2006 Alfa Romeo Brera/Spider Owner handbook (in English)

63
SAFETY
DEVICES
WARNING
LIGHTS AND
MESSAGES
IN AN
EMERGENCY
CAR
MAINTENANCE
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATIONS
INDEX
DASHBOARD
AND
CONTROLS
CORRECT USE
OF THE CAR
ACTIVATED CARBON
POLLEN FILTER
The car is fitted with activated carbon
pollen filter. The filter has the specific ca-
pability of admitting to the passenger
compartment purified air, free from par-
ticles such as dust, pollen, etc. The fil-
tering action takes place under all air in-
let conditions and it is clearly most ef-
fective with the windows shut.
Have the conditions of the filter checked
by Alfa Romeo Authorized Services at
least once a year, preferably at the on-
set of summer. If the car is used main-
ly in polluted or dusty areas it should be
checked and if necessary replaced at
shorter intervals than specified in the
Service Schedule (see section “Car
Maintenance”). AQS function
(Air Quality System)
(where provided)
The AQS function turns on automatical-
ly air recirculation when it detects the
presence of polluted air (e.g. in queues
and tunnels).
IMPORTANTWith AQS function on,
after a preset time with recirculation on,
the compressor will enable outside air
inlet (for about 1 minute) to change air
inside the passenger compartment, re-
gardless of outside air pollution level.
IMPORTANTThe AQS function is dis-
abled when the outside temperature is
cold to prevent window misting up. To
reactivate this function, press button
v. Led “A” on button vwill
turn on to indicate that the function is
on.
Failure to replace the fil-
ter may considerably re-
duce the effectiveness of
the climate control system up to
blocking the air flow from the
outlets and vents.

64
SAFETY
DEVICES
WARNING
LIGHTS AND
MESSAGES
IN AN
EMERGENCY
CAR
MAINTENANCE
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATIONS
INDEX
DASHBOARD
AND
CONTROLS
CORRECT USE
OF THE CAR
SWITCHING THE CLIMATE
CONTROL SYSTEM OFF
Keep pressed button “–“ until the dis-
play shows OFF.
With climate control system off:
❒the system stores performed opera-
tions;
❒the display is off (OFF wording is dis-
played);
❒air recirculation is active (button led
on);
❒compressor is active;
❒ventilation is off.
To turn the climate control system on
again press button AUTO or any other
button (excluding
(, vand
MONO). Turning the climate control sys-
tem on again, air recirculation will be
again controlled automatically.
ADDITIONAL
HEATER (diesel
versions only)
(where provided)
The car is fitted with an additional heater
that supports the engine during cold or
winter weather to quickly reach a com-
fortable temperature in the passenger
compartment.
The additional heater works with the en-
gine running when the outside temper-
ature is below 20°C and the engine has
not yet reached normal operating tem-
perature.
After connecting/dis-
connecting the battery,
wait for 3 minutes at
least before fitting the elec-
tronic key into the ignition de-
vice in order to allow the cli-
mate control system control unit
to reset the positions of the
electric actuators that adjust air
temperature and distribution.

65
SAFETY
DEVICES
WARNING
LIGHTS AND
MESSAGES
IN AN
EMERGENCY
CAR
MAINTENANCE
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATIONS
INDEX
DASHBOARD
AND
CONTROLS
CORRECT USE
OF THE CAR
EXTERNAL LIGHTS
LEFT-HAND STALK fig. 44
The left-hand stalk control almost all ex-
ternal lights.
The external lights can only be switched
on with electronic key fitted into ignition
device.
Lights switched off
Knurled ring at O.
Sidelights
Turn the knurled ring Ato
6. The warn-
ing light
3on the instrument panel
will turn on.
Dipped beam headlamps
Turn the knurled ring Ato
2. The warn-
ing light
2on the instrument panel will
turn on.Main beam headlamps
When the knurled ring Ais at
2pull
the stalk towards the steering wheel (2nd
unstable position). The warning light
1on the instrument panel will turn on.
To turn the main beams off, pull again
the stalk towards the steering wheel (2
nd
unstable position).
Flashing the headlights
Pull the stalk towards the steering wheel
(1
stunstable position) regardless of the
position of the knurled ring A. The warn-
ing light
1on the instrument panel
will turn on.Direction indicators
Push the stalk to (stable) position:
❒up: to turn the right-hand direction
indicator on;
❒down: to turn the left-hand direc-
tion indicator on.
Warning light
Îor ¥will come on flash-
ing on the instrument cluster at the
same time.
Indicators are switched off automatical-
ly when the steering wheel is straight-
ened.
If you want to show that you are about
to change lane, move the left-hand stalk
to unstable position. The required direc-
tion indicator will flash 3 times and then
it will turn off automatically.A0F0064mfig. 44

