2003 FIAT BARCHETTA warning

60
GENERAL WARNINGS
The front airbags can be trig-
gered if the car is subjected to
considerable crashes or involved
in an accident concerning the un-
derbody areas, such as a violent
impact against steps, kerbs or
projecting objects fastened to the
ground, falling into large holes or
dips in the road surface.
A small amount of powder and
smoke is freed when the airbags
are triggered. This is not harmful
and does not indicate the princi-
ple of a fire.
Go to a Fiat Dealership as soon
as possible if the warning light
comes on when travelling (to sig-
nal a fault) to have the problem
repaired.
The airbag system is guaranteed
for ten years. Contact a Fiat
Dealership as the expiry data ap-
proaches.
After an accident which trig-
gered the airbags, go to a Fiat
Dealership to have the entire
safety system, the electronic con-
trol unit, the seat belts and thepretensioners replaced. The
Dealership will also check the in-
tactness of the electrical system.
Any diagnostic, repair or re-
placement operations concerning
the airbag system must exclu-
sively be carried out at a Fiat
Dealership.
If you are having the car
scrapped, have the airbag system
deactivated at a Fiat Dealership
first.
If the car changes hands, the
new owner must be made aware
of the indications given above and
be given this Owner Handbook.
The pretensioners and front
airbags are activated by the elec-
tronic control unit according to
the type of impact. Consequent-
ly, missed activation of one or
more system components does
not indicate a fault in the system.
The instrument panel
warning light
¬should
come on when the ignition key is
turned to MAR and go out after ap-
proximately four seconds. Immedi-
ately, contact a Fiat Dealership if
the warning light either does not
come on or stays on or comes on
when travelling.
WARNING
When the passenger’s front
airbag is active (passenger
front airbag deactivation switch at
ON), the
Fwarning light will
come on for approximately four
seconds and flash for other four
seconds when the ignition key is
turned to MAR to remind the driver
than the passenger’s front and side
airbags (where fitted) will be fired
in the event of a crash. The warn-
ing light should go out immediate-
ly afterwards.
WARNING

61
Do not apply stickers or
other objects to the steer-
ing wheel or to the dashboard on
the passenger’s side. Do not travel
with objects on your lap or in front
of you nor with a pipe, pencil or
similar between your lips; you could
seriously hurt yourself if the airbag
inflates in a collision.
WARNING
The correct operation of
the front airbags and pre-
tensioners is only ensured if the car
is not overloaded.
WARNING
The airbag does not replace
seat belts but rather in-
creases their effectiveness. Further-
more, the front airbag is not fired in
the event of low speed front colli-
sions, side collisions, rear-end shunts
and roll-overs. In these cases, the
passengers are only protected by
the seat belts which for this reason
must always be fastened.
WARNING
Always drive with both
hands on the rim of the
steering wheel so that the airbag is
free to inflate during a head-on col-
lision, and protect you from serious
injury. Do not drive with your body
bending towards the steering wheel,
but sit in an upright position with
your back resting against the seat.
WARNING
If an attempt has been
made to steal the car, or if
it has actually been stolen or has
been vandalised in any way or sub-
jected to flooding, have the airbag
system checked over at a Fiat Deal-
ership.
WARNING
It is important to remember
that when the ignition key
is turned to MAR even if the engine
is off, the air bag can be fired when
the car is stationary if it hit by an-
other vehicle travelling at suitable
speed. As a consequence, Fiat rec-
ommends sitting children in their
specific retainer system on the back
seat, which is the most protected
position ossible. On the contrary,
the air bags will not be fired in the
car is crashed into when the key is
not insered or turned. Consequent-
ly, in this case, the fact that the
asystem is not fired does not indi-
cate a fault.
WARNING

62
EOBD SYSTEM
The EOBD system (European On
Board Diagnosis) performs a non-stop
diagnosis of the components linked to
the emissions, it also warns the user
about the component current deterio-
ration conditions, by turning on the pi-
lot lamp
Uon the instrument panel.
Purpose of system is:
– keeping system efficiency under con-
trol;
– warning about emission increases
due to car malfunction;
– warning about the necessity of re-
placing deteriorated components. System also avails itself of a connector
that can be interfaced with a proper in-
strumentation, enabling to read error
codes stored in the control unit, to-
gether with a set of specific engine di-
agnosis and operation parameters. This
inspection can be also carried out by
traffic control agents. IMPORTANTAfter eliminating the
problem, yourFiat Dealershipwill
run a bench test to fully check the sys-
tem. In some cases, a long road test
may be required.
If the pilot lamp
Udoes
not turn on when the ig-
nition key is turned to the
MAR position, or if, when run-
ning, the fixed or blinking light
turns on, please contact as soon
as possible the Fiat Dealership.
Pilot light
Ufunctionality can be
inspected by the special equip-
ment available with the traffic
control agents. Comply with the
regulations current in the Coun-
try where your are driving.

65
A catalytic converter
that does not work prop-
erly leads to the emission
of harmful gases and the conse-
quent pollution of the atmos-
phere.
Never put even the tini-
est amount of leaded
petrol into the fuel tank,
even in an emergency. You would
damage the catalytic converter
beyond repair.FUEL FILLER CAP
The cap is provided with a strap A-
fig. 82fastening it to the flap so that
is cannot be lost..
To open:hold the cap still and turn
the key anti-clockwise. Turn the cap
by half a turn anti-clockwise and re-
move it.
The air-tight cap can cause a slight in-
crease in pressure inside the fuel tank.
A suction noise when removing the
cap is, therefore, perfectly normal.The cap can be positioned directly on
the flap while refuelling as shown in
fig. 82.
To close: insert the cap (with key)
and turn it clockwise until it clicks
once or twice. Hold the cap still, turn
the key clockwise and remove it.
IMPORTANT If the fuel filler cap
needs changing, use only genuine
spares, otherwise you risk damaging
the fuel vapour recovery system.
fig. 82
P5S10051m
Do not put naked flames or
lighted cigarettes near the
fuel filler hole as there is a danger of
fire. Do not bend too close to the
hole either so as not to breathe in
harmful vapours.
WARNING

68
If warning light ¢remains lit
together with the warning light
U
when the ignition key is at MAR,
turn the key toSTOPand then to
MAR; if the warning light still
remains lit, try with the other keys
provided with the car.
If you are still unable to start the
engine, follow the emergency startup
procedure (see “Emergency startup”
in the section “In an emergency”)
and go to the nearestFiat
Dealership immediately.
IMPORTANTDo not leave the
ignition key at MARwhen the
engine is off.
STARTING
THE ENGINE
The engine may seem noisier than
usual during the first seconds after
startup, especially after a long period
of inactivity. This phenomenon is
characteristic of hydraulic tappets,
and does not affect the functioning
and reliability of the engine: this par-
ticular timing system has been select-
ed for the Fiat barchetta engine to
reduce the number of maintenance
interventions necessary.IMPORTANT It is important that
the accelerator is never pressed until
the engine is started.
1) Make sure the handbrake is on.
2) Put the gear lever in neutral.
3) Press the clutch pedal right
down, without touching the acceler-
ator pedal.
4) Turn the ignition key to AVV
and let it go the moment the engine
starts.
If the engine does not start at the
first attempt, return the ignition key
to STOPbefore trying to start the
engine again.
It is dangerous to let the
engine run in a garage or
other closed area. The engine con-
sumes oxygen and gives off carbon
dioxide, carbon monoxide and oth-
er poisonous fumes.
WARNING
Never touch the high ten-
sion cables (spark plug
cables) when the engine is run-
ning.
WARNING

69
HOW TO WARM UP
THE ENGINE AFTER
IT HAS JUST STARTED
– Begin to move forward slowly, let-
ting the engine turn over at medium
revs. Do not floor the accelerator.
– Do not push the engine to its lim-
it for the first few kilometres. You are
recommended to wait until the water
temperature has reached 50° to 60°C.
EMERGENCY START-UP
If the Fiat CODE system fails to
recognise the code transmitted by
the ignition key (warning lamp ¢on
instrument panel lit with a fixed
light), you can start the engine by fol-
lowing the emergency procedure
using the code written on the CODE
card.
See the section “In an emergency”.Do not bump start by
pushing, towing or coast-
ing downhill. This way of
starting could cause a rush of fu-
el into the catalytic exhaust pipe
and damage it beyond repair.
A quick burst on the ac-
celerator before turning
off the engine serves ab-
solutely no practical purpose and
wastes fuel.
IMPORTANT After a taxing drive it
is better to allow the engine to “catch
its breath” before turning it off by let-
ting it idle to allow the temperature in
the engine compartment to fall.STOPPING THE ENGINE
Turn the ignition key to STOP
while the engine is idling.
Remember that as long as
the engine is not running,
the power brakes and power steer-
ing do not work. You therefore have
to use considerably more effort on
both the brake pedal and the steer-
ing wheel.
WARNING

70
PARKING
Turn off the engine, pull up the hand-
brake, put the car in gear (1st if the car
is pointing uphill, reverse if downhill)
and turn the wheels. If the car is on a
steep incline, you should put a stone
or wedge under the wheels to block
them.
Do not leave the ignition key at
MAR because it drains the battery.
Always remove the key when you
leave the car.IMPORTANTIf this is not the
case, have the handbrake adjusted at
a Fiat Dealership.
When the hand brake is on and the
ignition key is at MAR, panel indica-
tor light xcomes on.
To release the handbrake:
1) Slightly lift the handbrake and
press release button A.
2) Keep the button pressed in and
lower the lever. Instrument panel in-
dicator light xwill go out.
3) To prevent the vehicle acciden-
tally moving, carry out this manoeuvre
with the brake pedal pressed. HANDBRAKE fig. 1
The handbrake lever is situated be-
tween the two front seats.
To operate the handbrake pull the
lever upwards until the car is pre-
vented from moving: pulling the lever
through four or five “clicks” is gener-
ally enough on level ground while nine
or ten might be necessary on a steep
incline and with a load in the car.
fig. 1
P5S00678mDo not leave children
unsupervised in the car.
WARNING

71
GEAR USE
To engage the gears, press down
the clutch and put the gear lever into
one of the positions shown in the
diagram infig. 2(the diagram is also
on the gear lever knob).
IMPORTANT The car can be put
in reverse only when it has com-
pletely stopped moving. With engine
running, before engaging the reverse,
wait at least 2 seconds with clutch
pedal completely pressed down to
prevent damage and grating of gears.
Do not drive with your
hand resting on the gear
stick as the force exerted,
even if only slight, could lead to
premature wearing of the gear-
box internal components.
fig. 2
P5S00679m
SAFE DRIVING
In designing the Fiat barchetta, Fiat
has made every effort to come up with
a car able to provide driver and pas-
senger with top-class levels of safety.
Nevertheless it is always the behaviour
of the person at the wheel that de-
termines road safety.
Below you will find some simple tips
to help you travel in safety under dif-
ferent conditions. You will no doubt
be familiar with many of them already
but it will be useful to read them all
carefully.
You must push the clutch
pedal fully down to change
gear properly. It is therefore essen-
tial that there is nothing under the
pedals: make sure mats are lying
flat and do not get in the way.
WARNING