General Keys, and lack thereof

[AramisTG]

Hello expert friends.

I've been perusing the forums and realize that Fiat uses a coded key system. I also found the Barchetta manual which confused me further.

The manual shows 3 keys, the Master (burgundy A in pic), the daily use keys (blue, B in pic) and the "Valet" key for lack of a better term, starts the car but doesn't open things (C in pic).

When I purchased the car from my best friend's widow, she could only find one key pictured below and didn't provide the Card with codes:

This key is clearly not burgundy in colour, even though I am colour blind. But it is the shape of the Master key from the manual. Did Fiat change colour schemes in 2005?
Can I get another key made using this key? How does one go about getting keys without the Code card?

Help! I really don't like only having one key for the vehicle.

Scott

 

[the green vanper]

Hello,

I don't know about the Barchetta, but FIAT like most of other makes uses immobilizers. The transponder should be in the key. Normally it is a glass . plastic tube with electronics inside, the power is inducted from the antennae around the place you put the key to start the engine (I don't know the English word). So, putting the wrong key, even correctly cut, wouldn't allow you to start the engine. It was already used in the 90's in the Cinquecento. So definitely could be the same in the Barchetta.

A key without the correct transponder was able to open the door and unlock the steering wheel, but was not able to start the engine. In the CC my father had 3 keys. The main one, blue one, similar to yours marked A + the same exact copy. And the 3rd one was similar to yours marked C. With a black plastic. And as far as I remember this one had no transponder, so if the main keys were lost, you could start the engine only having a code card (there was a special procedure to input the code), and to make a new main, full key you needed to have the code card + the 3rd key. Combined it allowed you to get a new working key.

With the keyfobs with a PCB board it became even more complicated, because you have to program 2 separate things: the keyfob (which operates the central locking) and the transponder (which operates the immobilizer). Now I own a Ducato, I also bought it used and with one key only. At the FIAT dealership they printed me free of charge the code upon proof of ownership, so I could use it to program the key in MultiEcuScan.

Normally the transponder is like 1 cm long and 3 - 4 mm of diameter, so there should be some kind of cover to cover the transponder in the key. I can't remember how it looked in the A key in my father's Cinquecento. But in my '97 Ford it was very visible and quite easy to open. Perhaps you should check if there is such cover in the key you've got. You could also check in a company that make copies of the keys if they can read the transponder (they have some copying tools to copy it to a new key), and you could also ask the dealership if they could provide you the code.

I know that it was not the case for FIAT in the UK for some kind of insurrance reasons... But perhaps Canada would be more 'european'

 

[ben]

The forum could never collectively agree when, but at some point in the late 90/early 2000 the brown/blue key system was replaced with just a double blue (where both were now active)

For example my Bravo mk1 has the brown one, but my friend's mk2 doesn't.

If that is a mk1 blue key (and you are missing the brown) don't worry, they can still be cloned by a key place (in the UK we always recommended people go to timpsons)

 

[s130]

Our 2005 Barchetta, manufactured on 23/07/2004 (VIN range 57170 - 57420), came with the three types of keys. Red Master, Round Blue Normal, Oblong Blue Valet Key.

For the Barchetta I would think it is unlikely that Fiat would have changed from the Code I to the Code II System. The Mark II Bachetta's were a reopening of the manufacturing line (well all hand built) with minimal changes. Notably the bumpers and boot brake light. The same Hitachi engine ECU & Immobiliser were all the same.

That said I think we can only assume this for the EU markets. Models for Japan/other markets could be different.

 

[portland_bill]

Your pic only shows one side of the key.
The later keys, without the brown master, had a '2' on the blade, just below the plastic part, with a little symbol that represented the transponder.
If it has the 2, it is a later type and can be cloned. If it has nothing, it is either the type 1, or a replacement with no markings.