Hi All, I am the proud new owner of a 512TR. The car has been purchased with a long drive, to the south of Spain for my wedding in mind! All in all the car is excellent, however I have been struggling with a rather annoying, intermittent air conditioning system. I have been advised by the (very reputable) specialist whom I bought it from, that the systems in these cars are a bit temperamental. But, I do wonder whether the problem is worse than it should be. Quite simply, the air con cooling air turns off when it feels like it. I can have the system on any of the vents, either windscreen, front vent or circulating and then all of a sudden cold air stops coming out of the vents and seems to be disappearing somewhere behind the dash, also causing some condensation as drip appears from time to time near the passenger's footwell. This is really frustrating as the cabin gets hot very quickly and becomes unbearable. Does anyone have any advice or recommendations on how to fix this? There seems to be no nack or technique which can be used to turn the system back on again. Also, does anyone know any air con specialists in the UK who may know these cars well and be able to help. Many thanks, Oliver Image Unavailable, Please Login
Even the UK can be quite big so how about giving a clue as to your location so we don't suggest someone 500 miles away.....
I will travel to the right specialist. I suspect there aren’t going to be many that have worked on 512tr system, or similar. Either way, I’m based in London.
It sounds like you are having a problem with the air distribution system, which is controlled by the push buttons on the center console. You say that the air is still cold and blowing, but it is not coming out of the center dash vents. The air distribution system uses engine vacuum to open the desired vents depending on the push button that is selected. If you have a loss of engine vacuum, then the system will not work properly. There is a vacuum canister that stores engine vacuum for use when engine vacuum is low( full throttle operation). If you can duplicate the symptom. the next step would be to check the vacuum supply to the push button switch and see if there are any leaks in the system. The system is very similar to the Testarossa system, so I am sure that there is a Ferrari Tech that can fix it in your area. The water dripping on the passenger footwell may be due to a clogged evaporator drain hose. You will have to raise the car and make sure that the hose is not plugged and water will flow from it when the A/C is on.
Talk to Elias at Autoficcina or Ed at Christian Lewis or Roger at Kent High Performance - they should have relevant experience Also take a look thro the TR section here for similar threads
Congrats, Oliver If the air stops exiting the vent it is likely a flap control issue, which is independent from the a/c. The same will probably happen while the heater or just the fan is on. The cold air stuck causes condensation on a distribution hose somewhere and it drips on our feet. I'd trouble shoot the vacuum system from the intake via the check valve, the tank, the hoses to the interior. It could be as simple as a leaky/cracked/detached hose. If it's in the centre console or dashboard, it's a little more labour intensive to track. My Mondial has a similar system and recently, one of the vacuum actuators on the HVAC units failed due to age. Since the flaps are spring loaded, they are in a certain position when the engine is off. The may be moved into another position by engine vacuum by selecting the distribution pattern you wish. If there is a leak somewhere, the available vacuum (and therefor flap position) will depend on the leak and the manifold pressure...
