
Warning. The cigar lighter
gets very hot. Be careful how
you handle it and make sure
it is not used by children: Danger of
fire or burns.
46
CIGAR LIGHTER fig. 45
It works only with the ignition key at
MAR.
Press the button
Aof the cigar
lighter; it will return to the original po-
sition after approximately 15 seconds.
The cigar lighter is ready for use.
fig. 45
P4E02032
fig. 44
P4E01399
FRONT CEILING LIGHT
fig. 44
The ceiling light can achieve the fol-
lowing positions:
– ceiling light lights up on pressing
ONregardless of the doors being
open or closed;
– ceiling light automatically comes on
when a front door is opened when the
glass is an intermediate position;
– In the OFF position the light re-
mains switched off, always.
IMPORTANT Always make sure
the cigar lighter does in fact pop out
after it has been pushed in.
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49
This device should al-
ways be used when trans-
porting children. Child safety lock
This ensures that the rear doors can-
not be opened from inside the vehicle.
Engage by inserting the tip of the ig-
nition key in
A-fig. 52 and turning it.
Position
1 - unlocked.
Position
2 - locked (a yellow little
mark certificates the engagement).
The device will be engaged even if
the doors are unlocked electrically.
fig. 52
P4E01612
fig. 53
P4E02011
ELECTRIC WINDOW
WINDERS
Front electric windows fig. 53
The electric windows are controlled
by two buttons located on the inside
handle of the driver’s door. They work
when the ignition key is at
MAR:
A- front left-hand window;
B- front right-hand window.
There is a button, located inside the
handle of the passenger’s door, to
control the relevant electric window.
Press the button to lower the win-
dows and pull to close.
CENTRAL DOOR LOCKING
SYSTEM
From outside
When the doors are closed, insert
and turn the key in the lock of one of
the front doors.
From inside
When the doors are closed, press
(to lock) or pull (to unlock) one of the
front door opening levers.
Operating the lever
A-fig. 51of the
rear doors, you lock/unlock the only
door interested.
IMPORTANTIf one of the doors
is not shut properly or there is a fail-
ure in the system, the central locking
feature will be not engaged and after
a few attempts the device is cut out
for about 2 minutes. During these 2
minutes, the doors can be locked or
unlocked manually without the elec-
trical system coming to play. After 2
minutes, the control unit is ready to
receive commands.
If the reason for the malfunction has
been removed, the device will start to
work properly again. If not it will cut
out once more.
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50
Do not keep the switch
pressed when the window
is completely wound up
or down.
Improper use of the
electrical windows can be
dangerous.
Before and during their opera-
tion ensure that no passengers
are at risk from the moving glass
either by personal objects getting
caught in the mechanism or by
being injured by it directly.
Always remove the ignition key
when you get out of the car to
prevent the electric windows be-
ing operated accidentally and
constituting a danger to the peo-
ple left in the car.
fig. 54
P4E02012
Rear electric windows
Inside the handle of each door there
is a button
A-fig. 54to activate the
relevant window.
Press the switch to lower the win-
dow.
Pull the switch to raise the window.
Additional buttons to control the rear
windows from the front seats are lo-
cated near the gear lever on the cen-
tral console:
B - rear left-hand window button;
C - rear right-hand window button;
D - rear door enable button (the
lights in the rear window buttons will
go out when the window winders are
disabled).
Manual window winders fig. 55
Use the appropriate handleA to
wind the window up or down.
fig. 55
P4E01791
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51
When using the boot,
make sure the load you
are carrying does not ex-
ceed the permitted weight (see
the chapter “Technical Specifi-
cations”). Also make sure the
items in the boot are arranged
properly to prevent them being
thrown forwards and injuring pas-
sengers should you brake sharply.BOOT
OPENING/CLOSING
THE BOOT
TAILGATE
The tailgate can be opened from out-
side and from inside the car.
To open the tailgate from outside the
car, unlock the lock using the ignition
key
fig. 56.
To open it from inside the car, pull
lever
A-fig. 57at the side of the dri-
ver’s seat.
Do not operate the tail-
gate opening lever when
the car is mobile.
To close, lower the tailgate to about
20 cm, then let it drop.
fig. 56
P4E02272
fig. 57
P4E01944
The addition of objects
on the boot lid (except
those envisaged by the
manufacturer) may prevent the
gas filled struts at the sides of the
boot from working properly.
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55
To close the bonnet:
1) Hold the bonnet up with one hand
and with the other remove the rod
A-
fig. 65
from the recess Band replace
it in its clip.
2)Lower the bonnet until it is about
20 cm above the engine compartment.
3) Let it fall: the bonnet closes au-
tomatically.
ROOF RACK
Move the door weather strips aside
in the points shown in
fig. 66to reach
the fasteners.
When the engine is hot,
be very careful not to burn
yourself when operating
inside the engine compartment.
Keep your hands away from the
electric fan as it may switch on at
any time, even with the key re-
moved from the ignition switch.
