air con

[rossocorsa]

Had cam belt traumas with Delta HPE HF last year eventually all repaired and sorted, in fact going like a rocket now, however having disturbed many things under the bonnet whilst having the head etc off the air conditioning seems to switch the radiator fans on rather too often and for too long (although they do seem to switch off when the car is on the open road above 30mph/50kmh). Anybody out there have any ideas on loose connections or whatever that could cause this? It also sometimes opens the auxilary air valve too much from a cold start and doesn't want to let it shut only doing so if the economy button is pressed, usually happens when the weather is not too hot or cold.

[budgetzagato]

It sort of sounds normal, or like my Beta at least.

If it works at all like the late ('81) Beta system, there is a thermo-switch located on the pipe to the condenser (radiator-like thing). It closes and activates the fan via a relay when a certain temp is reached. On the Beta, it's not plumbed into the system but simply clipped to the line and covered with lots of tar for insulation. This switch could be faulty or in need of heat transfer paste or insulation.

The problem you have with the aux air valve might not be what you think. Extra measured air is allowed around the throttle to compensate for the a/c power consumption. On Betas it's a separate valve, so I don't know if yours is separate or not. Mine doesn't even operate so it may not be needed, that is to say you may be able to disconnect it if it bugs you and it's separate.

Hope this helps.

[rossocorsa]

there is a connection between the climate control and the ecu I suspect though that there is some sort of relay or similar that increases revs when engine is cold and aircon on that possibly sticks on switching to econ and then back often cures it. You are probably right about the temp sensor on the radiator I must check if it has a sound connection also wondering as the car is 6 years old maybe tha system needs recharging with gas?

[rossocorsa]

solved this one (i think!?) when the head was off the rad fans had been taken off the rad the two lowest plastic blocks for the fixing bolts had become in poor condition and eventually these failed allowing the fans to flap loosely at the bottom edge, I can only presume that this meant that when the fans cut in the force partially pushed the fan assembly backwards causing the cooling effect through the rads to be greatly reduced, anyway at the moment having replaced the offending little plastic bits (after waiting a while as the local fiat dealer lost the first ones I ordered!) it appears to be acting normally