Repair Manuals

They assume you have a base level knowledge of the car and only delve into the more technical aspects of repair, and are certainly car-specific. However, if you combine it with something like a Clymer's or Hanes manual then you have a pretty comprehensive repair guide.

One manual that's often overlooked is Bentley. They cover EVERYTHING and are car specific, and usually less than the factory manual.

Some factory manuals can be downloaded free from

Toyota manuals are really good and go into a lot of detail, usually with a clear illustration for each step of each procedure.

A couple of years ago, I paid $140 for the Nissan factory manual and consider it well worth the price, even though I already had a free copy of the Haynes manual, because Nissan provided a lot more information about the computer systems (fuel, emissions, antilock brakes, and transmission), the diagnostic procedures were more detailed (Haynes and Chilton's often give only generic info), plus the wiring diagrams are completely accurate and not merely "typical", i.e., typically useless.

Haynes and Chilton and the like are useful for the total novice because they spell out the simple things that the novice doesn't know

- like how to hand-pack a wheel bearing...

But at times they are way wrong, because they take apart one example car out of a series of several similar model years of the same design, and expect that they are all designed the same. Often there are major running production changes between the first and last years of a model

- or they wrote the book using a sedan and the car maker used a totally different part in the wagon, the book writers didn't know, and the pictures they show look nothing like the part you have in your hand...

The factory manuals are really detailed, and they show all those production changes. But they do tend to gloss over the simple stuff that a first year mechanic would know, like "pack the wheel bearings".

If you need an electrical wiring diagram or detailed torque and adjustment instructions, don't even bother with the ones in the aftermarket books. They're almost guessing - if they make them too good, they'd be accused of copyright infringement because they would have to crib the data and drawings from the factory manuals...

The people who write the factory books have full access to the blueprints used to build the car, and the engineers who drew those blueprints, and are as accurate as possible.

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Chilton is the source for Honda factory manuals.

Only as good as the capabilities of guy interpreting the contents, I would suspect ;)

Okay, but when Honda has an outside technical writer do the book they still retain copyright over the data and pictures provided.

Does Honda allow Chilton to use the proprietary data and information they supplied for their Factory Repair Manual in Chilton's 'retail paperback' editions? I'll bet not - they have to write those other manuals for Honda in a "clean room" environment, and have their usual crew take apart a car and write the retail manual in their usual way, so their manuals won't break Honda's copyrights.

This is the same way Columbia Data Products had to reverse engineer the IBM PC BIOS - they assembled two teams of workers that had absolutely no industry ties to IBM or Mickeysoft so they couldn't be accused of using trade secrets acquired when they worked for IBM in the past. They had one team break down the tasks that the BIOS performed in excruciating detail, including all the 'bugs' and apparently aberrant behavior when you issued a certain command. And they wrote it all down...

Then a second team came in and wrote a BIOS from scratch that did exactly what the programmers called for when a command was issued. Including pauses and apparent errors and actual errors.

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Bruce's explanation of the difference between factory and Chilton, Haynes, Mitchell, Motor, etc. manuals is right on. If you have a good understanding of automotive principles and know the fundamentals of electrical circuits and diagnosis, then the factory manuals are a better choice, otherwise, the aftermarket publications are good enough.

If you think that you will only need occasional access to the additional detail and information in the factory repair manual, you can access them for $10/day at techinfo.toyota.com. At this site, you can also download technical service bulletins. Depending on the car's level of equipment and engine choices, a complete set of manuals can be pricey, but you will probably break even after one or two DIY fixes.

Hiya, Brucie. Fixed that broken bolt yet?

Here's the story on manuals. Almost without exception, factory manuals are the best (and most expensive). Who knows more about the cars than the engineers who designed them? And the car companies have the deepest pockets to pay for the best writers. Moreover, auto manufacturers must support the dealers' service facilities, particularly for warranty repair It's in their own best interest (self interest) to provide the most complete info to their dealer mechanics in order keep warranty costs down and try to minimize customer dissatisfaction.

On the downside, very often factory service manuals specify a procedure using a special tool that the independent shop or shade tree mechanic won't have and cannot get. And, yes, they're expensive. (You get what you pay for.) Automakers would prefer that you take your car to their dealer for repair rather than do it yourself, so they discourage home repairs by making the technical manuals expensive.

Next on the list of independent manuals are those from Robert Bentley Publishing in your adopted home town of Cambridge, MA. Bentley manuals are so good that some automakers contract out the manuals to Bentley. VW manuals, for example come from (or used to come from) Bentley. Look here:

Next on the list are the Haynes manuals. They're OK for the mechanic who has a general idea of the repair procedure, but sometimes they get it wrong; sometimes they use procedures or images that apply to earlier models; sometimes they try to cover a span of model years that is too broad, so the info's not specific enough (which is OK if you have some repair sense); and sometimes they simply ignore a critical service step in their manuals. But many experienced independent mechanics and skilled amateurs do very well with Haynes manuals.

