Alfa 159 - distinctive -Climate control problem

Hi.... does anyone have any idea why the air conditioning in my Alfa 159
starts to smell after about 5 mins of use. The car has only 13000km. My
second problem is that after activating the air-con, i start to hear a noise
as if two pipes
are vibrating. When i switch off the air-con, the noise disappears.
Any advice available ??....

Tony (morpheus 71) - old alfa 156 owner with 225000km!!

Morpheus71 wrote:
> Hi.... does anyone have any idea why the air conditioning in my Alfa 159
> starts to smell after about 5 mins of use. The car has only 13000km. My
> second problem is that after activating the air-con, i start to hear a
> noise as if two pipes
> are vibrating. When i switch off the air-con, the noise disappears.
> Any advice available ??....
>

Sounds (smells) like it's got mould growing in it?

--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
116 Giulietta 3.0l Sprint 1.7 145 2.0 Cloverleaf 156 V6 2.5 S2
Triumph Sprint ST 1050: It's blue, see.
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

On Sun, 23 Nov 2008 21:41:39 +0000, Catman wrote:


> Sounds (smells) like it's got mould growing in it?

If you leave climate on all the time and drive the car on a daily basis,
this tends to happen. My 156 was like this on and off for years... until
it became a second car and got a chance to dry out between use. OTOH that
constant use has kept the original seals AOK.....

Barry Bingham wrote:
> On Sun, 23 Nov 2008 21:41:39 +0000, Catman wrote:
>
>
>> Sounds (smells) like it's got mould growing in it?
>
> If you leave climate on all the time and drive the car on a daily basis,
> this tends to happen. My 156 was like this on and off for years... until
> it became a second car and got a chance to dry out between use. OTOH that
> constant use has kept the original seals AOK.....

I've never turned my cc off, never had a problem with smells.

AIUI turning it *off* causes the problem cos the condensation does not
get dried out.

--
Catman MIB#14 SKoGA#6 TEAR#4 BOTAFOF#38 Apostle#21 COSOC#3
Tyger, Tyger Burning Bright (Remove rust to reply)
116 Giulietta 3.0l Sprint 1.7 145 2.0 Cloverleaf 156 V6 2.5 S2
Triumph Sprint ST 1050: It's blue, see.
www.cuore-sportivo.co.uk

Catman wrote:
> Barry Bingham wrote:
>> On Sun, 23 Nov 2008 21:41:39 +0000, Catman wrote:
>>> Sounds (smells) like it's got mould growing in it?
> AIUI turning it *off* causes the problem cos the condensation does not
> get dried out.

Agree on both fronts, but I also have a fix (had same problem in our Subie):

With the fan on, spray half a can of Glen-20 or equivalent ethanol-based spray
into the air intake, then switch the fan off and let it dry overnight. If it
still smells, give it the rest of the can.

To avoid recurrence, always run the A/C on outside air for 5 minutes before
switching it off, to dry the filter out.

Clifford Heath.

On Mon, 24 Nov 2008 09:49:46 +0000, Catman wrote:

> Barry Bingham wrote:
>> On Sun, 23 Nov 2008 21:41:39 +0000, Catman wrote:
>>
>
> I've never turned my cc off, never had a problem with smells.
>
> AIUI turning it *off* causes the problem cos the condensation does not
> get dried out.

Only reporting my experience. You are certainly right that only turning
it on once in a blue moon can cause problems. I tried the sprays and they
helped but only for a few days. I found the best fix was to run the thing
with the system set to recirculate and temperature on MAX for about
20-30mins. This ALWAYS worked and generally lasted for 3-4 months. But
the mouldy smell always returned eventually.

For the last eighteen months, when the car has been used once or twice a
week(always with climate on) I've had no need to do this at all... I
have two friends with daily use 156s who tend to treat climate as
something only to be used occasionally. Their cars (4 and 6 years old
respectively) have never developed an odour when they have used the
system. Also, the systems work AOK still in spite of my warnings about
seals etc....

It is bizarre.. perhaps one factor might be how cold you set the climate
for daily use (I tended to travel super-chilled)?