How Often Do You Utilize Car Repair Manuals?
Discussion
How often do you Utilize car repair manuals? 
I find it exciting to get my hands on a tray of tools and fix things myself but there is always a shortcoming when things get too technical.
First time I tried using a hard copy repair manual I was turned off by all the text, but with digital versions everywhere it cant be that bad.
I have had some advice from do it yourselfers and professional mechanics and they all agree that it could save me some time and money, even not actively then maybe for the long term. How often do you do preventive maintenance with manuals, if so how functional is it for you?
I find it exciting to get my hands on a tray of tools and fix things myself but there is always a shortcoming when things get too technical.
First time I tried using a hard copy repair manual I was turned off by all the text, but with digital versions everywhere it cant be that bad.
I have had some advice from do it yourselfers and professional mechanics and they all agree that it could save me some time and money, even not actively then maybe for the long term. How often do you do preventive maintenance with manuals, if so how functional is it for you?
It is a time honoured tradition for any self respecting petrol head to always read a car manual whilst sat on the toilet.
If you are really dedicated to the art, often when it comes to actually doing some work on your car, you don't need the manual at all except maybe to look up torque wrench settings. But legend has it that some have even memorised them as well and can reel them off like the times tables.
If you are really dedicated to the art, often when it comes to actually doing some work on your car, you don't need the manual at all except maybe to look up torque wrench settings. But legend has it that some have even memorised them as well and can reel them off like the times tables.
PositronicRay said:
I used to, when little alternative.
There's not one published for my current car, so I've a DVD ripped from the manufactures system, it assumes your factory trained though.
You tube, owners club forums are the way forward for most stuff. I even have an old flaptop just for garage use.
Glad I am not the only one.There's not one published for my current car, so I've a DVD ripped from the manufactures system, it assumes your factory trained though.
You tube, owners club forums are the way forward for most stuff. I even have an old flaptop just for garage use.
I download/buy electronic manuals these days & have an old Toughbook in the garage for exactly this purpose.
I think Ive bought a Haynes manual for for most of the cars I've had and then passed them on with the car (though I've kept a BMC workshop manual for an Austin 1100 for no particular reason).
They can be useful but quality has gone down over the years and a line drawing beats a photo with no context every time. Never found the "spanner rating" much help.
They can be useful but quality has gone down over the years and a line drawing beats a photo with no context every time. Never found the "spanner rating" much help.
GreenV8S said:
CarKing said:
I was turned off by all the text
Really, it has to be in pictures for you to take it in?It takes a minute to read through a manual's description of any given procedure, written by a trained professional. It takes ten minutes of staring at YouTube to get a vague idea of what some random gimp did.
Use them all the time - esp for torque settings.
I've got the Haynes for all the cars we've had over the years, basic but contain most of the useful info. Seen too many of them on the shelves of smaller garages to dismiss them out of hand.
I have the LR factory manual for my RRC. A 3" thick A4 book which IIRC cost me over £30 when I bought it over 20 years ago - I believe they are now around the £60 mark. I also have the Haynes & the line drawings & a lot of the instructions are a straight lift from the factory one.
Later LRs are covered by the various RAVE CDs.
Some youtube 'how to's' are excellent but a lot are utter garbage. For LR stuff those by 'trailerfitter' are well worth a look. He's a qualified professional mechanic.
I've got the Haynes for all the cars we've had over the years, basic but contain most of the useful info. Seen too many of them on the shelves of smaller garages to dismiss them out of hand.
I have the LR factory manual for my RRC. A 3" thick A4 book which IIRC cost me over £30 when I bought it over 20 years ago - I believe they are now around the £60 mark. I also have the Haynes & the line drawings & a lot of the instructions are a straight lift from the factory one.
Later LRs are covered by the various RAVE CDs.
Some youtube 'how to's' are excellent but a lot are utter garbage. For LR stuff those by 'trailerfitter' are well worth a look. He's a qualified professional mechanic.
I use them all the time. I taught myself by reading them, went from plugs and points, to rebuilding engines and g/boxes. I've never been very good at bodywork though, but will give it a go.
I can do most things now without a manual, but still have a look first and you still need to know torque settings etc.
I can do most things now without a manual, but still have a look first and you still need to know torque settings etc.
I have a Haynes manual for E36 but I rarely if ever use it, it's more for memorabilia purposes. It's from relatively early in the model cycle so there's a fair bit of stuff relevant to late-model cars that's missing. And it's usually much quicker to look for how-tos on forums, especially now I found the browser extension that makes Photobucket work properly again!
PositronicRay said:
I used to, when little alternative.
There's not one published for my current car, so I've a DVD ripped from the manufactures system, it assumes your factory trained though.
You tube, owners club forums are the way forward for most stuff. I even have an old flaptop just for garage use.
Which car is that...there are some quality websites that have pretty much repair manuals for all the basic models in the market. The DVD could be too technical for the average car owner. There's not one published for my current car, so I've a DVD ripped from the manufactures system, it assumes your factory trained though.
You tube, owners club forums are the way forward for most stuff. I even have an old flaptop just for garage use.
vsonix said:
I have a Haynes manual for E36 but I rarely if ever use it, it's more for memorabilia purposes. It's from relatively early in the model cycle so there's a fair bit of stuff relevant to late-model cars that's missing. And it's usually much quicker to look for how-tos on forums, especially now I found the browser extension that makes Photobucket work properly again!
Have you tried checking the updated versions on repair manual websites, BMW is an important car and you should have an easy time finding it should you need an alternative in the future. CarKing said:
PositronicRay said:
I used to, when little alternative.
There's not one published for my current car, so I've a DVD ripped from the manufactures system, it assumes your factory trained though.
You tube, owners club forums are the way forward for most stuff. I even have an old flaptop just for garage use.
Which car is that...there are some quality websites that have pretty much repair manuals for all the basic models in the market. The DVD could be too technical for the average car owner. There's not one published for my current car, so I've a DVD ripped from the manufactures system, it assumes your factory trained though.
You tube, owners club forums are the way forward for most stuff. I even have an old flaptop just for garage use.
colin_p said:
It is a time honoured tradition for any self respecting petrol head to always read a car manual whilst sat on the toilet.
If you are really dedicated to the art, often when it comes to actually doing some work on your car, you don't need the manual at all except maybe to look up torque wrench settings. But legend has it that some have even memorised them as well and can reel them off like the times tables.
If you are really dedicated to the art, often when it comes to actually doing some work on your car, you don't need the manual at all except maybe to look up torque wrench settings. But legend has it that some have even memorised them as well and can reel them off like the times tables.
That was the motivation when trying out my car's first manual, that I would have finger tip knowledge on some skills I dared not venture.
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