59GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CAR
If the ¬warning light
does not turn on when
turning the ignition key
to MAR or if it stays on when
travelling, this could indicate a
failure in safety retaining sys-
tems; under this condition air
bags or pretensioners could not
trigger in the event of collision
or, in a restricted number of
cases, they could trigger acci-
dentally. Stop the car and con-
tact Fiat Dealership to have the
system checked immediately.
Do not travel with ob-
jects on your lap or in
front of you. Do not hold
a pipe, a pencil or similar be-
tween your lips. You could seri-
ously hurt yourself if the airbag
inflates in a collision. The warning light Fshould come on for ap-
proximately four seconds
and then flash for other four sec-
onds when the passenger side
airbag deactivation switch is
turned to ON and the ignition
key is turned to MAR to remind
you that the passenger side
airbag will be fired in the event of
an accident. The warning light
should then go out.
Always drive with both
hands on the rims of the
steering wheel so that the
airbag is free to inflate during a
head-on collision and protection
yourself 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. If an attempt has been
made to steal the car or if
it has actually been stolen
or vandalised in any way or sub-
jected to flooding, have the
airbag system checked at a Fiat
Dealership.
Please note that airbags
can be triggered when
the engine is running also
if the car is stationary and an-
other vehicle crashes into it at
suitably high speed. As a conse-
quence, never sit children in the
front seat, also when the car is
still. On the other hand, the
airbags will not be fired if the car
is stationary and the key is not
turned. Missed operation in these
circumstances does not indicate
a fault.
The failure of the ¬
warning light is also indi-
cated by the flashing for
more than the normal 4 seconds
of the passenger’s front air bag
deactivated warning light
F. In
addition the air bag system will
deactivate automatically the pas-
senger’s air bags (front and side
where provided). In this event,
warning light
¬could not indi-
cate safety systems failures. Con-
tact Fiat Dealership immediately
to have the system checked.
001-069 Seicento GB 22-11-2007 10:49 Pagina 59
60GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CAR
Correct operation of
the front airbags and the
pretensioners is guaran-
teed as long as the car is not
overloaded.
The airbag does not re-
place seat belts but
rather increases their ef-
fectiveness. Furthermore, 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 be fastened
at all times. EOBD SYSTEM
The EOBD (European On Board Di-
agnosis) system continuously monitors
the car emission system components.
Furthermore, the system warns the
driver of deterioration concerning the
emission system components by
means of the Uwarning light on the
instrument panelThe objective is to:
– monitor system efficiency;
– warn when failures can increase
emissions over the threshold estab-
lished by the European regulations;
– warn of the need to replace dete-
riorated components.
Furthermore, the system is equipped
with a connector for interfacing with
specific tools used to read the error
codes stored in the control unit mem-
ory along with a set of diagnostic and
engine specific parameters. This check can also be performed by
traffic controller agents.
Contact a Fiat Dealer-
ship as soon as possible if
the Uwarning light ei-
ther does not come on when the
key is turned to MAR or comes
on, with fixed or flashing light,
when travelling.
IMPORTANTAfter eliminating
the problem, your Fiat Dealership
will run a bench test to fully check the
system. In some cases, a long road
test may be required.
001-069 Seicento GB 22-11-2007 10:49 Pagina 60
73DRIVING YOUR CAR
IMPORTANT Reverse gear can
only be engaged when the car is com-
pletely stationary. With the engine
running, before engaging the reverse
gear, wait for at least two seconds
with the clutch pedal pressed fully
down to avoid damaging or grating the
gears.
To change the gear
properly (with mechani-
cal clutch) you must push
the clutch pedal fully down. It is
therefore essential that there is
nothing under the pedals. Make
sure mats are lying flat and do
not get in the way of the pedals.CONTAINING
RUNNING COSTS
AND POLLUTION
Some suggestions which may help
you to keep the running costs of the
vehicle down and lower the amount
of toxic emissions released into the
atmosphere are given below.
GENERAL
CONSIDERATIONS
Car maintenance
The overall state of the car is an im-
portant factor which has a marked in-
fluence over fuel consumption and
driving comfort and on the life span of
your car. For this reason care should
be taken to maintain your car by car-
rying out the necessary checks and
regulations in accordance with the
specifications given in the
SERVICE
SCHEDULE
(see sections: SPARK PLUGS,
IDLING, AIR CLEANERS, TIMING). Tyres
Tyre pressure should be checked at
least once every four weeks: if the
pressure is too low fuel consumption
increases as the resistance to the
rolling movement of the tyre is
greater. In this state, tyre wear is in-
creased and vehicle handling suffers
which will effect safety.
Unnecessary loads
Do not travel with too much luggage
stowed in the boot. The weight of the
vehicle and its trim greatly effects con-
sumption and stability.
070-082 Seicento GB 22-11-2007 10:50 Pagina 73
82DRIVING YOUR CAR
STORING THE CAR
The following precautions should be
taken if the car will not be used for
several months:
– Park the car in covered, dry and if
possible well-ventilated premises.
– Engage a gear.
– Make sure the handbrake is not
engaged.
– Remove the cables from the bat-
tery terminals (first remove the cable
to the negative terminal), and check
the battery charge. If the car is to be
stored for long periods the charge of
the battery should be checked every
month and recharged if it falls below
12.5V.– Clean and protect the shiny metal
parts using special compounds readily
available.
