service Alfa Romeo GT 2008 Owner handbook (in English)

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CAR
42
IMPORTANTThe front and/or side air
bags may be activated if the car is subject-
ed to heavy shocks or accidents that involve
the underbody area, such as for example vi-
olent bumps against steps, pavements or
fixed obstacles on the ground, falling into
big holes or bumpy roads.
IMPORTANTThe triggering of air bags
releases a small amount of powder. This
powder is not harmful and does not indicate
a start of fire; also the surfaces of the de-
ployed bag and the car interior may be cov-
ered with dusty residue: this may irritate the
skin and eyes. In the event of exposure,
wash with neutral soap and water.
Life and validity of pyrotechnic charge and
coil contact are indicated on the label set
near the lock of the left front door. As this
date approaches, contact Alfa Romeo Au-
thorized Services to have the device re-
placed.IMPORTANTShould an accident occur
in which any of the safety devices is acti-
vated, take the car to Alfa Romeo Autho-
rized Services to have the devices activated
replaced and to have the system checked.
All operations involving checking, repair-
ing and replacing components concerning
the air bag must be carried out by Alfa
Romeo Authorised Services
If the car is to be demolished, Alfa Romeo
Authorised Services should be contacted be-
forehand to have the system deactivated. If
the car changes ownership, the new own-
er must be informed of the instructions for
use and of the above warnings and be giv-
en this “Owner’s Manual”.
IMPORTANT The triggering of the pre-
tensioners, front air bags and side bags is
decided in a differentiated manner depend-
ing on the type of crash. The failure to trig-
ger one or more of them does not neces-
sarily indicate a system malfunction.Never rest head, arms
and elbows on the door, on
the windows and in the
window bag area to prevent pos-
sible injuries during the inflation
phase.
Never lean head, arms
and elbows out of the win-
dow.

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CAR
43
GENERAL CAUTIONS
If when turning the ignition
key to MAR, the warning
light
¬does not turn on or
if it stays on when travelling there
could be a failure in safety sys-
tems; in this event air bags or pre-
tensioners could not trigger in case
of impact or, in a minor number of
cases, they could trigger acciden-
tally. Contact Alfa Romeo Autho-
rized Services immediately to have
the system checked.
Do not cover the backrest
of front seats with trims or
covers that are not suitable
to be used with side bags.Never travel with objects
on your lap, in front of
your chest or with a pipe,
pencil, etc. between your lips; in-
jury may result in the event of the
air bag being triggered.
Always keep your hands
on the steering wheel rim
when driving, so that if the
air bag is triggered, it can inflate
without meeting any obstacles
which could cause serious harm to
you. Do not drive with the body
bent forwards, keep the seat back
rest in the erect position and lean
your back well against it.
If the car has been stolen
or an attempt to steal it
has been made, if it has
been subjected to vandals or
floods, have the air bag system
checked by Alfa Romeo Authorized
Services.
Remember that with the
key engaged and at MAR,
even if the engine is not
running, the air bags may be trig-
gered on a stationary car if it is
bumped by another moving car.
Therefore, never seat children on
the front seat even when the car is
stationary. On the other hand re-
member that if the key is at STOP,
no safety system (air bags or pre-
tensioners) is triggered in the
event of an impact; in this case,
failure to come into action cannot
be considered as a sign that the
system is not working properly.

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CAR
44
STEERING WHEEL
LEVERS
The devices and services controlled by the
levers on the steering wheel can only be ac-
tivated with the ignition key at MAR.
LEFT-HAND LEVER
The left-hand lever controls the outer lights
except for the fog lamps and rear fog
guards.
When the outer lights are switched on, the
various controls on the dashboard are illu-
minated.
Only with the ignition key at PARK, re-
gardless of the position of the knurled ring,
the sidelights and number plate lights stay on.
Position (1or2-fig. 60) of the lever
causes the turning on only of the sidelights
(front and rear), on the right or left respec-
tively.
Lights switched off
(fig. 55)
When the pointer in the knurled ring is op-
posite the symbol O, the outer lights are
switched off. When the ignition key is
turned to MAR, the warn-
ing light
F(with passen-
ger’s front air bag deactivation
switch at ON) turns on and flash-
es for few seconds to remind that
passenger’s air bag will be de-
ployed in a crash, after which it
should go off.The front air bag is trig-
gered for shocks greater in
magnitude than the pre-
tensioners. For impacts between
these two thresholds, it is there-
fore normal that only the preten-
sioners are triggered.
Do not hook rigid objects
to the coat hooks and to
the support handles.
The air bag does not sub-
stitute the seat belts, but
only increases their effec-
tiveness. Moreover, since the front
air bags do not come into operation
in the event of front impact at low
speed, side collisions, bumps from
behind or overturning, in these cir-
cumstances the occupants would
only be protected by the seat belts
which must therefore always be
fastened. Never wash seat back-
rests with pressurised wa-
ter or steam (by hand or at
automatic seat washing stations).

