2008 FIAT DUCATO Owners Manual

MANUAL DEACTIVATION OF
PASSENGER’S FRONT AIR BAG
AND SIDE BAG
(where provided)
Should it be absolutely necessary to car-
ry a child on the front seat, the passenger’s
front air bag and the side bag (where pro-
vided) can be deactivated.
The instrument panel warning light Fwill
stay on glowing steadily until reactivating
the passenger’s front air bag and the Side
Bag (where provided).
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CORRECT USE
OF THE
VEHICLE
WARNING
LIGHTS AND
MESSAGES
IN AN
EMERGENCY
VEHICLE
MAINTENANCE
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATIONS
IINDEX
DASHBOARD
AND CONTROLS
SAFETY
DEVICES
SERIOUS DANGER: With
passenger’s air bag active
(ON), never place child’s
seats with the cradle facing
backwards since the air bag
activation could cause to
the child serious injuries, even mortal.
In the case of need, always deactivate
the passenger’s air bag when a child’s
seat is placed on the front seat. The
front passenger’s seat shall be ad-
justed in the most backward position
to prevent any contact between
child’s seat and dashboard. Even if
not compulsory by law, you are rec-
ommended to reactivate the air bag
immediately as soon as child trans-
port is no longer necessary.
WARNING
To deactivate the passen-
ger’s front air bag and the
side bag (where provided), refer to
paragraphs “Digital display” and
“Multifunction display” in section
“Dashboard and controls”.
WARNING
SIDE AIR BAGS
The vehicle is fitted with front side bags
for driver and passenger (where provid-
ed) for protecting the chest and window
bags (where provided) for protecting front
passengers’ head.
Side bags (where provided) protect vehi-
cle occupants from side crashes of medi-
um-high severity, by placing the cushion
between the occupant and the internal
parts of the side structure of the vehicle.
Non-activation of side bags in other types
of collisions (front collisions, rear shunts,
roll-overs, etc...) is not a system malfunc-
tion.
In case of side crash, an electronic control
unit, when required triggers the inflation
of the cushion. The cushion immediately
inflates, placing itself as a protection, be-
tween the occupant’s body and the struc-
ture that could cause injuries. Immediate-
ly after, the cushion deflates.
Side bags (where provided) are not a re-
placement of but complementary to the
belts, which you are recommended to al-
ways wear, as specified by law in Europe
and most non-European countries.

129
CORRECT USE
OF THE
VEHICLE
WARNING
LIGHTS AND
MESSAGES
IN AN
EMERGENCY
VEHICLE
MAINTENANCE
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATIONS
INDEX
DASHBOARD
AND CONTROLS
SAFETY
DEVICES
FRONT SIDE BAGS - CHEST
PROTECTION
fig. 16 (where provided)
Front side bags are housed in the seat back
rests, they consist of an instant inflation
cushion designed to increase protection
of the occupants’ chest in the event of a
side crash of medium-high severity.SIDE WINDOW BAGS - HEAD
PROTECTION fig. 17
(where provided)
They consist of two “curtain” cushions,
one on the right and the other on the left
side of the vehicle, located behind the side
coverings of the roof and covered by
proper finishing.
Window bags have been designed for pro-
tecting the head of front occupants in the
event of side crash, thanks to the wide
cushion inflation surface.
IMPORTANT In the event of side crash,
you can obtain the best protection by the
system keeping a correct position on the
seat, allowing thus a correct window bag
unfolding.
fig. 16F0N0140mfig. 17F0N0133m
IMPORTANT The front air bags and/or
side bags may be deployed if the vehicle
is subject to heavy knocks or accidents in-
volving the underbody area, such as for
example violent shocks, against steps,
kerbs or low obstacles, falling of the ve-
hicle in big holes or sags in the road.
IMPORTANT When the airbag inflates it
emits a small amount of dusts. These dusts
are harmless and is not the beginning of
a fire; then the unfold cushion surface and
the vehicle interiors can be covered by a
dusty remains: this dust can irritate skin
and eyes. In case of contact, wash yourself
using neutral soap and water.
Expiration dates of pyrotechnic charge and
coil contact are indicated on the label in-
side the glovebox. As these dates ap-
proach, contact Fiat Dealership to have
them replaced.
IMPORTANT Should an accident occur in
which any of the safety devices is activat-
ed, take the vehicle to a Fiat Dealership to
have the devices activated replaced and to
have the system checked.
Every control, repair and replacement op-
erations concerning the air bags must on-
ly be carried out c/o Fiat Dealership.

