FIAT Barchetta (1995 - 2004) - Changing the battery

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Sat 11 Mar 2006 16:38
Changing the battery - barchettaman
Hi chaps, quick question.
When I put a new battery on the Barchetta tomorrow, do I have to use any kind of oil (for example) on the join between cable and terminal, or do the leads just clip and screw on? Anything I should be aware of - dos and don´ts?
Apologies if this is a completely daft question.
Thanks in advance,
barchettaman

Edited by Pugugly {P} on 12/01/2008 at 20:50

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Sat 11 Mar 2006 16:45
Changing the battery - redviper
Its always good practise to apply grease or petrolieoum jelly to the terminals to stop corrosion
Connect Positive Terminal 1st and then the Negative Terminal

Posti
--
1983 (A) Vauxhall Astra 1.3L
1993 (K) Vauxhall Cavalier 2.0i GLS
1999 (T) Renault Laguna 1.6
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Sat 11 Mar 2006 17:06
Changing the battery - LeePower
What year is the Fiat in question?

Is it one where you need the red master key to unlock the immobiliser after the battery is removed & refitted?
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Sat 11 Mar 2006 17:54
Changing the battery - barchettaman
It´s a 95, and if I need the red key I´m in serious trouble as I don´t have it.
Why wouldn´t the standard blue key work?
Am now a bit worried.
Cheers all,
barchettaman
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Sat 11 Mar 2006 18:01
Changing the battery - Spospe
Conventional wisdom says to use petroleum jelly (Vaseline) and not grease as it is not so good at combating corrosion caused by battery fumes.

Another reason for using petroleum jelly is that it is a reasonable conductor of electricity and so will give a better connection. When I was installing high current apparatus in the 1960?s it was normal practice to coat both faces of the conductors with petroleum jelly and then file the faces, so as to remove any oxidation, through the jelly, because it acted as an anti-oxidisation barrier.

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Sat 11 Mar 2006 18:29
Changing the battery - LeePower
Check in the cars handbook to see if your car does have the red master key system or ask a Fiat dealer before disconnecting the battery.

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Sat 11 Mar 2006 22:17
Changing the battery - barchettaman
Thanks all for the advice, and thanks mods too for amending the subject heading. I didn´t think it would be a question specific to the Barchetta, so I didn´t put that on - apologies.
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Sun 12 Mar 2006 01:29
Changing the battery - Galaxy
There's an interesting article in the April 2006 edition of Car Mechanics magazine about solving the problem of Fiats without a red key.
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Sun 12 Mar 2006 13:18
Changing the battery - LeePower
Thats a good article, That dignostic bloke has worked Fiats immobiliser system out & how to decode himself.

He can do most of the petrol red key systems but none of the diesels yet.
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Tue 14 Mar 2006 13:14
Changing the battery - barchettaman
In the end I had no problems. The red key was not required to restart. Bit of Vaseline on the battery terminals as suggested - cheers all,
barchettaman
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