2009 FIAT ULYSSE wheel

Remember that with the
key engaged and in M po-
sition, even with the en-
gine not running, the air bags may
be triggered on a stationary ve-
hicle if it is bumped by another
moving car. Therefore, never seat
children on the front seat even
when the vehicle is stationary.
On the other hand, remember
that with the vehicle stationary,
without the key engaged and
turned, the air bags are not trig-
gered in the event of an impact;
in these cases, failure to come in-
to action of the air bags cannot
be considered as a sign that the
system is not working properly.
GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CAR
129
Never travel with ob-
jects on your lap, in front
of your chest or with a
pipe, pencil, etc. between your
lips; injury may result in the event
of the air bag being triggered.If the car 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.
Do not wash the seat
back rest with pressurised
water or steam at auto-
matic seat washing stations.
Do not cover the back-
rest of front seats with
trims or covers that are
not suitable to be used with side
bags. Always keep you hands
on the steering wheel rim
when driving, so that if
the air bag is triggered, it can in-
flate without meeting any obsta-
cles which could cause serious
harm to you. Do not drive with
the body bent forward, keep the
seat back rest in the erect posi-
tion and lean your back well
against it.
Do not apply stickers or
other objects to the
steering wheel or to the
air bag cover on the passenger’s
side or on the side roof lining.
Never put objects (e.g. mobile
phones) on the dashboard on pas-
senger side since they could in-
terfere with proper passenger air
bag inflation and also cause seri-
ous injury.
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GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CAR
132
GENERAL NOTES
While parking, pay attention to ob-
stacles above or below the sensors. In
fact certain objects very close to the
vehicle rear part are not detected by
the system and so the car or the sen-
sors might get damaged.
Warnings coming from the damaged
sensors may be altered and no longer
reliable, also when they are covered
with dirt, mud, snow or ice, or con-
founded by nearby ultrasound systems
(e.g. air brakes of trucks or rivetting
hammers).SOUND SYSTEM
For the sound system, see the
“Sound system” handbook enclosed
to this “Owner handbook”.
ACCESSORIES
PURCHASED
B Y THE OWNER
If, after purchasing your car, you wish
to add electric accessories (alarm,
satellite antitheft device, etc.) that re-
quire permanent power supply or high
feed accessories, visit a Fiat Dealer-
ship. The staff of experts, beside sug-
gesting the most suitable accessories
in the Lineaccessori Fiat range, will al-
so check whether the car electrical
system can support the the required
load or if a larger size battery needs to
be installed.Take care when fitting
additional spoilers, alloy
rims and non-standard
wheel caps: they might reduce
ventilation of the brakes, thus
their efficiency, during abrupt
and repeated braking, or long
downhill slopes. Make sure that
nothing (mats, etc.) gets in the
way of the pedals when they are
pushed down.
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DRIVING YOUR CAR
138
HOW TO WARM UP
THE ENGINE AFTER
IT HAS JUST STARTED
– Begin to move forward slowly let-
ting the engine turning at medium revs.
Do not accelerate abruptly.
– Do not push the engine to its lim-
it for the first kilometres. You are rec-
ommended to wait until the water
temperature has reached 50° to 60°C.BUMP STARTING
For versions with a cat-
alytic converter, bump
starting by pushing, tow-
ing or rolling downhill must be
avoided at all costs. This ma-
noeuvre could cause a rush of fu-
el into the catalytic exhaust pipe
and damage it beyond repair.STOPPING THE ENGINE
Turn the ignition key to Swhile the
engine is idling.
Remember that as long
as the engine is not run-
ning, the power brakes
and power steering do not work.
You therefore have to use con-
siderably more effort on both the
brake pedal and the steering
wheel than you would do other-
wise.
Gunning the accelerator
before turning off the en-
gine serves absolutely no
practical purpose, wastes fuel and
is damaging, particularly to tur-
bocharged engines.
IMPORTANTAfter a taxing drive,
it is better to allow the engine to
“catch its breath” before turning it off
by letting it idle to allow the temper-
ature in the engine compartment to
fall.
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DRIVING YOUR CAR
139
PARKING
Proceed as follows:
– turn the engine off;
– pull up the handbrake;
– put the vehicle in gear (1
stif the ve-
hicle is pointing uphill, reverse if down-
hill);
– leave the wheels steered to block
the vehicle in the event the handbrake
is released.
For vehicles with automatic elec-
tronic gearbox refer to “Getting to
know your car” chapter.
SAFE DRIVING
In designing the Ulysse, Fiat has made
every effort to come up with a vehicle
able to provide driver and passengers
with top-class levels of safety. Never-
theless it is always the behaviour 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 already familiar with many of them
but it will be useful to read them all
carefully. Do not leave the ignition
key at M to prevent drain-
ing the battery.
Never leave children un-
attended in the car. Al-
ways remove the ignition
key when leaving the car and take
it out with you.
