General New Cinquecento Owner - Quick Question....

[dizzysimon]

Hi all, Just joined the forum as I have recently bought a 1998 Cinquecento Sporting....will have to post up a picture in the relevant section.

Anyways, I have a quick query after a problem I had this morning.....For some unknown reason the car would not start. I don't think it was the battery, it seemed to be the immobiliser. The dash lights all came on including the "code" light but nothing happened when the key was turned further.

I did get the red master key with the car so thought I would give that a try - and the car started straight away. The only thing I noticed was that the "code" light was on all the time it was running. Turned off the car and tried to start it with the blue key again and it started.....

All very strange, but does this mean there is a problem with the immobiliser? Why did the car seemingly forget the code until the red key reminded it?

Any advice/information appreciated.

 

[fingers99]

No idea why it happened. Quite often the contacts between the braided loop wire under the dash and the box itself will respond to cleaning. It's not that rare to see a car running with the CODE light on, so no real problem, just a PITA!

To the madhouse, anyway, welcome!

You can stick the pic of your car here, too, if you like!

 

[dizzysimon]

Thanks for the response, fingers - much appreciated although not sure what PITA means...........

On a possibly related note, I checked one of the spark plugs today (very fiddly job getting the plug in and out!) - it was black with carbon deposits. I think that this means the engine is running rich - is there an easy way to adjust the mixture?

Sorry for all the newbie questions!

 

[SuicideUK]

PITA means pain the the A$$ lol.

Luke.

 

[clarabow]

On your starter motor there is a red cable comming from it, give it a wiggle, if this does not work, take it off (pull it) and give it a clean.

If this does not solve the problem, check the earth is tight, goes from the battery to the left side of your engine.

 

[nickthenoon]

When I place the Red key in the code light always stays on. But when i put the blue in it goes off.

So last night someone tried to steal the car... but the immobiliser stopped them - they took all the leads off from the ignition block. So if mine had this feature before they destroyed the ignition block, it suggests that a CODE sign with a Red key is not suggesting an ill working immobiliser.

Not sure if that helps.... just wanted to share my experience!

Nick