Alfa Romeo 166 2006 Owner handbook (in English)

80
fig. 88
CLIMATE CONTROL
A0D0027m

81
The passenger compartment climate
control (heating, cooling and ventilation)
can be used in the following ways:
– manual climate control, by selecting
the functions using the control panel but-
tons;
– automatic climate control, managed
by the system electronic control unit.ADJUSTING THE CENTRE
UPPER VENT
(fig. 89)
The upper vent is fitted with an open-
ing/closing control (A)
O= Completely open
●= completely closed.
368PGSm
fig. 89 The air is admitted to the passenger
compartment through a series of out-
lets/vents located on the dashboard, on
the front door panels, centre console and
floor as illustrated (fig. 88):
1Centre vents for demisting/defrosting
the windscreen
2Upper adjustable centre vent
3Central movable and adjustable out-
lets
4Movable and adjustable side outlets
5Vents for demisting/defrosting the
side windows
6Front seat floor vents
7Rear seat floor vents
8Rear seat adjustable and movable
outlets.

SIDE VENTS (fig. 93)
The front door panels contain fixed side
vents (A) for defrosting or demisting the
side windows.
422PGSm
fig. 93
338PGSm
fig. 92
82
ADJUSTABLE AND MOVABLE
OUTLETS
(fig. 90-91-92)
To open the round air vents, press on
the fins (A) in point (B).
The air flow is directed by turning the
outlets using the fins or changing their
slope.
Fig. 90: front seats (in the middle of
the dashboard)
fig. 91
421PGSm
A0D0028m
fig. 90Fig. 91: front seats (at the ends of the
dashboard)
Fig. 92: rear seats (on the centre con-
sole).

83
CLIMATE CONTROL UNITThe climate control sys-
tem uses “R134a”
coolant fluid which
meets current regulations on the
subject and which does not harm
the environment in the event of
leakage. Absolutely avoid the
use of other fluids which are in-
compatible with the system com-
ponents.
A0D0029m
fig. 94

84
EQUIVALENT TEMPERATURE
The system makes it possible to control
the passenger compartment climate main-
taining the “equivalent temperature” lev-
el required by the driver. This “equivalent
temperature” is an estimator of the ideal
temperature (obtained through the devel-
opment of a complex mathematical algo-
rithm) needed to obtain the best temper-
ature and well-being in the passenger
compartment.
To bring about this operating condition,
select:
– the “equivalent temperature” re-
quired pressing the button (B-fig. 94);
– the AUTOposition pressing the but-
ton (D).
IMPORTANT The compressor can be
engaged automatically or manually. To
switch from one operating mode to the
other see the “Compressor on/off but-
ton” paragraph in this chapter.
DESCRIPTION OF CONTROLS
(fig. 94)
A- Climate control dedicated screen se-
lector button.
B- Rocker button for adjusting the “e-
quivalent temperature”.
C- Rocker button for fan speed adjust-
ment.
D- Automatic system operation selector
button.
E- Climate control compressor off/on
button.
F- Climate control system off/on but-
ton.
G- Rocker button for selecting air distri-
bution.
H- Air recirculation on/off button.
I- On/off button for maximum defrost-
ing/demisting windscreen and front side
windows, rearscreen heating, door mirror
resistances and resistances at windscreen
base (where applicable).
J- On/off button for rearscreen heating
and mirror defrosting and resistances in
windscreen wiper blade parking are at the
base of the windscreen (where applica-
ble).Adjustment button for
required equivalent
temperature
Pressing this rocker button up or down
respectively raises or lowers the equiva-
lent temperature required in the passen-
ger compartment.
Pressing the button upwards or down-
wards to the extreme HIGHorLOW
positions, the functions with the highest
heating or cooling power are engaged.

85
Fan speed adjustment button
Pressing this rocker button up or down
respectively increases or lowers the fan
speed (thus the amount of air admitted
to the passenger compartment), while
maintaining the objective of the equiva-
lent temperature required.
Automatic operation
button
Pressing the AUTObutton the system
automatically adjusts the amount and dis-
tribution of air admitted to the passenger
compartment.
Compressor off/on
button
Pressing the ECONbutton turns the cli-
mate control compressor on/off.
IMPORTANT With the compressor off
it is not possible to admit air to the pas-
senger compartment at a temperature be-
low the outside temperature, in particular
environment conditions, the windows
may quickly steam.Climate control off/on
button
Pressing the OFFbutton turns the cli-
mate control on/off (including ventilation
only.
IMPORTANT With the climate control
off and in particular environment condi-
tions, the windows may steam quickly.
Passenger compartment
air distribution button
Pressing the MODErocker button to-
wards the left or right manually selects
air distribution in the passenger compart-
ment, while maintaining the objective of
the equivalent temperature required.