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DRIVING YOUR CAR
140
BEFORE GETTING BEHIND
THE WHEEL
The main suggestions are the fol-
lowing:
– make sure all lights including the
headlights are working properly;
– adjust the position of the seat,
steering wheel, driving and door mir-
rors properly for the best driving po-
sition;
– adjust the head restraints careful-
ly so that they support the head and
not the neck;
– make sure that nothing (mats, etc.)
gets in the way of the pedals when
they are pushed down;
– make sure that any child restraint
systems (child seats, carriers, etc.) are
properly fixed, preferably on the back
seat as this is the safest place in the
event of an accident;– make sure that objects being trans-
ported are carefully arranged so they
will not fly forward if you have to
brake sharply;
– do not eat a heavy meal before
travelling. Light eating will help keep
your reflexes prompt. Above all, do
not have anything alcoholic to drink.
Using certain prescription drugs can
reduce your ability to drive: read in-
structions for use carefully.
Periodically, remember to check:
– tyre pressure and conditions;
– engine oil level;
– coolant level and conditions of the
system;
– brake fluid level;
– power steering fluid level;
– windscreen washer liquid level.WHEN TRAVELLING
The main suggestions are the fol-
lowing:
– the first rule of safe driving is pru-
dence. Prudence also means putting
yourself into a position where you can
predict wrong or imprudent behaviour
from other drivers;
– stick closely to the rules of the
road in the particular country where
the vehicle is being driven and, above
all, do not exceed speed limits;
– ensure that, besides yourself, all the
other passengers in the vehicle have
their seat belts fastened, that children
are sitting in the appropriate child
seats and any animals in the car are
placed in suitable compartments;
– you should be physically fit and
mentally alert before setting out on
long journeys;
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DRIVING YOUR CAR
141
Be careful when fitting
additional spoilers, light
alloy rims and optional
wheel caps: these devices could
reduce brake ventilation and ef-
ficiency in the event of repeated
and sudden braking or long
downhill drives.Never drive with objects
on the floor in front of the
driver’s seat. The objects
could get jammed under the ped-
als making braking or accelerat-
ing impossible.
Driving while drunk or
under the influence of
drugs or certain medi-
cines is dangerous for both you
and other road users.Pay attention to mats: if
you note even a small
problem in braking, the
pedal stroke may need to be ad-
justed.
Always fasten both front
and back seat belts, in-
cluding child restraint sys-
tems. Travelling with the seat
belts unfastened increases the
risk of injury or death if you are
in a collision.
Water, ice and road salt
may deposit on brake
discs making it difficult to
brake the first time this is neces-
sary.– do not drive too many hours at a
time but stop at intervals to stretch
your legs and recoup your energies;
– make sure the air in the vehicle is
being changed continuously;
– never coast downhill (i.e. with the
engine off): if you do, you lose the aid
of the engine brake, power brakes and
power steering, so that braking and
steering require greater effort.
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DRIVING YOUR CAR
142
– only use full-beam headlights when
you are driving outside the city and
when you are sure they do not annoy
other drivers;
– if the headlights are on full, dip
them when you meet cars going in the
other direction and pass them with the
headlights dipped;
– 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 on
bends is lower.
The main suggestions are the fol-
lowing:
– 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, to make your-
self easier to be seen;
– do not drive through puddles at
speed and hold on tightly to the wheel:
the loss of grip caused by taking a pud-
dle at speed can make you lose con-
trol of the vehicle (“aquaplaning”);
– move the ventilation controls to
the position for demisting the win-
dows (see the section “Getting to
know your car”), to avoid visibility
problems;
– periodically check the condition of
the windscreen wiper blades. DRIVING AT NIGHT
The main suggestions are the fol-
lowing:
– drive especially carefully: it is hard-
er to drive at night;
– slow down especially if the road is
not lit;
– at the first signs of sleepiness, stop:
continuing would be a risk to yourself
and everybody else. Only start driving
again when you have had enough rest;
– 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;
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DRIVING YOUR CAR
144
DRIVING WITH ABS
ABS is a part of the braking system
offering 2 advantages:
1)it prevents wheel lock-up and
consequent skidding in emergency
stops, particularly when the road does
not offer much grip;
2)it makes it possible to brake and
steer at the same time so you can
avoid sudden objects on the road and
direct the vehicle where you want
while braking; this compatibly with the
physical limits of overall tyre grip.To get the most out of ABS:
– during emergency stops or when
grip conditions are poor, you will feel
a slight pulsation on the brake pedal.
This is the sign that the ABS is in ac-
tion. Do not release the brake pedal
but continue to press so as not to in-
terrupt the braking action;
– ABS prevents the wheels from
locking but it does not increase actu-
al grip conditions between tyre and
road. Therefore, even if your vehicle
is fitted with ABS, respect the safety
distance from the vehicle in front of
you and keep your speed down when
driving into bends.
ABS serves to increase the control-
lability of the vehicle, not to enable you
to go faster. DRIVING ON SNOW AND ICE
The main suggestions are the fol-
lowing:
– keep you speed down;
– keep a good distance from the cars
in front of you;
– use chains if the roads are covered
in snow. See “Snow chains” in this
chapter;
– do not keep the engine running for
long periods in deep snow as the snow
could push exhaust gases into the pas-
senger compartment;
– mainly use the engine brake and un-
der all circumstances avoid braking
sharply;
– do not accelerate suddenly and
avoid swerving;
– in the winter, even apparently dry
roads may have icy patches. Be care-
ful therefore when driving over
stretches that do not get much expo-
sure to the sun or that are lined by
trees and rocks, where ice might not
have melted.
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