car repair manuals
If you’re a hobbyist auto mechanic who loves to dig into car engines until the wee hours of the morning while most people are under their blankets, it implies the spirit of do-it-yourselfer-doer and not. If you are afraid of getting your hands oily or if you are in an emergency situation, a very helpful resource is the availability of the correct auto repair manuals.
There are two types of auto repair manuals:
online manuals
The best thing about online manuals is that any manual you need for any make of car is just a few mouse clicks away; you can load it from the internet in no time.
If time is an important factor for you, for example, if you are in a situation that requires repair information immediately and your knowledge of the specific problem is limited, the quickest and cheapest solution is to search online for repair manuals high quality vehicles.
Some of these manuals include not only repair information, but also up-to-date technical service information, and some of them even include approximate hours of operation. This is valuable information if you decide to take your car to a mechanic – you’ll know ahead of time how much you could expect to pay for the repair. Most of these websites charge a small fee for their service, but compared to what you’ll get, it’s well worth it.
Good vehicle repair manual sites also have up-to-date diagnostic and maintenance information. Their manuals are original service manuals written by the manufacturers and contain the original repair shop descriptions. Therefore, many professional automotive technicians use quality downloadable manuals. .
Good manuals contain thousands of pages of diagrams and all the detailed information needed for the specific vehicle repair and auto part.
printed manuals
I have chosen to briefly review three of the best printed auto repair manuals available on the market today. If you choose these over the online alternative, please allow some time for shipping and handling.
Bentley
- the objective is the experienced mechanic, and it is considered by many experts as the best reference without a doubt.
- probably the most detailed auto repair book available
- Unfortunately, Bentley mainly focuses on European models, not American models.
Factory
- These service manuals are intended for factory certified mechanics and sadly not hobbyists.
- may require access to special tools only available to licensed mechanics.
Chilton
- Simple step by step procedures, easy to follow standard format. Their target audience is the average backyard mechanic.
- focusing on basic maintenance and repairs
- containing lots of photos and sequential charts to simplify maintenance and make work fun and easy.
- new cars are treated with great care. However, older cars are grouped together and the instructions for these are a bit more general.