this fiat has preobd ECU. Note that the (e)obd is a subset of the ECU command set. Eobd uses a 16 pin connector found on modern cars. By law, it is required to be able to read certain emission parms using simple tools.
Your fiat doen not have all this. however, via the 3 pin connector you can reach the ecu directly and extract almost anything, ranging from dtc (trouble codes), resetting them to injector timing, diagnostic operation of actuators like injectors etc etc. (The eobd reader cannot do this.)
How i know this for sure ?
Well, i have a Maserati 3200GTA (a fiat after all

), which has exactly the same diagnostic connector. The fiat probably has the Marelli IAW49F ECU, mine has the Marelli 4CM ecu, same familiy.
I bought a cable on ebay, (search for Fiat Lancia Alfa Romeo Cherry OBD Diagnostic adapter 2). This is a 3pin to 16pin converter cable.
The electrics of the KL interface follows the ISO9141 standard
From there , i built some electronics to have full access to the ecu.
it is designed around a motorola chip, to interface ISO9141 to RS232
The main ecu's in the italian cars: (Fiat,Alfa,Ferrari,Maserati etc)
engine: Marelli IAW series. protocol kwp2000. slow init K line only
abs: Bosch 5.3 series. protocol KW71 slow init L line. bidir data K line
airbag: TRW series. protocol KW81 slow init L line. bidir data K line.
slow init means that you wake the ECU with a 5 baud address. Every ecu has their own physical address. For example the engine ecu = 0x10, the ABS controller has 0x20, the airbag controller has 0x00. Then the ECU responds
with a identity string at a 'normal' baudrate (10400 or 9600 or 4800 baud).
Now the protocol for message exchange has to be followed.
The idea:
having the xenarc connected to a fanless pc. This pc is running msdos (oh yes...) with a dedicated program written in turbo pascal 6.0 (cause i need the serial interrupts). This way i can read all relevant parameters, output them in good native resolution graphics on the xenarc.
How to find the correct parameters ?
Via groups.yahoo.com, group unidiag and opendiag, you find the ECU technical info. In there (some in italian...) you find the locations in the ECU
to get the right data. So as soon as you have the protocol running, then you can find the correct parms.
I did this to make a repair tool, and the next step is the in car xenarc diagnostics with:
-actual knock
-actual lambda
-various temperatures
-error flags
etc
its fun to do!
rgds
Marcel
The netherlands