That twist knob was never part of a gtv6 control panel.

Alfa AC controls have never been what you call “intuitive”. I swear my AC controls didn’t look like those! And, I also swear that Alfa Romeo thought that a one degree reduction in outside air (regardless of what it is) is deemed “acceptable”. Of course, your experiences may vary.

Live the dream!

 

my 6’s had knobs, ones the fan speed the other is for coldness. unless compressor is upgraded, dont expect much, freshly charged maybe put oyt somthing 5 degrees less. far from anything current

 

unless compressor is upgraded, dont expect much,

Assuming you have a York style compressor, I can attest that changing to a Sanden style compressor is relatively easy and will enhance both driving performance and a/c performance. Bolt in kits available.

 

I’m guessing the strange markings outboard of the sliders don’t directly describe the function of the sliders, but might suggest

Yes, they suggest the "right" position of the sliders to maximize either A/C or defrost function

 

There is also the flapper lever below the heat/ac sliders that directs air down to the footwell or not. It’s two position, either up or down. Could be stiff, don’t snap it off.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions so far!

In case I didn't state it earlier; the air conditioning was removed from the car before I bought it. There is no compressor, condensor, or lines. I haven't poked around under the glove box yet, but plan to pull the cover off this weekend and what is going on back there, if anything.

 

I dove into the dash, and everything from the A/C is gone. Also, the heater valve appears to be frozen, and the outer cable housing is broken, so moving the lever slides the sheath/housing down the cable (which remains stationary) rather than moving the valve.

The passenger side dash vent is connected to a short flexible duct that is isn’t connected to anything, and ends just dangling beside the glove box. The fan isn’t working at all, so no wonder I’ve been feeling like the controls don’t do anything! 😂

The defrost vents and the driver side dash vent are still ducted as they should be. The flapper door under the sliding levers works, and I can hear a blend door or something moving inside the box when moving the sliding lever, so at least some of it is functioning.

 

The aftermarket switch is no longer connected. It is a rotary switch with multiple 15kohm resistors soldered in, and looks like it had two wires going out. If I understand correctly, each additional click added a resistor in series. No idea what it might have been for.

 

My guess is that rotary switch is someone's attempt to fix a fan-speed knob that stopped working. The OEM fan speed is adjusted via a resistor which is mounted in the engine compartment (why?!) and if someone didn't know where it was they might have thought that was an easier way to fix things.

If you need a replacement resistor, let me know, I have an extra.

One other thing you might want to check is if the heater core is still attached to the cooling system, or if it has been bypassed in the back of the engine bay. Given the rusted nature of that valve, it's possible that it was leaking coolant and by-passed.

Replacement valves are available (I just had mine replaced) but make sure to use a metal one, the initial repair that I got had a plastic one which immediately cracked.

 

15 kΩ @ 1/4 W can't work to drive the fan motor, unless there is somethong else to pilot...

 

IMO-- This post and photos are a good example of why factory AC should never be removed from a classic Alfa, unless it's replaced with a newer and better system . After all, not everywhere a car is offered for sale is southern CA... and it always decreases the car's value if the AC is removed. OK...

To the OP's original questions:
I agree that the selector switch was likely somebody's "solution" to an inoperative fan switch.
Yes, you are correct in your translation of the controls icons. You can juggle the various dash and windshield vents to distribute the airflow. The black flapper above your radio will put air onto the floor level, as vintagemilano noted. Thanks again to the removal of the auxiliary AC unit on the passenger side, that hose from the eyeball vent dangles and gets you nothing.

Be careful of that old heater valve... the plastic ages and gets brittle, they are known to snap off and then you've got a mess. It is the type that de-iced the evaporator coil with a shot of hot coolant, if the probe detected icing on the coil. You can replace it with the simple cable operated heater valve that comes in plastic or metal. Get a new small donut seal that's captive in the flange. Coil ice-up can be prevented manually by slightly backing off the temp control knob from max position, should you ever want to replace the AC system.

As for the small panel for the fan and AC temp control, "they all do that" eventually. I solved this on my son's GTV 6 by removing the piece, and drilling two small holes at 9:00 and 3:00 on both sides of the panel flange. I then put a small phillips head screw into those holes, so they would retain the panel tight against the backplate. I unscrewed the one on the left side enough to fit behind the backplate. I then screwed the one on the right side in far enough that it would pop into place through the opening. Holding the panel against the backplate, I inserted a long thin screwdriver through the right side vent opening (removed the vent louvers temporarily), and I unscrewed the right side screw until it securely held the panel in place. I then replaced the vent into its opening.

 

I also have an 84 but without Tropic Air. My friend JOhn has an 84 with tropic air.

The AC works in mine, all the PO did was convert to a Sanden Milano compressor, and recharge with R134A.

In the Tropic Air systems the outer vents were plumbed into the AC system. In the cars like mine, those outer vents were connected to fresh air from the cowl. You might still be able to convert them back by finding a hose to connect to the original inlets if they are still there.

If you have hot air all the time I would loop the heater hoses to keep coolant out of the car until you can sort this out.

I'm happy to share photos if needed.

Good luck!

 

Thanks for the suggestion, I was planning to drain coolant anyway so I can flush the radiator and fix what I think is a bad bearing on one of the radiator fans, so I was thinking to work on the heater core at the same time. I may modify it to utilize a different valve on the engine side of the firewall while I am at it.

At some point when I have it better sorted, I plan to bring it over so you and John can see it and we can compare notes.

 

Does your HVAC blower work? Does it have 3 speeds that work? Is the blower resistor present (it is located on the firewall in the engine compartment behind the coolant expansion tank)?

 

The blower does not work currently. The resistor is present on the firewall. I hope to make some time this week to do some further diagnostics.

 

If someone just removed the Tropic Air stuff and did not go back into the center console and put the wiring back to the OE configuration, the center blower is probably not going to work. You are going to need a wiring diagram for the GTV6.

 

Tom's right. That rotary fan switch has multiple contacts and it controls both the fan inside the heater core box AND the auxiliary fan on the passenger side for Tropic Air. It might be as simple as reconnecting that switch wiring, and you could get your fan back in service. I hope so. Here's a couple of schematics that might help you identify those wiring colors and switch terminals: