2003 FIAT BARCHETTA wiper blades

74
– Keep a greater safety distance from
the cars in front of you than during
daylight hours: it is hard to judge how
fast other cars are going when all you
can see are their lights.
– Make sure the headlight beams are
properly positioned: if they are too
low, they reduce visibility and are hard
on the eyes. If they are too high they
can dazzle other drivers.
– Only use main-beam headlights
when you are driving outside the city
and when you are sure they do not an-
noy other drivers.
– If the headlights are on full, dip
them in good time to prevent dazzling
other drivers coming in the other di-
rection.
– Keep all lights clean.
– Be careful of animals crossing the
road when driving in the country.DRIVING IN THE RAIN
Rain and wet road surfaces spell dan-
ger.
All manoeuvres are more difficult on
a wet road because the friction of the
wheels on the tarmac is greatly re-
duced. This is why braking distances
are much longer and roadholding is
lower.
Here is some advice to follow if it is
raining:
– Reduce speed and keep a greater
safety distance from the cars in front.
– If it is raining particularly heavily,
visibility is also reduced. In these cas-
es, switch on the dipped headlights
even if it is still daylight so you can be
seen more clearly by other drivers.
– Do not drive through puddles at
speed and hold on tightly to the wheel:
a puddle taken at speed can make you
lose control of the car (“aquaplaning”).
– Move the ventilation controls to
the position for demisting the win-
dows (see the “Getting to know your
car” section), to avoid visibility prob-
lems.– Periodically check the condition of
the windscreen wiper blades.
DRIVING IN FOG
– If the fog is thick, do not start out
on a journey unless you absolutely
have to.
If driving in mist, blanket fog or when
there is the danger of patches of fog :
– Keep the speed down.
– Turn on the dipped headlights, rear
foglights and front foglights, if fitted,
even during the day. Do not drive with
your headlights at full-beam.
IMPORTANTOn stretches of
road with good visibility, switch off
your rear foglights; the brightness of
these lights could annoy the people
travelling in the cars behind.

81
VEHICLE
STORAGE
Do the following if the car is not to
be used for several months:
– Park the car with the hood closed
in covered, dry and if possible well-
ventilated premises.
– Engage a gear.
– Make sure the handbrake is not
engaged.
– Disconnect the terminals from
the battery poles (negative pole first)
and check the battery charge. When
the vehicle is in storage, this check
should be carried out once a month.
If the no-load voltage is less than
12.5V, recharge the battery.– Inflate the tyres to 0.5 bar above
the normal specified pressure and
check it at intervals.
– Check battery charge once a
month.
– Do not drain the engine cooling
system. IMPORTANTIf the car is fitted
with an electronic car alarm, turn off
the alarm with the remote control
and deactivate the system by turning
the emergency key to “OFF”(see
the “Electronic alarm” in the
“Getting to know your car” section).
– Clean and protect the painted
parts using a protective wax.
– Clean and protect the shiny metal
parts using special compounds avail-
able on the market.
– Sprinkle talcum powder on the
rubber windscreen wiper blades and
lift them off the glass.
– Open the windows slightly.
– Cover the car with a cloth or
perforated plastic sheet. Do not use
sheets of imperforated plastic as
they do not allow moisture on the
car body to evaporate.

115
ANNUAL
INSPECTION
SCHEDULE
The following annual inspection
schedule is required for cars travelling
less than 20,000 km a year (e.g. ap-
proximately 10,000 km). The schedule
includes the following operations:
– Check tyre condition and wear and
adjust pressure, if required (including
spare-saver spare wheel).
– Check operation of lights (head-
lights, direction indicators, hazard
lights, boot light, passenger compart-
ment ceiling light, glove compartment
light, instrument panel lights, etc.).
– Check windscreen wiper/washer
and adjust nozzles.
– Check position wear of windscreen
window wiper blades.
ADDITIONAL
OPERATIONS
Every 1,000 kmor before long
trips, check and top up as necessary:
– coolant level
– brake fluid level
– power steering fluid level
– electrolyte level
– windscreen washer liquid level
– tyre condition and pressure.
We advise you to use FL Selenia
products, which have been designed
and produced expressly for the Fiat
vehicles (see the table “Capacities” giv-
en in the “Technical specifications”
section).
Every 3,000 km check and top up
as necessary: engine oil level. – Check rear brake pad conditions
and wear.
– Inspect conditions of. engine, gear-
box, transmission, piping (exhaust - fu-
el feed - brakes), rubber parts (boots
- sleeves - bushings - etc.), brake and
fuel line hoses.
– Check battery charge status.
– Check conditions of various con-
trol belts.
– Check and top up fluid levels (en-
gine coolant, brakes, windscreen
washer, battery, etc.).
– Change engine oil.
– Replace engine oil filter.
– Replace pollen filter (where fitted).

128
RUBBER TUBING
Follow the Service Schedule careful-
ly in the case of the braking, power
steering and fuel supply systems' rub-
ber hoses. Ozone, high temperatures
and long absence of liquid in the sys-
tem can in fact cause the hardening
and cracking of the hoses with possi-
ble losses of fluid. A careful check is
therefore essential.
WINDSCREEN
WIPER
BLADES
Periodically clean the rubber part
with suitable liquid; TUTELA PRO-
FESSIONAL SC 35is recommend-
ed.
Change the blades if the rubber edge
is warped or worn out. You should in
any case change them approximately
once a year. To ensure the front and rear tyres all
wear evenly, you are advised to change
the tyres over every 10-15 thousand
kilometres (6-10 thousand miles)
keeping them on the same side of the
car so as not to reverse the direction
of rotation.
Do not change the tyres
over in criss-cross fashion
by moving a tyre from the left hand
side of the car to the right and vice
versa.
WARNING
Travelling with worn wiper
blades is dangerous be-
cause it reduces visibility in bad
weather.
WARNING

129
Some simple steps can reduce po-
tential damage to the blades:
– If the temperature falls to below
zero, make sure the rubber blade is
not frozen to the windscreen. If nec-
essary, free it with a de-icing com-
pound.
– Remove any snow that has settled
on the glass: besides saving the blades
you will avoid straining the electric
windscreen wiper motor and causing
it to overheat.
– Do not operate the windscreen
wipers on dry glass.SPRAY NOZZLES
If there is no jet of liquid, first make
sure that there is liquid in the reser-
voir: see “Checking fluid levels” in this
chapter.
Then make sure that the holes in the
nozzles fig. 12 are not clogged up.
Use a pin for this if necessary.
The jets of the windscreen washer
are directed by adjusting the nozzles
in such a way that the jets are direct-
ed at the highest point reached by the
wiper blades when operating. Changing the windscreen
wiper blade fig. 11
1)Lift windscreen wiper armAand
position the blade to form a right an-
gle with the arm.
2) Press tab Bof the coupling spring
and remove the blade to be replaced
from the arm.
3)Fit the new blade by inserting the
tab into the special hole in the arm.
Make sure it is locked into place.
fig. 12
P5S00711m
fig. 11
P5S00710m

162
Ventilation ................................ 36
Vehicle storage .......................... 81
Warning lights ......... 30-31-32-33
Weights ........................................ 143
Wheel geometry (toe-in)......... 140
Wheel rims ................................. 141
Wheels
– changing a wheel ................. 88
– spare ...................................... 141
Wind stop .................................. 51
Window cleaning ....................... 132
Windscreen washer
– controls................................. 40
– fluid level............................... 120
Windscreen wipers
– controls ............................... 39
– blades .................................... 128
– nozzles .................................. 129