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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68
You must press the
clutch fully down to
change gear properly. It is
therefore essential that there is
nothing under the pedals. Make
sure that mats are lying flat and
do not get in the way of pedals.
SAFE DRIVING
In designing the Fiat Palio, Fiat made
every effort to offer a car able to pro-
vide driver and passengers with top
class levels of safety.
Nevertheless it is always the behav-
iour of the person at the wheel that
determines 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.
USING THE
GEARBOX
To engage the gears, press the clutch
pedal fully down and put the gear lever
into one of the positions shown in the
diagram in
fig. 2(the diagram is also
on the gear lever knob).
To engage the reverse gear (
R), wait
that the car has stopped moving com-
pletely; from the neutral position, lift
the ring
Aof the reverse gear inhibitor
device, move the lever towards the
right side and then backwards.
fig. 2
P4E02289
IMPORTANTThe car can be put
into reverse gear when it has stopped
moving completely. With the engine
running, before engaging the reverse
gear, wait at least 2 seconds with the
clutch pedal fully down to prevent
damage and grating of the gears.
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98
IF THE BATTERY
IS FLAT
First of all, read the “Car mainte-
nance” chapter for the steps to be tak-
en to avoid the battery running down
and to ensure it has a long life.
JUMP STARTING
See “Jump starting” in this chapter.
RECHARGING THE BATTERY
You are advised to recharge the bat-
tery slowly for a period of approxi-
mately 24 hours at a low amperage.
Charging for too long could damage
the battery.
Proceed as follows:
1) Disconnect the electrical system
from the battery terminals.
2)Connect the charger cables to the
battery terminals.
3)Turn on the charger.
4)When you have finished, turn the
charger off before disconnecting the
battery.
5)Reconnect the cables to the bat-
tery terminals. Make sure the polari-
ty is correct.
Under no circumstances
should a battery charger
be used to start the en-
gine: it could damage the elec-
tronic systems and in particular
the ignition and injection control
units. The liquid in the battery
is poisonous and corro-
sive. Do not let it touch
the skin or eyes. Recharging the
battery should be done in a well-
ventilated area away from naked
flames or possible sources of
sparks: explosion and fire risk.Do not attempt to
recharge a frozen bat-
tery. Thaw it first other-
wise it could explode. If the bat-
tery froze, make sure that the in-
ternal elements are not broken
(short-circuit risk) and that the
casing is not cracked (risk of
spilling the poisonous and corro-
sive fluid).
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