A new Federal regulation to make MANDATORY as standard equipment the service and parts manuals on CD-ROM is long overdue.
Along with your owner's manual, these CD-ROMs must go with every new car. They will fit compactly in pockets in the cover of the owner's manual.
Why is this so vitally important? If you need emergency or elective repairs by an independent service facility, any competent technician will find the information he needs to make a time-efficient, economic repair. Without them, he is dead in the water in most instances. Also, after diagnosing the problem, he will be able to order the exact part(s) required by fax or telephone, eliminating ambiguity and saving much time and money for all parties.
Motor's Manual, Haynes, Glenn's, etc. do not provide the wealth of in-depth service information that the factory manuals do. There is no substitute for a genuine F.S.M. and P.M.
Presently, one can purchase service manuals at high cost but few owners do and thus are not available when needed. Please note that GM does not offer factory parts manuals for sale at any price. CD-ROM's cost only pennies to produce; they will add negligible cost to a new car. True, they cost a lot to create, but they are already created for use by the dealerships; to give them away per regulation would add only the cost of the actual CD-ROM's, which everybody knows the blanks cost about 25 cents retail.
In the meantime, buy or ask for them free of extra charge, both the service manual and parts manual on every new car you buy. Do not patronize any car manufacturer who cannot supply both; ie, GM.
You don't get it. There is no federal law. He's just spouting off what he thinks would be a good idea. It is an idea, of course, that a lot of other people have already thought of.
At this link, you can purchase, affordably, a CD with info about factory service tips and Technical Service Bulletins and Recalls for any car. Right decent info for the diy'er. s
"Bill Putney" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@mid.individual.net...
Thanks, Bill for all the enlightenment. No, I cannot, and will not attempt to, tell you any of the answers you queried me on. I only Googled for any helpful info for the OP and found and quit searching when this product showed its head, be it pretty or ugly. And I am not trying to sell anything, just help. And I never said it was a good value--don't believe anyone attempting to sell or sway another would describe the product as " Right decent info for the diy'er". The OP wanted info on TSBs, and this
*says* it furnishes that: and before being asked, NO I cannot & would not guarantee it has even ONE TSB, and much less would I guarantee a more nearly complete list of TSBs or schematics than AllData. Heck, it could all be merely a scam! It seems you have found for him a better product for the money than the one I furnished. Good going! I'm happy you did and I'm sure the OP does too. I felt that with my furnishing one it could motivate him to search for more help now knowing some is available. After all, SOME help would have to be superior to NO help. Thanks, Bill, for furnishing an even superior product for him. Had my Googling lead me to AllData first, that's the one I'd have sent him. With one of these--or maybe he will find an even better one--he should be armed with access to some of the TSBs and Recalls--and you can be sure to tell him that neither the TSBs or Recalls are guaranteed complete and up to date. Should he wonder why, I'm sure you could also explain to him that both new TSBs and Recalls could be issued just moments after the (AllData, Mitchell, or whomever sells in this aftermarket field) latest version of their product was "completed"; all due to the fact that they both are on-going processes. BTW: I have friends using each of the 2 you and I discussed. I've also found, like you mentioned, that some of their info is only just a little better than Chilton's & nowhere nearly as good as service manuals. I presently have a subscription to one of the 2 discussed and have excellent help, at times. But, I have been greatly disappointed in the mediocrity of some of their info --some of it is so limited that you and I each likely have imprinted in our minds a better coverage than they sometimes offer. For COMPLETE coverage of some topics, I immediately bypass my computer repair program and go directly to a friend at the Caddy-Chev dealership where I feel pretty confident I can get all the needed info from shop manuals in one trip; same with the service mgr. at the Pont-Buick-GMC and the Honda d'ships; and with a lesser relationship but still obtainable invaluable info from the Ford, the Chrysler, the Mazda, Toyota, & Nissan stores. The OP had a good suggestion: putting the service/shop manuals on CD (or DVD). Man, I'd love to have access to those. The idea of putting parts and part-numbers on CD, though, may not work so well & might present more problems if every Bill, Sam, and George tried to take an order we compiled to the parts dept--any novice ever having tried to look up p#s (in a collision guide)needed for a wrecked car should attest to this confusing project as he tries to get each piece he needs w/out getting MORE than he needs. He may even waste valuable hours on something as simple as trying to buy just one outside front door handle for a Taurus that uses the 'keypad entry' system. Altho' he needs just the broken one, he's gotta buy both: & nobody, I guess, changes the good side! --make sense??? Gonna call it a night. Should you ever find the shop/manuals on CD, PLEASE let me know. I'll do the same. And when it comes to our shelling out the $, if you'll find the best deal, I'll order them, let you get copies, & we'll split the cost!!! Have a good, restful night (which is better than a "right decent nite's sleep": there IS a difference!). sam
Sorry if I came across as critical (of you). You have a close place in my heart - I have a brother named Sam. :)
The product you linked may be just as good as AllData - I don't know. I just know that anythiung I've ever seen (Chiltons, Haynes) not taken right from the FSM is, 9 times out of 10, inaccurate to the point of almost being fraudulent (schematics and repair procedures - like describing replacing a timing belt on a particular engine, and the procedures and illustrations being of a totally different engine nothing like the one than what came in the car).
I have AllData for most of my personal vehicles *and* an FSM for each. If it wasn't for the TSB's (which are BTW complete and constantly updated as new ones come out - can't do that on a CD) and the actual complete set of schematics (again right out of the FSM) provided by AllData, I'd say they would be a waste of money (referring to the somewhat accurate but incomplete other information - such as procedures and descriptive "how does it work" and "where is it located" type of stuff - (not) included in their subscription).
I do have complete FSM's in pdf format for a couple of my LH vehicles stored on my hard drive.
Night night.
Bill Putney (To reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with the letter 'x')
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