66
SAFETY
DEVICES
WARNING
LIGHTS AND
MESSAGES
IN AN
EMERGENCY
CAR
MAINTENANCE
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATIONS
INDEX
DASHBOARD
AND
CONTROLS
CORRECT USE
OF THE CAR
“FOLLOW ME HOME”
DEVICE
This function allows the illumination of
the space in front of the car for a pre-
set period of time.
Activation
Pull the stalk towards the steering wheel
within 2 minutes from when the engine
is turned off.
At each single movement of the stalk,
the staying on of the lights is extended
by 30 seconds up to a maximum of 3.5
minutes; then the lights are switched off
automatically.
Each time the stalk is operated, the
3
warning light turns on together with the
message on the display (see section
“Warning lights and messages”).
Deactivation
Keep the stalk pulled towards the steer-
ing wheel for more than 2 seconds.
AUTOMATIC HEADLIGHTS
SENSOR (daylight sensor)
(where provided)
It detects the changes of the external
light intensity of the car according to the
light sensitivity set: the greater the sen-
sitivity is, the smaller the amount of ex-
ternal light necessary to control the
switching-on of the external headlights
will be.
The daylight sensor sensitivity can be ad-
justed through the “Setup Menu” of the
display (see “Reconfigurable multifunc-
tion display” in this section).
Activation
Turn the knurled ring A-fig. 44to
2A:
in this way, the automatic activation of
the side/taillights and dipped beam
headlights is simultaneously enabled ac-
cording to outside brightness.
With lights switched on automatically
and in the presence of a switching off
control by the sensor, the main beams
will be switched off first and a few sec-
onds after also the sidelights.Deactivation
As a result of the sensor control, the
dipped beam headlights will switch off
and, after a few seconds, sidelights will
switch off too. The sensor is not able
to detect the fog presence, lights shall
therefore be switched on manually.
Failure warnings
Headlight sensor failure is shown by a
dedicated message on the display (see
section “Warning lights and mes-
sages”).

67
SAFETY
DEVICES
WARNING
LIGHTS AND
MESSAGES
IN AN
EMERGENCY
CAR
MAINTENANCE
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATIONS
INDEX
DASHBOARD
AND
CONTROLS
CORRECT USE
OF THE CAR
Parking lights
These lights can be turned on, with in-
strument panel off, by pressing button
C. When pressing the button a warn-
ing buzzer will sound and the instrument
panel warning light
3will turn on .
Press the button again to turn the lights
off.
With parking lights on, move the exter-
nal lights left-hand stalk upwards or
downwards to select on which side
(right or left) the lights must stay on. In
this event warning light
3will turn
off.
Moving the left-hand stalk to middle po-
sition will turn on the four parking lights
and the number plate light.
DASHBOARD BUTTONS
fig. 45
Front fog lights
To turn front fog lights on, press button
A; to activate these lights it is necessary
to have the side/taillights switched on.
The instrument panel warning light
5
will turn on. Press the button again or turn
side/taillights off to turn the lights off.
Rear fog lights
To turn rear fog lights on, press button
B. The instrument panel warning light
4
will turn on. To turn the lights off, press
the button again or turn dipped beams
or front fog lights off or turn the engine
off.
A0F0061mfig. 45
Hazard lights
These lights are turned on by pressing
button A-fig. 46.
When these lights are on, the switch
flashes and warning lights
Îand ¥on
the instrument panel will turn on at the
same time.
Press switch Aagain to turn the lights
off.
Use of the hazard
warning lights is ruled
by the Highway Code of the
country in which the car is
used. Observe regulations.
WARNING
A0F0100mfig. 46

