Alfa 164 symptoms

[Anthony Toy <anthonytoy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks to all who responded to my email re my 164.
I agree that I should (groan) find the cash and replace that damn 
expensive distrubitor cap!
I have replaced the fuel filter a while ago and this did have a big 
effect on performance, much more tha I expected. I have just put some 
octane booster in the tank as Australia has pretty low octane unleaded 
and it seems to have made a big difference. The car has stopped its 
slight pinging when changing to third and has gained power across the 
range. The surging problem is only very slight. My next step will be to 
check fuel pressure (I have replaced the short fuel hose in the tank 
previously as a precaution)
Regarding the automatic gearbox symptoms I posted, the main reason I was 
worried was I read an old posting stating that there was a problem with 
the roll pin shearing off the spider gears ultimately resulting in a lock 
up of the gearbox! Has anyone had this problem and what were the exact 
symptoms? Is it easy to locate and fix with the gearbox in the car?
My new problem to ask about is regarding the Climate Control. Soon after 
I bought the car the  air cooling (compressor)  suddenly stopped working 
i.e everthing was normal except it wouldn't cool or defrost. I checked 
obvious things and returned it to the seller for repair as it was under 
warranty. He claimed he cleaned a temp sensor to fix it (strange as it 
didn't make any diff what temp I set it on). Now Whenever I set it on 
Auto the compressor always seems to be on. The fan adjusts itself with 
temp but it always seems to be cooling the air. This results in it 
getting too cold even when set on 25C on a 25C day, and the system 
freezes up. Is this normal? Should the air compressor cycle on and off 
with temp? or does it remain on all the time regardless of temp in Auto 
mode?

Thanks in advance
Anthony Toy
Sydney Australia
1991 164L and 1971 1750 GTV

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