I just purchased a '98 GMC Sonoma w/ a 2.2L and I will looking for a shop manual. It doesn't have to be the best shop manual, but something certainly better than the glove box manual.
Since I do not intend to keep this vehichle very long, I hate to spend the BIG $$$ like I did for the Industrial Strength set I bought for my
1990 S-10. Those books are real keepers.
Anyway... do I stay w/ Chiltons, Haynes... or what? I'd like to keep it less than $25.
Eventually, I wish to buy a real truck... a Toyota!! :)
You really expect to get a helpful reply here then?
Since I guess that you do, go to a store selling both books. Look over them and buy the one you think will be more helpful to you. I find it really depends on the vehicle as to whether you buy a Chiltons or a Haynes.
I'm working on an S-10 now. My father bought an 87 Blazer to play around with. We took out the TBI system, and replaced the engine with a 97 Vortec with an Edelbrock 2114 intake and 4 barrel. Naturally, I got to yank out the ECM harness and wire in the new stuff.
Opened the Haynes book, turned to find the wiring on the fuel relay. Of the four wires, turned out the diagram only had the color right on one of them. The diagram showed a blue wire off the ECM to control the relay, but it's green. One of the other diagrams that showed the bulkhead connector had the wrong pin for the water temp gauge. At that point, I pitched the book (it came with the truck), and broke out my signal tracer.
I did a timing chain for my neighbor a few weeks ago, Nissan Sentra. Haynes book didn't tell you to take off the oil pan on the disassembly instructions. Skipped the step where you remove the cover itself, if you can believe that.
Both Chiltons and Haynes suck immensely. If you are serious about working on your own vehicle, and are going to keep it around for a while, get a good book. Factory manual or something equivalent. If you are planning on getting rid of it in the near future, pick out a repair that you want to do, and read about it in both books. Then decide as William said.
I agree, I had a 944 turbo Porsche, the Haynes book (It was for ALL models, including turbo!) showed the fuel pump under the car, but the turbo has the pump in the tank, Haynes said NOTHING about it, or how to work on it. Etc., etc.
I've used both books over the years and -always- came away disappointed in the end, but I was hoping that someone here was going to tell me that they've improved!! I guess not! :(
BTW, I've been unable to find any of these books in a store locally... so I haven't been able to compare one against the other for this truck year/model.
Well, if I had to pick one or the other, I'd actually pick the Haynes. I've grown to hate the chilton so much I don't really consider them an option any more. This is a personal thing, going back many years before I ever got my first Haynes book. Started with a book I bought that didn't even have a wiring diagram for the vehicle in the book.
Try amazon if none of the local stores carries them, or E-bay. Autozone carries Haynes, while O'Reilly carries chilton.
Discount Auto and Autozone are both special orders... I reckon I'll just bite the bullet and go for the Haynes unless someone comes forth w/ something else that changes my mind.
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