I brought a 95 Barchetta about 3 months ago and it only had the blue key. Of course I did not realise there was a magic red key and that this was so important until I was told by the fiat dealer its more valuable than the presidents key to the silos...

Does anyone know where I can get a key cut and the transponder sorted so that I dont have to replace half the car?

Thx in anticipation.

OUCH!!! gonna cost you.....

This chap has been recomended before:-

http://www.radiocodeman.co.uk/fiat-red-key.htm
OR
http://www.lostcarkeys.co.uk/



Best of luck!

Thanks for the reply, I will give them a call.

You know, I had the same problem, but with Fiat Coupe.
When I bought it, i had only one secondary key. I broke it and asked dealer about making the copy. They've said, that to make a copy I need a RED one and a card with a "special" number. And the only way to solve this problem was to change whole FIAT CODE SYSTEM with all keys. I didn't belive them and decided to go to key-copying workshop. And they copied this CODE in a few seconds and made me a new key.
And it cost me about 1600 rubles (I'm from Russia) - approx £30.

Red blue and Brown (and thread Drift)

As of Thursday I'm now the proud owner of a 99 LE.

Just a query regarding the keys.

I see Red and Blue mentioned here a lot but.....

With mine I got the Blue and the Large Brown one.

I haven't got a Red.

Can this be cloned from the Brown Master?

Oh and............

I've got a minor Humm (not quite squeek) on the power steering.
Only when turning Left, not at full lock (my first thought) and
doesn't seem to matter what speedright down to almost stationary.

Oh and it's a bit intermittent!

Any help appreciated.

DaveA

Re: Red blue and Brown (and thread Drift)

The brown is the red one.

Re: Red blue and Brown (and thread Drift)

Robot said:

The brown is the red one.

Click to expand...

Robot.....

Thanks for the swift reply!!!

HOwever, I may not have been totally clear...

The manual shows three Keys.

The large Brown / beige master

The blue and grey normal

and the 'red' slightly thinner 'engineer only' one.

I assumed there was a difference given the manual says
that the 'red' is supplied without duplicate.

Can someone clarify (in simple terms, with drawings if required)
what each of the three keys does then?

Also does anyone know where in the South Manchester area I can get
a set of dupliactes done? My neares dealer is Fiat at Stockport but
does anyone else have any other suggestions.

Sorry if I'm being thick / dumb / annoying [1]. It's the first Fiat
I've owned

Thanks

DaveA

EDIT: Should have added the alarm's been switched off and I don't have the key for that. Is there somewhere that that can be obtained from?



[1] Delete as appropriate.

i have a 200 'chetta, been driving it now for 3 months without either a red or blue key, only two silver ones, with no plastic covers.

originally had trouble starting it, but now with new camshaft sensors, and camshaft pulley and pulley sensor fitted it seems to go. (only actually starts on 3rd or 4th attempt, but does start.

so i dont know what all the fuss is about red and blue keys!

incidentally my missus has been driving an m reg cinquecento with no red or blue key for 6 years now without any problems!

so whats all the fuss about?

tufty06 said:

so whats all the fuss about?

Click to expand...

As far as I know the problems happen when the Immobiliser (sp?)
is activated.

The red key is used to reactivate the ECU. Otherwise it's a rude shock and bill!

HTH

DaveA

im not sure i follow you....................how is my immobiliser activated, and who will be doing it?

tufty06 said:

im not sure i follow you....................how is my immobiliser activated, and who will be doing it?

Click to expand...

Anyone trying to move it without a proper key!

Steal it etc.....

That said, if all you've got is two plain keys it sounds like it's been deactivated anyway so really not a problem for you at all....

Regards

DaveA

so thats the answer then, everybody should deactivate their immobilisers and buy a crooklok and the whole red and blue key thing should go away!

If only it was that simple
This is what you should have:- One red/brownish quite thick looking master key. One slim blue key and one blue/silver key.
The red one as mentioned everywhere is the one you must have! It's all well and good having a car that runs for six years without one but whenever the ECU is disturbed either by someone trying to nick the car or if the ECU is spiked in some way whenthe car may be having work carried out then you WILL need this key, try checking out the incidences when people have come across this. There is a B for sale at the moment on web site that the lady is goint to part out because of the cost of a replacement ECU and key set. I have though seen the odd ECU and key set appear on ebay so that could be one way around the problem. The thin blue key is recommended to be given to your garage when work is being carried out on the car because it will only operate the ignition and NOT the doorlocks, centre console or boot! The blue and silver key is your everyday key and opens all locks

APPLEBYD!
I think you may be stuffed if you have not got the key for the alarm, I assume you mean the box next to the battery? PM me with your phone number as I am in Hyde and I may be able to help

It still amazes me that people misplace the keys!

I'm not having a go either, but isnt that one of the first questions to ask when buying a car, have you got all the keys, including the master key?

I've never had a car before that had a "master" key, so it's not a question I thought of. In fact my Barchetta only came with two blue keys, but it hasn't stopped the garaage working on it nor has it been a problem when I've disconnected the battery myself.

Perhaps the older ones without alarms don't have a "red" key?

The master key is a pain. One of the reasons Fiat dropped it was because their vehicles were being devalued in the marketplace because of lost keys. In my job ( I buy motorhomes many of which are on Fiats), if a Red key was lost or not available then a £1000 comes off the price straight away. If an issue arose which needed the master key and computer in the vehicle to be replaced the retailer is liable under warranty to do this.

Its a knee-jerk reaction but it is supposedly a very costly job, all keys, lock barrels, and relavent hardware in the vehicle. This has never happened to me thankfully and I dont sell to the public so warranties are not an issue for me but I sell to people that provide warranties so they have to protect themselves. Say for example you buy a car with aircon and it fails under warranty. The dealer has to repair it, but if its beyond repair he should replace it. It'll cost a fortune to do that but generally it can be repaired. The Red key and anciliaries cannot be repaired so will definately coat a fortune to the retailer to replace.

Yes the Red key can be cloned, if you have one to clone, but this is not the same. It will mean you can start your car, but if there is a more serious problem then you're in the brown stuff.

If you own a car without a Red key but your car starts dont worry, if you have just one key left then get it cloned cos if you lose that one you're stuffed.

Mad Matt said:

Perhaps the older ones without alarms don't have a "red" key?

Click to expand...

I've got a '97 B without alarm and that has a brown / red key. I knew to expect one as previously I'd owned a '98 Marea.

I've got two of the blue/silver keys too, but I've never seen the engineer-only thin blue key.

Matt

Mad Matt said:

I've never had a car before that had a "master" key, so it's not a question I thought of.

Click to expand...

Good point, I guess I'm just thinking of the number of times I've seen the "what master key?" and the word "barchetta" together

well as i said before, mine only came with 2 silver keys, and altho never starts first time, always starts 3rd or 4th time. (I know within a couple of revs whether or not the engine is gonna catch, if it doesnt catch right away, then it wont catch ever and i have to start again.)

i have had all sorts of work done on the electrics, including new cam shaft sensors and a new camshaft pulley, and it still starts. so I dont know what the previous owner did to mine, but it means i dont have the red/blue key thing to worry about................which is nice