Wait until the engine cools down.
Always make sure the
bonnet is closed properly
so it will not open whilst
the car is moving.
After travelling a few
kilometers, check that
the securing screws are
tight.
Never exceed the per-
mitted weight (see
“Technical specifications”
chapter).
Be careful not to dam-
age the objects on the
roof rack opening the tail-
gate.
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59
When the ignition key is
turned to MAR, the indi-
cator û
comes on after
about four seconds. If the warn-
ing light does not come on, or it
remains on while travelling go
immediately to a Fiat Dealership.
Do not apply stickers or
other objects on the
steering wheel. Do not
travel with items on your lap, in
front of you or with a pipe, pencil
etc. between your lips. In a colli-
sion where the airbag is triggerd
you could seriously hurt yourself
GENERAL WARNINGS
It may happen that the air bag
inflates if the car is involved in
hard impacts or collisions in the
area of the underbody, for exam-
ple hard knocks against steps,
kerbs or raised road bumps, or if
the car drops into large pot-holes
or road dips.
When the airbag inflates it
emits a small amount of dust and
smoke. This dust and smoke is
harmless and it is not the begin-
ning of a fire.
If the warning light
ûcomes on
while travelling (indication of a
fault) go as soon as possible to a
Fiat Dealership.
The air bag system is valid for 10
years. When the expiry date is
near, contact a Fiat Dealership.
Should an accident occur in
which the airbag is activated,
take the car to a Fiat Dealership
to have the whole device re-
placed (electronic control unit,
seat belts, pretensioners) and tohave the electrical system
checked.
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.
If the car changes hands, the
new owner must be made aware
of the indications given above and
be given this Owner’s Handbook.
Pretensioners (if electronically
controlled) and air bag are trig-
gered by the electronic control
unit according to different types
of impact. Therefore, if some de-
vices do not trigger this does not
indicate a fault in the system.
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60
Always drive with both
hands on the rim of the
steering wheel so that the
airbag is free to inflate and pro-
tect you from serious injury in a
collision. Do not drive with your
body bending toward the steer-
ing wheel, but sit in an upright po-
sition with your back resting
against the seat.
If the car has been stolen
or an attempt has been
made to steal it, or it has
been vandalised in any way, or
subjected to flooding, have the
airbag system checked at a Fiat
Dealership.The air bag does not
substitute seat belts, but
increases its efficiency.
Furthermore, since the airbag is
not inflated in frontal collisions at
low speed, side collisions, rear
end shunts or overturns, in such
cases the occupants are protect-
ed by the seat belts only and
therefore they should always be
fastened.Correct functioning of
airbag and pretensioners
is only guaranteed when
the car is not overloaded.SOUND SYSTEMRemember that airbag
can be triggered when
the ignition key is insert-
ed and set to MAR, even with the
car stationary, if another vehicle
crashes into it. On the other
hand, when the car is stationary
and the ignition key is removed,
the airbag does not trigger in the
event of an impact.
Visit the Fiat Dealership
if you want to fit a sound
system after purchasing
your car. Qualified, trained staff
will provide useful advice for safe-
guarding the battery. Excessive
intake when the engine is not
running will damage the battery
and may invalidate the battery
warranty.
Fiat recommends wide range of
music systems as Fiat acces-
sories, which are available with
Fiat dealerships.
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65
The key switch is equipped with a
safety device which obliges, in the
event of engine starting malfunction to
return the key at
STOP prior to re-
peating the starting operation.
At the same time, when the engine is
running, the device prevents to shift
from
MAR postion to AVV position.
In the first operational seconds,
above all after a long inactivity peri-
od, you can hear a higher noise level
of the engine. Such phenomenon,
which does not compromise the func-
tionality and reliability, is typical of the
hydraulic tappets: the distribution sys-
tem, chosen for the engine of 100
16V
version of your Fiat Palio to contribute
to the maintenance intervention re-
duction.
STARTING THE ENGINE
IMPORTANT
Do not press the
accelerator until the engine has start-
ed.
1) Ensure that the handbrake is up.
2) Put the gear lever into neutral.
3)Press the clutch pedal right down.
4) Turn the ignition key to AVVand
release it as soon as the engine starts.If the engine does not start at the
first attempt, return the ignition key
to
STOP before trying to start the
engine again.
IMPORTANT Press the accelera-
tor slightly only if the outside temper-
ature is lower than –10°C and the en-
gine does not start at the first attempt.
IMPORTANTNever leave the ig-
nition key at
MARwhen the engine is
off.
Never touch the high
voltage wires (spark plug
wires) when the engine is
running.
It is dangerous to let the
engine run in a garage of
other closed area. The en-
gine consumes oxygen and gives
off carbon dioxide, carbon monox-
ide and other poisonous fumes.
STARTING THE
ENGINE
We recommend not to
push the engine to its lim-
its for the first period of
use (e.g. abrupt accelerations, ex-
cessively prolonged distances at
max revs, hard braking, etc.).
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