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CAR
51
TO REDUCE THE
MEMORISED SPEED
The speed memorised can be reduced in
two ways:
1) disengaging the device (for instance
pressing the brake pedal) and then memo-
rising the new speed (turning the ring (B)
to (+) for at least three seconds);
2) keeping the ring pressed (B) at (–)
until reaching the new speed which will be
memorised automatically.The device may only be engaged in in 4th,
5th or 6th gear, depending on the speed
of the car. Travelling downhill with the de-
vice engaged the car speed may increase
more than the memorised one, due to the
change in the engine load.
The ring (A) may be left constantly at ON
without damaging the device. You are, how-
ever, advised to switch the device off when
not in use, turning the ring to OFF, to avoid
memorising speeds by accident. It is advisable to engage the cruise control
only when the conditions of the traffic or
roads so permit under completely safe con-
ditions, i.e.: straight and dry roads, dual car-
riage ways or motorways, flowing traffic and
smooth road surface. Do not engage the de-
vice in town or in heavy traffic conditions.When travelling with the
cruise control on, do not
move the gearshift lever to
neutral and do not move the Sele-
speed selector to N.
Cruise control may only
be engaged at speeds be-
tween 30 and 190 km/h.
If the device is faulty or
not working, turn the ring
(A) to OFF and contact Al-
fa Romeo Authorised Services af-
ter checking that the protection
fuse is intact.
TO RESET THE MEMORISED
SPEED
The memorised speed is automatically re-
set turning off the engine or moving the ring
(A) to OFF.

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CAR
57
FUEL LEVEL GAUGE WITH
RESERVE INDICATOR
This shows the amount of fuel left in the
fuel tank.
The warning light
K(A-fig. 76) turns on
to indicate that approx. 7 litres of fuel are
left in the tank.
IMPORTANTUnder certain conditions
(heavy slopes, for instance), the reading on
the gauge may differ from the actual amount
of fuel in the tank and changes in level may
be indicated late.
This condition falls within the operation log-
ics of the electronic control circuit to avoid
highly unstable readings due to swaying of
the fuel when travelling.
IMPORTANTRefuelling shall always be
performed with engine off and ignition key at
STOP. If the engine is off but the key is at
MAR, a wrong fuel level could temporarily
be indicated. This is due to the internal sys-
tem control logic and cannot be considered as
a system malfunctioning.
ENGINE COOLANT FLUID
TEMPERATURE GAUGE WITH
MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE
WARNING LIGHT
This shows the temperature of the engine
coolant fluid and begins when the fluid tem-
perature exceeds approx. 50°C.
Normally the pointer should be towards
the middle of the scale. If the pointer reach-
es the higher temperatures of the scale (red
section, or white on certain versions) the re-
quest for car performance should be de-
creased.
The turning on of the
u(B-fig. 76)
warning light (on some versions together
with the message shown on the reconfig-
urablemultifunctiondisplay) indicates that
the coolant fluid temperature is too high;
in this case, stop the engine and contact
Alfa Romeo Authorised Services.IMPORTANTThe temperature of the en-
gine coolant may rise towards the maximum
values (red section, or white on certain ver-
sions) when the car is driven at low speeds,
especially when the ambient air tempera-
ture is high. In this case it is advisable to
stop the car and switch off the engine for
a few minutes, after which the journey can
be resumed, preferably at a higher speed.
fig. 76
A0A0758b

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CAR
62
“SETUP MENU”
The “Setup Menu” shall be used to perform the adjustments and/or settings described on the following pages, by pressing button MODE
and
▲/▼(seefig. 83). Press briefly button MODEto display the setup menu. The menu consists of a set of functions arranged in a “cir-
cular fashion” fig. 84.
MENU OFFDIMMER
SPEED
TRIP B
TIME
DATE
DST (SUMMER TIME)
MODE 12/24
RADIO TELEPHONE NAVIGATION LANGUAGEUNITSBUZZERSERVICE
Day
YearMonth
Q
English
Nederlands
Espãnol
Français
Deutsch
Italiano
Q
Press brifely button MODEto open the menu. To surf the menu, press buttons ▲or▼. For safety reasons, when the car is running, it is
possible to access only the reduced menu (for setting “DIMMER” and “SPEED” values). When the car is stationary access to the whole menu
is enabled.fig. 84

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CAR
63
Engine oil level check
(JTD versions)
Turning the ignition key to MARthe dis-
play shows the engine oil level for a few sec-
onds. During this phase, to clear the display
and move to next screen, press briefly but-
tonMODE.
IMPORTANTTo make sure that the en-
gine oil level displayed is correct, carry out
the check with the car on level ground.
Fig. 85refers to the correct engine oil
level display. As the oil level gradually falls,
the full bars go off leaving room for the emp-
ty ones.
fig. 85
A0A9101g
fig. 86
A0A9102g
fig. 87
A0A9103g
Fig. 86refers to the display with an oil
level below the preset minimum. In this con-
dition the bars are all empty.
IMPORTANTIn this case the correct en-
gine oil level should be restored as soon as
possible, see “Checking levels” in section
“Car maintenance”. Fig. 87refers to the display with an oil
level above the preset maximum. In this con-
dition the bars are all full.
IMPORTANTIn this case, contact Alfa
Romeo Authorised Services who will restore
the correct engine oil level.