68
SAFETY
DEVICES
WARNING
LIGHTS AND
MESSAGES
IN AN
EMERGENCY
CAR
MAINTENANCE
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATIONS
INDEX
DASHBOARD
AND
CONTROLS
CORRECT USE
OF THE CAR
WINDOW WASHING
RIGHT-HAND STALK
Right-hand stalk fig. 47controls wind-
screen washer/wiper and rear window
washer/wiper operation.
With external lights on, activating the
windscreen washer will also activate the
headlight washer, if provided.
Windscreen washer/wiper
The stalk can be moved to five different
positions:
0: windscreen wiper off;
1: intermittent.
With the stalk in position 1, turning the
knurled ring Afour possible intermittent
speeds are obtained:
= slow intermittent
= intermittent medium
= intermittent medium-fast
= fast intermittent2: continuous slow
3: continuous fast
4: fast temporary (unstable position)
Operation in position 4is limited to the
time the stalk is held in this position.
When the stalk is released, it returns
to position 0automatically stopping the
wiper.
A0F0066mfig. 47
Never use the window
wiper to remove ice or
snow from the wind-
screen. In these conditions, the
wiper is submitted to excessive
effort that results in motor pro-
tection cutting in and wiper op-
eration inhibition for few seconds
as a consequence. If operation is
not restored contact Alfa Romeo
Authorized Services.

69
SAFETY
DEVICES
WARNING
LIGHTS AND
MESSAGES
IN AN
EMERGENCY
CAR
MAINTENANCE
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATIONS
INDEX
DASHBOARD
AND
CONTROLS
CORRECT USE
OF THE CAR
The rain sensor is activated automatical-
ly moving the right-hand stalk to position
1-fig. 47and it has a range of adjust-
ment that gradually varies between wiper
stationary (no wiping) when the wind-
screen is dry, to wiper at second speed
(continuous, medium) with heavy rain.
Turning the knurled ringA-fig. 47it
is possible to increase the sensitivity of
the rain sensor, obtaining a quicker
change from stationary (no wiping)
when the windscreen is dry, to first con-
tinuous speed (continuous, slow). This
action is confirmed by one wiping
stroke.
Operating the windscreen washer with
the rain sensor activated (stalk at posi-
tion 1-fig. 47) the normal washing
cycle is performed at the end of which
the rain sensor resumes its normal au-
tomatic function. “Smart washing” function
Pulling the stalk towards the steering
wheel (unstable position) operates the
windscreen washer.
Keeping the stalk pulled with just one
movement it is possible to operate the
washer jet and the wiper at the same
time; the wiper actually comes into op-
eration automatically when the stalk is
pulled for more than half a second.
The wiper stops working 3 strokes after
releasing the stalk; a further stroke af-
ter about 6 seconds will complete the
wiping operation.
RAIN SENSOR
(where provided)
The rain sensor A-fig. 48, located be-
hind the driving mirror, is an electronic de-
vice combined with the windscreen wiper
which has the purpose of automatically
adjusting the number of wipes during in-
termittent operation, to intensity of the
rain. All the other functions controlled by
the right-hand stalk remain unchanged.
A0F0227mfig. 48

70
SAFETY
DEVICES
WARNING
LIGHTS AND
MESSAGES
IN AN
EMERGENCY
CAR
MAINTENANCE
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATIONS
INDEX
DASHBOARD
AND
CONTROLS
CORRECT USE
OF THE CAR
Rain sensor shall be de-
activated when washing
the car at automatic car-
wash.
Make sure the rain sen-
sor is deactivated if
there is ice on the wind-
screen.
Removing the electronic key from the
ignition device, the rain sensor is deac-
tivated and the next time the engine is
started it will not be reactivated even if
the stalk has remained in position 1-
fig. 47. In this case to activate the rain
sensor, simply move the stalk to 0or 2
and then back to 1.
When the rain sensor is reactivated in
this way, the wiper performs one stroke,
even if the windscreen is dry, to indicate
that reactivation has occurred.IMPORTANTIn the event of rain sen-
sor failure, windscreen wiper operation
with right-hand stalk at 1-fig. 47is in-
termittent. If failure takes place during
automatic operation, the system will
keep the last wiper operating condition.
Moving the stalk to other positions, op-
eration is however guaranteed.
The rain sensor is able to recognize and
automatically adjust itself in the pres-
ence of the following particular condi-
tions:
❒impurities on the controlled surface
(salt, dirt, etc.);
❒difference between day and night.Failure warnings
Sensor failure is indicated by a dedicat-
ed message on the display (see section
“Warning lights and messages”).