2005 Alfa Romeo 156 cooling

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CAR62
REV COUNTERThe rev. counter shows engine rpm. The
needle pointed to the danger area (red) in-
dicates excessive high engine speed. Do not
drive for long periods with the needle in this
area.
WARNINGThe electronic injection con-
trol system gradually shuts off the flow of
fuel when the engine is “over-revving” re-
sulting in a gradual loss of engine power.
The rev counter may, when the engine is
idling, indicate gradual or sudden increase
of engine revs as the case may be; such be-
haviour is normal and must not be inter-
preted as a faulty condition as it occurs dur-
ing normal operation, for instance when
climate control or electric fan are switched
on. In particular, slow revs variation helps
keep the battery charged.
FUEL GAUGE AND RESERVE
WARNING LIGHTThis shows the amount of fuel left in the
fuel tank.
This warning light
ç
comes on to indicate
that approximately 7 litres of fuel are left in
the tank.
WARNINGUnder certain conditions
(heavy slopes, for instance), the reading on
the gauge may differ from the actual
amount of fuel in the tank and changes in
level may be indicated late.
This condition falls within the operation log-
ics of the electronic control circuit to avoid
highly unstable readings due to swaying of
the fuel when travelling.
WARNINGRefuelling shall always be
performed with engine off and ignition key
to STOP. If the engine is off but the key
is to MAR, a wrong fuel level could tem-
porarily be indicated. This is due to the in-
ternal system control logic and cannot be
considered as a system malfunctioning.
ENGINE COOLANT
TEMPERATURE GAUGE AND
MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE
WARNING LIGHTThis shows the temperature of the engine
coolant fluid and begins when the fluid tem-
perature exceeds approx. 50°C.
The pointer should normally be towards
the middle of the scale. If the pointer
reaches the higher temperature values of
the scale (red area), the request for vehi-
cle performance should be decreased.
The illumination of the warning light
ç
(together with the message shown by the
Infocenter display) indicates an excessive
temperature of the engine cooling fluid. In
this case, stop the car and contact Alfa
Romeo Authorized Services.
WARNINGThe temperature of the en-
gine coolant may rise towards the maximum
values (red) when the vehicle is driven at
low speeds, especially when the ambient air
temperature is high. In this case, the vehi-
cle should be stopped and the engine
switched off for a few minutes after which
the journey can be resumed, preferably at
a higher speed.

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CAR
107
Warning light
on the dialMessage
on display
SELESPEED GEARBOX FAILURETurning the ignition key to MAR, the warning light on the cluster shall come on and then go off af-
ter about 4 seconds. If the warning light stays on, it indicates that a fault has been detected in the Se-
lespeed gearbox; at the same time, the buzzer beeps intermittently for 4 seconds to draw the atten-
tion of the driver. Contact Alfa Romeo Authorised Services as soon as possible to remove the fault.Q-SYSTEM AUTOMATIC GEARBOX FAILURETurning the ignition key to MAR, the warning light on the cluster shall come on and then go off
after about 4 seconds. If the warning light stays on or turns on when travelling, it indicates over-
heated gearbox oil (glowing steadily) or a gearbox fault (flashing).
Warning light glowing steadily: it indicates that the gearbox oil has reached the maxi-
mum established temperature.
To make oil cooling down, stop the car, move the lever to Por Nand let the engine idle until the
warning light goes out. Resume driving without demanding high performance from the engine. If
the warning light comes on again, it is necessary to stop again with the engine idling until it goes
out again. If the interval between one lighting up of the warning light and next is below 15 minutes,
you are advised to stop the car, turn the engine off and wait for the engine-gearbox unit to cool down
completely. Contact Alfa Romeo Authorised Services as soon as possible.
Warning light flashing: it indicates a fault in the automatic gearbox.
The automatic control system provides an emergency programme. Under these circumstances,
you are advised to stop the car and turn the engine off; in fact, the next time the engine is started,
the self-diagnostic system could cut off the fault which will however be memorised. Conversely, if
the fault remains (warning light flashing), it is necessary to select the gears manually as if driving
a car with mechanical gearbox, bearing in mind that the only two speeds available are the 2
ndand
4
thgear. Contact Alfa Romeo Authorised Services as soon as possible.
t
t

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CAR
113
SWITCHING THE INSIDE AIR
RE-CIRCULATION FUNCTION
ONPress button (3)
v
to turn the inside air
re-circulation function on.
When this function is on the relevant but-
ton led will come on.
It is advisable to turn on the inside air re-
circulation function in queues or tunnels to
avoid admitting polluted air from outside.
The prolonged use of this function should
however be avoided, especially with several
persons on board, to avoid the possibility of
the windows misting inside.WARNINGThe inside air re-circulation
function makes it possible to reach the re-
quired "heating" or "cooling" conditions
faster.
It is however inadvisable to use it on
rainy/cold days as it would considerably in-
crease the possibility of the windows mist-
ing inside, especially if the climate control
system is off.
CLIMATE CONTROL (COOLING) Proceed as follows:
– turn knob (1) as far as it will go coun-
terclockwise (blue led next to TEMPlit);
– turn knob (4) to the required speed;
– turn knob (7) to
E;
-– press buttons (2) √
and (3)
v
the
relevant leds will go on.