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CAR
68
BUZZER
This option enables to adjust the volume
of the roger-beep accompanying the acti-
vation of the car buttons and any fail-
ure/warning indication shown on the dis-
play.
To adjust the volume proceed as follows:
❒press briefly button MODE: the display
will show the previously set volume
“level”;
❒press buttons ▲/▼for setting;
❒press briefly button MODEto go back
to the menu screen or press the button
for long to go back to the standard
screen.
IMPORTANTIn the buzzer OFFcon-
dition, any buzzer failure warnings are main-
tained.
SERVICE
Through this function it is possible to dis-
play information connected to proper car ser-
vicing.
To consult this function, proceed as follows:
❒press briefly button MODE: service in
“km” or “mi” according to previous
setting, will be displayed (see para-
graph “UNITS”);
❒press buttons ▲/▼to display the re-
quired service info;
❒press briefly button MODEto go back
to the menu screen or press the button
for long to go back to the standard
screen.
IMPORTANTThe Service Schedule in-
cludes car maintenance every 20,000 km;
this is shown automatically, with the igni-
tion key to MAR, starting from 2,000 km
(or mi) from this deadline and it will be dis-
played again every 200 km. The display can
only be reset by Alfa Romeo Authorized Ser-
vices.
MENU OFF
Selecting this option will bring back to stan-
dard screen.
❒press briefly button MODEto select
the consumption unit (or press the but-
ton for long to go back to the standard
screen);
❒If the distance unit set is “km”, the dis-
play will show “l/100km” or
“km/l”: press buttons
▲/▼for set-
ting. If the distance unit set is “mi”, the
display will show “mpg”;
❒press briefly button MODEto go back
to the menu screen or press the button
for long to go back to the standard
screen.
IMPORTANTThe temperature unit (°C
or °F) set on the display is also shown on
the displays of the two-zone climate control
(where provided) and radionavigator (where
provided).

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CAR
72
Handbrake on
The warning light turns on when the hand-
brake is on. HIGH ENGINE
COOLANT
TEMPERATURE (red)
Turning the ignition key to MARthe warn-
ing light turns on, but it should go off after
few seconds.
The warning light turns on (together with
message + symbol on the display) when the
engine is overheated: if the warning light
comes on when driving, stop the car leav-
ing the engine on and slightly accelerated
to further activate the circulation of the
coolant fluid.
If the warning light does not turn off with-
in the next 2 or 3 minutes, stop the engine
and contact Alfa Romeo Authorized Services.
WARNING LIGHTS
AND MESSAGES
IMPORTANTThe presence of warning
lights depends on the type of engine and
equipment with which the car is fitted.
LOW BRAKE FLUID
LEVEL (red)
HANDBRAKE
ON (red)
Turning the ignition key to MARthe warn-
ing light turns on, but it should go off after
few seconds.
Low brake fluid level
The warning light turns on (together with
message + symbol on the display) when the
level of the brake fluid in the reservoir falls
below the minimum level, due to possible
leak in the circuit.
x
If the warning light turns
on when travelling, check
that the handbrake is not
engaged. If the warning light stays
on with handbrake disengaged,
stop the car immediately and con-
tact Alfa Romeo Authorized Ser-
vices.
u

GETTING TO KNOW YOUR CAR
73
LOW ENGINE
OIL PRESSURE
Message + symbol are displayed when en-
gine oil pressure is low.
LOW BATTERY
CHARGE
Message + symbol are displayed when the
battery charge is low.
If message + symbol are displayed, con-
tact immediately Alfa Romeo Authorized Ser-
vices.
AIR BAG FAILURE
(red)
Turning the ignition key to MARthe warn-
ing light turns on, but it should go off after
few seconds.
The warning light stays on glowing steadi-
ly if there is a failure in the air bag system.
¬vw
If when turning the igni-
tion key to MAR, the
warning light
¬does not
turn on or if it stays on when trav-
elling there could be a failure in
safety systems; in this event air
bags or pretensioners could not
trigger in case of impact or, in a mi-
nor number of cases, they could
trigger accidentally. Before restart-
ing contact Alfa Romeo Authorized
Services.
The failure of the warning
light
¬(warning light off)
is also indicated by the
flashing for more than the normal
4 seconds of the air bag warning
light
¬.
If message + symbol are
displayed when travelling
stop the engine immedi-
ately and contact Alfa Romeo Au-
thorized Services.