting and cannot be reset without turning the car off and on which works 50% of the time) - I had a similar problem with it a couple of years ago and it was a couple of faulty motors/sensors in the unit itself rather than the cooling side of the system. At this stage I am going to take it back to Barbagallos and get them to run a diagnostic on it because Cileberti's refuse to run one on the basis that the compressor is faulty....

[colcol]

The correct thing to do is to take it to Alf Barbagallos and get the climate control system sorted out, otherwise you won't be able to sort out the mechanical cooling side, the poor old compressor won't know if to turn off or turn on if the electrical system has gone haywire, tell us how you get on, Colin.

[bteoh]

Looks like I may have to do the same and get Barbagallos to plug the computer into their diagnostic machine and test my 156.......
Hopefully it's something simple and they don't have to remove the dash

[tony8028]

re the 156 a/c issues....i heard that the air in these cars was never great from day 1?

This was one of the main reasons i bought the 147, which has brilliant air - actually TOO cold at times which is something I never thought i'd say about an alfa - having owned 33s, 164s and 75s that have pathetic a/c

[dehne]

the air on my 156 gets really cold, my comporessor broke down, and i replaced it myself, did not take long but be careful when letting the gas out(this is surposedly illeagle but thats only a sick bird) when i got it replaced i said i had taken it to a mech and they changed it and were going to charge me a stupid amount to regas it, so i went else where.

[colcol]

If you are not a qualified air conditioning technition and you get busted by the EPA then its big fines for you!, i remember being at an airconditioning place and i read this on the wall, 8 years ago it was $50,000, be carefull, a few years ago the EPA went around wrecking yards checking up on the wrecked cars to make sure that they had their air conditioning system discharged by a qualified tecky, and they wanted to see the paperwork!, Colin.