If you are having the vehicle scrapped,
have the air bag system deactivated at a Fi-
at Dealership first. If the vehicle changes
ownership, the new owner must be in-
formed of the method of use of air bags
and the above warnings and also be given
this “Owner Handbook”.
IMPORTANT The triggering of preten-
sioners, front air bags and side bags is de-
cided in a differentiated manner by the
electronic control unit, depending on the
type of crash. The failure to deploy one or
more of them does not mean that the sys-
tem is not working properly.
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CORRECT USE
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VEHICLE
WARNING
LIGHTS AND
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EMERGENCY
VEHICLE
MAINTENANCE
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATIONS
IINDEX
DASHBOARD
AND CONTROLS
SAFETY
DEVICES
Never rest head, arms and
elbows on the door, on the
windows and in the window bag area
to prevent possible injuries during in-
flation phase.
WARNING
Never lean head, arms and
elbows out of window.
WARNING
GENERAL WARNINGS
If when turning the key to
MAR the warning light ¬
does not turn on or if it stays on when
travelling (together with the message
on the multifunction display, where
provided) there could be a failure in
safety systems; in this event air bags
or pretensioners could not trigger in
case of impact or, in a minor number
of cases, they could trigger acciden-
tally. Contact Fiat Dealership imme-
diately to have the system checked.
WARNING
Do not cover the backrest of
front and rear seats with
trims or covers that are not suitable
to be used with side bags.
WARNING

131
CORRECT USE
OF THE
VEHICLE
WARNING
LIGHTS AND
MESSAGES
IN AN
EMERGENCY
VEHICLE
MAINTENANCE
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATIONS
INDEX
DASHBOARD
AND CONTROLS
SAFETY
DEVICES
Never travel with objects on
your lap, in front of your
chest or with a pipe, pencil, etc. be-
tween your lips; injury may result in
the event of the air bag being trig-
gered.
WARNING
Always keep your hands on
the steering wheel rim when
driving, so that if the air bag is trig-
gered, it can inflate without meeting
any obstacles which could cause seri-
ous harm to you. Do not drive with
the body bent forwards, keep the seat
back rest in the erect position and
lean your back well against it.
WARNING
Remember that with the key
engaged and at MAR, even if
the engine is not running, the air bags
may be triggered on a stationary ve-
hicle if it is bumped by another mov-
ing vehicle. Therefore, never seat chil-
dren on the front seat even when the
vehicle is stationary. On the other
hand remember that if the key is at
STOP, no safety system (air bags or
pretensioners) is triggered in the
event of an impact; in this case, fail-
ure to come into action cannot be
considered as a sign that the system
is not working properly.
WARNING
If the vehicle has been stolen
or an attempt to steal it has
been made, if it has been subjected to
vandals or floods, have the air bag
system checked by Fiat Dealership.
WARNING
When the ignition key is
turned to MAR, the warning
light F(with passenger’s front air
bag active) turns on and flashes for
few seconds to remind that passen-
ger’s air bag will be deployed in a
crash, after which it should go off.
WARNING

132
CORRECT USE
OF THE
VEHICLE
WARNING
LIGHTS AND
MESSAGES
IN AN
EMERGENCY
VEHICLE
MAINTENANCE
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATIONS
IINDEX
DASHBOARD
AND CONTROLS
SAFETY
DEVICES
Do not wash the seat back
rest with pressurised water
or steam (by hand or at automatic
seat washing stations).
WARNING
The front air bag is triggered
for shocks greater in magni-
tude that the pretensioners. For im-
pacts between these two thresholds,
it is therefore normal that only the
pretensioners are triggered.
WARNING
Do not hook rigid objects to
the coat hooks and to the
support handles.
WARNING
The air bag does not substi-
tute the seat belts, but only
increases their effectiveness. More-
over, since the front air bags do not
come into operation in the event of
front impact at low speed, side colli-
sions, bumps from behind or over-
turning, in these circumstances the
occupants would only be protected
by the seat belts which must therefore
always be fastened.
WARNING

