STARTING
THE ENGINE
WARNING
This procedure must be per-
formed by expert personnel
because incorrect actions may cause
electrical discharge of considerable in-
tensity. Furthermore, battery fluid is
poisonous and corrosive: avoid contact
with your skin and eyes. Keep naked
flames away from the battery. No
smoking. Do not cause sparks.
EMERGENCY START
Go to a Fiat Dealership immediately if
warning light Y comes on steady on the
instrument panel.
fig. 1
STARTING THE ENGINE
WITH THE AUXILIARY
BATTERY
If after a few attempts the engine will not
start, do not insist but contact the near-
est Fiat Dealership.
If the battery is down, the engine can be
started using an auxiliary battery having
the same capacity, or higher.
BUMP STARTING
Never jump start the engine by pushing,
towing or driving downhill. This could
cause a flow of fuel into the catalytic con-
verter and damage it beyond repair.
IMPORTANT Never connect the negative
terminals of the two batteries directly:
sparks could ignite explosive gas released
from the battery. If the auxiliary battery is
installed on another vehicle, prevent acci-
dental contact between metallic parts of
the two vehicles.
For engine starting follow the procedure
below, fig. 1.
❒ Connect positive terminals (+ near the
terminal) of the two batteries with a
jump lead;
IMPORTANT Remember that the brake
booster and the power steering system
are not operating until the engine is start-
ed. A greater effort will, therefore, be re-
quired to press the brake pedal or turn
the steering wheel.
❒ With a second lead, connect the nega-
tive terminal (–) of the auxiliary battery
to an earthing point E on the engine or
the gearbox of the vehicle to be start-
ed.
Never use a quick battery
charger for emergency start
operations: this might dam-
age the electronic system and
❒ Start the engine.
the engine start/supply control units.
❒ When the engine has been started, fol-
low the sequence above in reverse or-
der to remove the leads.
120
English 
