Air Condition unit

It sounds like it is low on refrigerant...

 

How much refrigerant did you put in? You should see 20-30 psi low side and 200-250 high side. Otherwise, it could be many things, faulty switch on the dash ("stop" switch acting up for example) a faulty clutch pack (common, and a new pack can be fitted to your old compressor) or a wiring issue. Another possibility is that the reciever drier bottle hasnt been replaced for a long while (common, a lot of people don't bother) and they corrode internally, causing all the desiccant to leak out and partially blocking part of the system. Does the cooling fan run on high speed on the right hand side of the car with the a/c on?

 

Ah the AC system... I'd like to thank ferrari for going to Delphi for the cheapest bid... Should've used a better supplier.

As I understand the coupling at the front radiator can leak a tad... If the freon level is ok.. Then might consider..

Then I might check the temp sensors in the ac unit... There are two thermistors, one on the drivers side and one on the passengers side under the glovebox. They "compare the temp" on both sides of the ac coil in the car. If the reading between the two is waaay of, it assumes the coil in the car is frozen with ice, and then turns on the heat to defrost it. If one of these is going it may be spiking resistance variation, fooling the system. I dont know resitance at room temp so sorry.. Mine has been doing the same periodically and I rigged the ac full on or heat full on in summer and winter respectively. I'm just lazy and haven't pulled the sensors to check... Nor check the ac control unit. Though didn't throw a fault on the last scan so I presume its a sensor gone bad.

 

Hey Curt, how did you rig the a/c so it's on all the time? Mine sometimes shuts off when I don't want it to, Italian gremlins I think..

 

Start with the manual, then download the workshop manual at ferraridatabase.com. Then, checkout ricambi parts diagrams after the above explain how they work.

Targa81.. I'll PM you..

 

A friend with a 430 is having almost the Exact same problem...did you find out what it was...His battery was low and needed jump starting...would a bad battery casuse it to cut on and off??

 

I have several HVAC boxes with all the electronics inside if it turns out you need one.

 

a Friend's 430's AC did the Same thing...I Charged his Battery 24 hours on Ctek....AC works Fine now...No Problems.....a low battery does strange things I guess.

 

I noticed a few weeks ago that my AC was not working in my 430. The controls were all ignored and it wasn't blowing air. When I got back from a long drive, which should have fully charged the battery, I accidentally left it off the battery tender for a week. The next weekend I went to drive it and it was dead. That was an unusually short time for the battery to die without the tender. Took a few days on the battery tender to charge it back up to full, and then the AC started working again.

I asked Ferrari and they said most likely the battery is nearly EOL and should be replaced. Many of these random electrical problems apparently can appear with a marginal battery and be magically solved when it is replaced. Not a very satisfying answer, but . . .

I'm going to order an Odyssey 34R-PC1500T-A for $275. Pretty inexpensive to maybe solve the problem rather than going into a dealer or very good independent to search for an inconsistent problem, when I KNOW it will work perfectly when I'm trying to show a mechanic.

 

If a Battery is weak or only 50 percent charged...a Car Alternator won't really charge it back fully...It only "holds" the charge that it has...sort of....Nothing like putting it on a good charger overnight to top it off...then the alternator works better at Holding that......at least thats what I've been told.