133
WARNING
LIGHTS AND
MESSAGES
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EMERGENCY
VEHICLE
MAINTENANCE
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATIONS
INDEX
DASHBOARD
AND CONTROLS
SAFETY
DEVICES
CORRECT USE
OF THE VEHICLE
ENGINE STARTING ........................................................... 134
PARKING................................................................................ 136
USING THE MANUAL GEARBOX ................................. 136
LOAD RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................ 137
CONTAINING RUNNING COSTS................................. 138
TOWING TRAILERS............................................................ 139
SNOW TYRES....................................................................... 143
SNOW CHAINS................................................................... 143
VEHICLE INACTIVITY ....................................................... 144
CC C
O O
R R
R R
E E
C C
T T
U U
S S
E E
O O
F F
T T
H H
E E
V V
E E
H H
I I
C C
L L
E E

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DASHBOARD
AND CONTROLS
SAFETY
DEVICES
CORRECT USE
OF THE VEHICLE
ENGINE
STARTING
The vehicle is fitted with an electronic en-
gine lock device: if the engine fails to start,
see the paragraph “The Fiat CODE sys-
tem” in section “Dashboard and controls”.
We recommend that during
the initial period you do not
drive to full vehicle perfor-
mance (e.g.: excessive accel-
eration, long journeys at top speed,
sharp braking, etc.).
When the engine is switched
off never leave the key into
the ignition switch to prevent
pointless current absorption
from draining the battery.
Running the engine in con-
fined areas is extremely dan-
gerous. The engine consumes oxygen
and produces carbon monoxide
which is a highly toxic and lethal gas.
WARNING
Remember that the servo-
brake and power steering
are not operational until the engine
has been started, therefore much ef-
fort than usual is required on the
brake pedal and steering wheel.
WARNING
STARTING PROCEDURE
Proceed as follows:
❒engage the handbrake;
❒put the gear lever into neutral;
❒turn the ignition key to MAR: the
warning lights
mand Yon the in-
strument panel will turn on;
❒wait for the warning lights Yand
mto turn off. The hotter the engine
is, the quicker this will happen;
❒press the clutch pedal down to the
floor without pressing the accelerator;
❒turn the ignition key to AVVas soon
as warning light
mturns off. If you
wait too long you will lose the bene-
fit of the work done by the glow plugs.
Release the key as soon as the engine
starts.

135
WARNING
LIGHTS AND
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EMERGENCY
VEHICLE
MAINTENANCE
TECHNICAL
SPECIFICATIONS
INDEX
DASHBOARD
AND CONTROLS
SAFETY
DEVICES
CORRECT USE
OF THE VEHICLE
If the engine does not start at the first at-
tempt, return the ignition key to STOP
before repeating starting.
If, when the ignition key is at MAR, the in-
strument panel warning light
Yremains
lit together with warning light
mturn
the key to STOPand then back to MAR;
if the warning lights remain on, try with
the other keys provided with the vehicle.
IMPORTANT If the instrument panel
warning light
Ystays on glowing steadi-
ly, contact immediately Fiat Dealership.
IMPORTANT Never leave the ignition key
to MARwhen the engine is off.
The warning light
mwill
flash for 60 seconds at start-
up or during prolonged crank-
ing to indicate a fault in the
glow plug heating system. You can use
the vehicle as usual if the engine starts
but you should contact Fiat Dealership
as soon as possible.
HOW TO WARM UP THE
ENGINE AFTER IT HAS JUST
STARTED
Proceed as follows:
❒drive off slowly, letting the engine turn
at medium revs. Do not accelerate
abruptly;
❒do not drive at full performance for
the initial kilometres. Wait until the
coolant temperature gauge starts
moving.
Remember that the servo-
brake and power steering are
not operational until the en-
gine has been started, there-
fore much effort than usual is required
on the brake pedal and steering wheel.
Never bump start the engine
by pushing, towing or coast-
ing downhill as this could
cause fuel to flow into the
catalytic exhaust system and damage
it beyond repair.
STOPPING THE ENGINE
Turn the ignition to STOPwhile the en-
gine is idling.
IMPORTANT After a taxing drive, you
should allow the engine to “catch its
breath” before turning it off by letting it
idle to allow the temperature in the en-
gine compartment to fall.
A quick burst on the acceler-
ator before turning off the en-
gine serves absolutely no
practical purpose, it wastes
fuel and is damaging especially to tur-
bocharged engines.