– Sprinkle talcum powder on the
rubber windscreen and rear window
wiper blades and lift them off the glass.
– Open the windows slightly.– Cover the car with a cloth or per-
forated plastic sheet. Do not use
sheets of non-perforated plastic as
they do not allow moisture on the car
body to evaporate.
– Inflate the tyres to + 0.5 bar above
the normal specified pressure and
check it at intervals.
– Do not drain the engine cooling
system.
070-082 Seicento GB 22-11-2007 10:50 Pagina 82
107CAR MAINTENANCE
thousands of kilometres
Check anti-evaporation system
Replace air cleaner cartridge
Top up fluids (engine coolant, brakes, windscreen washer, battery, etc.)
Check timing belt conditions
Replace timing belt (*)
Replace spark plugs
Check engine control systems via diagnostic socket
Check mechanical gearbox oil level
Change engine oil
Replace engine oil filter
Change brake fluid (or every two years) 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
●●
●●●●
●●●●●●●●●
●●
●
●●●●
●●●●
●●
●●●●●●●●●
●●●●●●●●●
●●●
(*) or every 3 years for demanding use (cold climates, prolonged idling in city traffic)
or every 5 years, regardless of distance
105-123 Seicento GB 22-11-2007 10:51 Pagina 107
108CAR MAINTENANCE
ANNUAL INSPECTION SCHEDULE
– Inspect conditions of. engine, gear-
box, transmission, piping (exhaust -
fuel feed - brakes), rubber parts
(boots - sleeves - bushings - etc.),
brake and fuel line hoses.
– Check for bonnet and boot lock
cleanness, lever cleanness and lubri-
cation.
– 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). The following annual inspection
schedule is recommended for
cars travelling less than
20,000 km a year (e.g. approxi-
mately 10,000 km). The schedule
includes the following operations:
– Check tyre condition and wear
and adjust pressure, if required (in-
cluding 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 wind-
screen/rear window wiper blades.
– Check front brake pad conditions
and wear.
ADDITIONAL
CHECKS
Every 1,000 kmor before long
trips, check and top up as necessary:
– engine coolant level, brake fluid
level, windscreen washer liquid level,
tyre pressure and conditions.
Every 3,000 kmcheck and top up
as necessary: engine oil level.
We recommend using FL Selenia
products which were specifically de-
signed and made for use in Fiat vehi-
cles (see
CAPACITIEStable in TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATIONS
).
105-123 Seicento GB 22-11-2007 10:51 Pagina 108
109CAR MAINTENANCE
IMPORTANT - Remote control
If when the remote control button
is pressed the doors are not
locked/unlocked or the performed
operation signal (indicator lights on)
does not appear, change the battery,
using spare batteries of the same kind.
IMPORTANT - Engine oil
Should the prevailing use of the car
be under one of the following specially
heavy conditions:
– trailer towing
– dusty roads
– short distances (less than 7-8 km)
repeated and with external tempera-
tures below zero.
– frequently idling engines or long
distance low speed driving (e.g. taxis
or door-to-door deliveries) or in case
of a long term inactivity replace engine
oil more frequently than required on
SCHEDULED MAINTENANCE PLAN.IMPORTANT - Air cleaner
Replace the air cleaner more fre-
quently if the car is used on dusty
roads.
If you are in doubt about how often
the engine oil or the air cleaner should
be changed in relation to how you use
the car, contact a Fiat Dealership.
IMPORTANT - Battery
The charge in your battery should be
checked, where possible at the start
of the winter, to limit the risk of the
battery electrolyte freezing. This
check should be carried out more fre-
quently if the car is mainly used for
short trips or if it is fitted with acces-
sories that permanently take in elec-
tricity even when the ignition key is
removed, especially in the case of af-
ter market accessories.You should check the battery fluid
(electrolyte) level more frequently
than shown in the
SERVICE SCHEDULEin
this chapter if the vehicle is used in
hot climates or particularly demand-
ing conditions.
Maintenance of your car
should be entrusted to a
Fiat Dealership. For ordi-
nary routine maintenance oper-
ations which you are able to
carry out yourself, ensure that
you have the necessary tools and
original Fiat spare parts and flu-
ids available. Do not carry out
servicing operations if you have
no experience.
105-123 Seicento GB 22-11-2007 10:51 Pagina 109
110CAR MAINTENANCE
CHECKING FLUID LEVELS
fig. 1
P4Q01095
Do not smoke while
working in the engine
compartment: the pres-
ence of flammable gas and
vapour could cause a fire.
Be very careful: scarves,
ties and other loose arti-
cles of clothing could eas-
ily get caught up in moving parts.
This can be extremely danger-
ous.
1. Engine oil - 2. Battery - 3. Brake fluid - 4. Windscreen washer fluid - 5. Engine
coolant.
Be careful not to mix up
the various types of fluids
when you are topping up:
they are all mutually incompati-
ble and could damage the car. ENGINE OIL
Check engine oil with the car on
level ground and while the engine is
still warm (approximately 5 minutes
after stopping the engine).
The oil level must be between the
MIN and MAX marks on the dipstick
B-fig. 2.The space between MIN and MAX
equals about 1 litre of oil.
If the oil level is near or even below
the MINmark, pour in oil through
the filler hole Auntil it reaches the
MAXmark.
The level of the oil should never ex-
ceed the MAXmark.
105-123 Seicento GB 22-11-2007 10:51 Pagina 110