86
Air recirculation on/off
button
Pressing this button engages/disen-
gages recirculation of the air admitted to
the passenger compartment.
IMPORTANT Depending on how the
system is working (heating or cooling the
passenger compartment) the recirculation
function makes it possible to reach the re-
quired conditions faster. It is however in-
advisable to use this function on
rainy/cold days as it would considerably
increase the possibility of misting the win-
dows, especially if the conditioner is off.
It is advisable to use this function when
the vehicle is stationary in a queue or tun-
nel to prevent polluted air from entering
the passenger compartment. Prolonged
use of this function should however be
avoided, especially if there are several
persons aboard.Windscreen and front side
windows demisting/
defrosting button
Pressing this button the climate control
automatically activates the necessary
functions (quantity, distribution, tempera-
ture of the air admitted to the passenger
compartment) to quicken demisting/de-
frosting of the windscreen and front side
windows. Rearscreen heating, door mirror
heating and the resistances at the base of
the windscreen (in the wiper blade park-
ing area) are also automatically engaged
(for a determinate length of time) where
applicable.Rearscreen demisting/
defrosting on/off button
Pressing this button engages demist-
ing/defrosting of the rearscreen, door
mirrors and (optional for versions/mar-
kets where applicable) the resistances at
the base of the windscreen (in the wiper
blade parking area).
IMPORTANT Do not stick stickers on
the inside of the rearscreen over the heat-
ing filaments to prevent damage that
might adversely affect the system.

87
DESCRIPTION OF OPERATING
STRATEGIES
Operating the button, the
climate control system sets to automati-
cally control the following functions:
– temperature of the air at the vents
and outlets
– fan speed (constantly changing)
– air distribution
– air recirculation
– compressor engagement.
It is still however possible to intervene
manually on the following functions:
– fan speed
– air distribution
– air recirculation
– compressor engagement.
The functions activated manually have
priority over the automatic ones and they
remain memorised until automatic control
is re-activated.
With one or more functions engaged
manually, adjustment of the temperature
admitted to the passenger compartment
still continues to be controlled automati-
cally by the system except with the com-
pressor off: in fact, in this condition the
air admitted to the passenger compart-
ment cannot be below the outside tem-
perature.Pressing the button for en-
gaging/disengaging automatic operation,
the system may be in one of the follow-
ing conditions:
–FULL AUTOwith automatic control
of the fan speed and air distribution;
–AUTOwith automatic control only of
the fan speed or of air distribution accord-
ing to the driver’s preference;
–MANwith manual operation where
the driver controls the fan speed and air
distribution directly.

88
Pressing the button turns
the compressor on/off. With the com-
pressor off, the air admitted to the pas-
senger compartment can not be cooled or
dehumidified and recirculation is switched
off automatically to avoid misting the
windows: when wanting to activate recir-
culation in the condition, press the corre-
sponding button.
Pressing the button again
with the compressor off, will restore the
operating conditions of before the com-
pressor was turned off.
Pressing the button turns
off/back on the climate control, in the
former case air is no longer admitted to
the passenger compartment which is thus
isolated from outside, in the latter, the
previous operating mode is restored.Pressing the button selects
the possible air distributions to the pas-
senger compartment:
Flow of air towards the windscreen
and front side windows
Distribution of the flow between
the windscreen /front side windows and
lower part of the passenger compartment
Flow of air to the lower part of the
passenger compartment and secondary
flow of air towards the windscreen and
front side windows
Distribution of the flow between
the upper centre, centre, side and rear
outlets and the lower part of the passen-
ger compartment
Flow of air towards the centre up-
per vent, centre and side dashboard out-
lets and rear outlets.If the system was in the FULL AUTO
mode, pressing the button
passes to the simple automatism condi-
tion: i.e. the system chooses the fan
speed and mixing to obtain the equiva-
lent temperature required, but will not
change the distribution selected manually.
Pressing the recirculation button
, the system automatically reac-
tivates the compressor if it was deactivat-
ed manually; to maintain recirculation
with the compressor of, it is necessary to
press the button to deacti-
vate the compressor.

89
IMPORTANT In this condition (recir-
culation on and compressor off), remem-
ber that the windows may steam up very
quickly.
Pressing the button the climate
control automatically activates the func-
tions required to quicken demisting/de-
frosting of the windscreen and side win-
dows. Rearscreen heating and door mirror
heating are also automatically engaged
(for a determinate length of time).
Pressing the button engages
rearscreen heating and door mirror heat-
ing for a determinate length of time.Manually setting one of the climate con-
trol functions, the others continue to be
controlled automatically; in particular the
air temperature is always controlled auto-
matically to reach the required “equiva-
lent temperature” in the passenger com-
partment.
IMPORTANT When working in the
FULL AUTOcondition, the system can
automatically engage recirculation or de-
activate the compressor to cool/heat the
passenger compartment faster or
demist/defrost the windscreen and side
windows.IMPORTANT When the engine is
turned off the system memorises the cli-
mate control operating condition, which
will be automatically resumed when the
engine is started again.