Hello all.

I have a Punto 1.7DS and don't know if I need a red key or not.

The car is on an 'N' plate and is reg late 1995. Have spoken to a Fiat dealer, after telling him the chassis No' I was told that my car was right on the change over. IE: punto's before didn't have Immob and coded keys. He further told me that all punto's that had coded keys all came with a red master one regardless of engine (petrol/diesel)

I've read a lot of postings on forums about some punto's of a certain age only having blue keys from new, and some coming with a red one. So I don't know what to believe!

My car runs fine and I have 2 blue keys, but I’ve only had the car a short time.

I'm thinking there must be someway of checking if I have one of these punto's that needs a red key or not. Surely if serial numbers off the different bits of the car are quoted to Fiat or whoever; a person can be told what's what.

Appreciate any advice/suggestions on this subject.

do you have a little code light on the dash that comes on for few seconds when you turn ignition key? if so you have transponder keys and imobiliser. they supposed to have a red key. but if you have no red key dont worry to much it very unlikely you will need it.

Thanks Dave for the response.

My car does have Fiat's immob system with coded keys, but I just wanted to know if there was a way of finding out what vintage system it was, and if it was one that used a red key or not.

For anybody else reading this, there's a company that can supply code free ECU's for both petrol & diesel Punto's (and other makes) on an exchange basis. They charge about £100 for this service and it means you don't have to bother with coded keys ever again. The Codeman offers a re-programming service, but is unable to do diesel punto's at present. So for anybody having worries or problems it would seem it's not too bad to sort out. Better then paying £1000 for Fiat to sort it anyway!

I think Fiat had good intentions when it designed the security system for its cars, just badly missed the boat for backup for its customers when there's problems with it.

Still welcome any comments on this subject.

McBain said:

Thanks Dave for the response.

My car does have Fiat's immob system with coded keys, but I just wanted to know if there was a way of finding out what vintage system it was, and if it was one that used a red key or not.

For anybody else reading this, there's a company that can supply code free ECU's for both petrol & diesel Punto's (and other makes) on an exchange basis. They charge about £100 for this service and it means you don't have to bother with coded keys ever again. The Codeman offers a re-programming service, but is unable to do diesel punto's at present. So for anybody having worries or problems it would seem it's not too bad to sort out. Better then paying £1000 for Fiat to sort it anyway!

I think Fiat had good intentions when it designed the security system for its cars, just badly missed the boat for backup for its customers when there's problems with it.

Still welcome any comments on this subject.

Click to expand...

Why exactly do you want a red key? if you need more spares clone the ones you allready have.
anyway as far as i can remember the code system on diesels works exactly the same as the system on a petrol, e.g. same code ecu, red keys/blue keys except you dont have an engine ecu, you have and armoured cutoff switch on the fuel pump which stores the shared code.
btw: mk2 puntos are the only puntos with code systems that come with no red key, they should really have separate forums for mk1 and mk2 puntos because they are very much totaly different cars and confusion like this can occour.

Thanks for the information on the Punto's. (mk1's red keys/mk2's no red keys)

I don't want a red key, I just wanted to know if I needed one, and It would seem by your info that there should be one for my car. I'm not going to worry about it anyway, as there's nothing I could do about it if the system asked for the red key. At least I know I can get it sorted without it costing more then the car's worth.

CHEERS.