Searching for Vehicle Repair Manuals

With the availability of the internet and online search, it has provided people a convenient way to search for just about anything.  It has also designed ways and means to narrow down searches to a specific brand or model when it comes to products.  We will limit discussion here to the search of vehicle repair manuals.

Those who know and are willing to do repairs on their own would want to save on precious dollars especially during these times.  As long as they know how to follow instructions and careful in the process, there is no reason why do-it-yourself repairs will not be as good as repairs made by vehicle shops.

Publishing has advanced as much as technology has advanced.  ‘Ancient’ repair manuals would simply have black-and-white publishing including photos, diagrams and illustrations.  In short, the graphics of current repair manuals are worth more learning from because of the vivid details it presents.  For this type of manuals the website of motorbookguy offers one of the widest ranges of service and repair manuals/automotive repair manuals.  It encompasses manuals practically needed for almost all types of land, snow and seafaring vehicles.

It is at motorbookguy where the hard-to-search on Chilton manuals could be found.  Chilton has one the most reliable ‘user-friendly’ repair manuals.  Sad to say though, there are no free downloads of the manuals.  You would really need to purchase the manual for the intended vehicle.  The manuals are carefully prepared to cater to those who have the least technical know how in automotive repairs.

Next to Chilton is a wide array of haynes repair manuals.  Although Haynes has its own web site, motorbookguy.com offers close to the same manuals.  In the hierarchy of manuals, it seems that Chilton and Haynes are competing for the top spot.  It is difficult to say which one you are more comfortable with until you probably get a manual from both authors for exactly the same vehicle. Only then will you be able to say the difference.  Meticulous technicians and mechanics would probably have that opportunity of having the both kinds of manuals and make real good comparison for preference.

Anyway for regular guys like us, having a repair manual from any of the authors will make do.  The important thing is to understand and have the right comprehension on what the manuals are trying to tell us.  Mechanical or electrical instructions and processes have a reason why it needs to be done that way.  The Chilton and Haynes manuals have already made short-cuts that do not necessarily follow the long route.  If given the opportunity, try to browse over on these manuals and others.  It will give a good idea on the difference in presentation and outline of good manuals.

About the Author

Mike has been working on cars and trucks since he got his first Olds 442 in the early 70′s. Since then he was worked on many vehicles and is deeply interested in electronics and the new computer controls of todays vehicles. While it might seem they are limiting the DIY’r he thinks just the opposite.  With the right OBDII Code Reader and Haynes repair Manual you can do far more than the days of screwdrivers and timing lights.

SelocOnline Repair Manual Overview

Tags: repair manual club, repair manual download, repair manual for cars, repair manuals, repair manuals online

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 7th, 2010 at 7:15 am and is filed under Vintage Electronics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.