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CAR
114
Cooling adjustment
Proceed as follows:
– turn off inside air re-circulation (if on);
– turn knob (1) counterclockwise to re-
duce temperature;
– turn knob (4) counterclockwise to re-
duce the fan speed.
LOOKING AFTER THE SYSTEMDuring the winter the climate control sys-
tem must be turned on at least once a
month for about minutes.
Before summer, have the system checked
at Alfa Romeo Authorized Service.
AUTOMATIC
TWO-ZONE CLIMATE
CONTROL SYSTEMTo start the system (fig. 100):
– turn the knob rings to set the required
temperatures (driver’s side – passenger’s
side).
– press the
AUTO
button.
WARNINGThe climate control system
makes it possible to adjust the temperatures
required for the two sides with a maximum
difference of 7°C between the driver’s and
the passenger’s sides.
WARNINGThe climate control com-
pressor works only when the engine is run-
ning and the outside temperature is more
than 2°C.

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CAR
120
AIR TEMPERATURE
ADJUSTMENT KNOBS
(fig. 102)
Turning the rings of knobs (1or 6) clock-
wise or counterclockwise, respectively high-
ers or lowers the temperature of the air re-
quired in the left zone (knob 1) or right
zone (knob 6) of the passenger compart-
ment. The temperatures set are shown on
the displays (2) and (5) placed below the
respective knobs.
Separate operation of the temperatures set
is restored automatically using knob (6) is
actuated.
Turning the knob rings clockwise or coun-
terclockwise, until they reach the extreme
selection positions HIor LO, will cause the
maximum heating or cooling functions, re-
spectively, to be switched on:
fig. 102
A0B0063m

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CAR
122
LO function
(highest cooling power - fig. 104)
It is switched on by setting a temperature
lower than 16.5°C on the display; this set-
ting is shown by both displays.
This function can be switched on when you
wish to cool the passenger compartment as
quickly as possible, by taking the greatest
advantage from the system potential.
The function cuts off air heating, switches
on both internal air recirculation (to prevent
hot air from entering the compartment) and
the climate control compressor, brings air
distribution to E
and 5
thfan speed.
With the function switched on, however,
all the manual settings can be made.
To switch the function off, you only need
to turn the ring of a knob (1) or (6) of the
temperature set to a value greater than
16.5°C; the opposite display will show
16.5°C.
fig. 104
A0B0065m
By pressing button (14)
AUTO
the display
indicates a temperature of 16.5°C and falls
within an operating condition with automatic
temperature control.

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CAR
128
When the climate control compressor is off,
it is not possible to admit air to the pas-
senger compartment with a temperature be-
low the outside temperature; in this case,
the value flashes on the display concerning
the temperature that cannot be reached
and the left led on button (14
AUTO
-
fig. 110) goes off.
The switching off of the climate control
compressor remains in storage even when
the engine has been stopped. To resume au-
tomatic control for switching on the climate
control compressor, press button (12) √
again, the button led will turn on, or press
button (14)
AUTO
; in which case, the other
manual settings set will be cancelled.
fig. 110
A0B0071m
Operation of the climate
control compressor is nec-
essary for cooling and dehumidify-
ing the air; it is advisable to keep
this function always on, to prevent
window misting problems.
WARNING

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CAR
130
With the outside temper-
ature below 2°C the cli-
mate control compressor is unable
to work. It is therefore inadvisable
to use the inside air recirculation
function v
with low outside tem-
perature as windows may mist
over quickly.WARNING
The inside air recirculation
function makes it possible
to reach the required “heating” or
“cooling” conditions faster. It is
however inadvisable to use it on
rainy/cold days as it would con-
siderably increase the possibility of
the windows misting inside, espe-
cially if the climate control system
is off.
WARNING
It is advisable to turn on the
inside air recirculation sys-
tem in queues or tunnels to avoid
admitting polluted air from outside.
The prolonged use of this function
should however be avoided, espe-
cially with several persons on
board, to avoid the possibility of the
windows misting inside.
WARNING
In certain weather condi-
tions (e.g. outside temper-
ature around 0°C) and with auto-
matic air recirculation control on,
mist may form on the windows. In
this case press the inside air re-
circulation button (7)
v
, to
switch off recirculation (leds on
button off) and if necessary in-
crease the flow of air to the wind-
screen.
WARNING