Very last on the list -- at the very, very bottom of the barrel -- are the Chilton manuals. They are tenth on a list of five. Chilton manuals are so bad that they belong in the bathroom where you can tear out a page for other purposes. Fortunately, they print 'em on cheap, soft paper that doesn't scratch when used for that "other purpose." Before I knew this about that, I bought a Chilton manual for one of my cars. I paid $2, and that was $2 too much. I've never, ever used it because the organization of info was bad, the specifics were too general, and the presentation of info was garbled. In fact, the Chilton manual did not even address the type of fuel injection in my car -- they simply left it out. (And, fortunately, the FI has been trouble free for years.)

You ordered a Chilton manual, huh? It will probably suit you well.

Your friend, Oneup.

What? Shouldn't Mitchell manuals come ahead of Haynes???

WHAT?! This is IT?!

Toyota Prius: 2001-2008

Toyota Prius Repair and Maintenance Manual: 2004-2008 Toyota Land Cruiser: 1958-1996 Toyota Truck: 1958-1996

Toyota Truck and Land Cruiser Owner's Bible? Toyota Corolla 1600: 1975-1979

Toyota Corolla Service Manual: 1975-1979 (paper) Toyota Corolla 1.8: 1980-1983

Toyota Corolla Service Manual: 1980-1983 (paper)

Amazing set of replies, thanks to everyone. Even ThrowUp contributed something. He has never done that. However, if you own your vehicles to drive them somewhere rather than use them to while away your time in your garage, I have found the Chilton manuals have kept me on the road enough to cross the U.S. twenty times. The point made about tools is a good one. For example when changing your rear brake shoes, do you really need specialized tools? I don't.

"...when changing your rear brake shoes, do you really need specialized tools?"

It depends on (a) what you mean by "specialized" tools, and (b) what type of brakes your car has.

From the pictures you posted, it appears that your Toyota has ordinary drum brakes. For that, you'll need a pair of brake pliers, a spring tool, and maybe a brake spoon, in addition to ordinary hand tools. Are these "specialized"? To some, yes -- to others, no. (For example, I have several of each of those "special" tools.) And if you must rebuild the cylinder, then you also need a brake hone.

If you're working on disc brakes, then you'll need different tools. (But since you said "shoes" and not "pads," then we won't discuss disc brakes.)

As I'm sure you know, keep oil and grease away from the brake shoes and drums and also far away from the brake hydraulics. Brake fluid is NOT oil based -- it's similar to a long-chain ether or alcohol (actually, it's a glycol), which is why it's so hygroscopic.

Chilton's manuals might be OK for American cars. My experience with European cars has been different.

BTW -- how about adding my email to your "team" on your blog? I promise -- I'll only say nice things, as I did before. Anyway, how many response have you had? Only two, and both were mine. Well, actually three, but Robert Bruce removed my comment about Sidney Greenstreet, which was a mistake because Greenstreet was a VERY impressive actor and my comment was meant to be complimentary and in the best of taste.

Along with all the other junk on this forum, we now have the internet stalker, Oneup. I certainly wouldn't read the last post, but I did read his introduction to the board. Certainly if you are a grease monkey like him, you can find the nuances of repair manuals fascinating. However, I don't. The Chilton for my Toyota will be arriving soon. If I can find a used Bentley (Car or Manual), I might buy it. However, you can only get so much out of books. The Toyota factory manual for my vehicle I found on the internet.

"Certainly if you are a grease monkey like him..."

Grease monkey? Hardly, Brucie. Just a knowledgeable, skilled, and well prepared pool cleaner from Florida. For example, I've used Easy- outs dozens of times and never snapped one. I did lend one to a friend in North Falmouth, however, and he snapped it... As you know, I'm always willing to share my knowledge and experiences with others, including you, big guy. You're just too boneheaded to take advantage of it.

"...you can find the nuances of repair manuals fascinating..."

Brucie, one must be able to read and understand in order to find the "nuances" to be fascinating. This explains why so little fascinates you. Except yourself, of course.

So, the Chilton Toy manual arrived yesterday and has already been helpful. I used to sell Jeeps when they were a division of AMC and new SUV's and 4X4's back before they became a household word. However, I have found that one forgets, especially that these kinds of vehicles are rather useless. However, now I'm stuck with one, a WWII relic for sure. What the Hanes manual didn't include was that one should definitely be vigilant about repacking the wheel bearings regularly if you are driving in water above the hubs. This was never a maintenance issue with front wheel drive which is all anyone really needs.

No read on last post, but definitely the Chilton has provided helpful reading material.

And considering that it's you, then it's no surprise that Chilton's provides interesting reading. After you're done with each page, tear it our for bathroom use.

So, let's take an example here. I'm just dealing with comparisons between the Hanes and Chilton. The Hanes manual I bought new in Auto Zone had a section on changing the fuel filter, but it didn't include any relevant information about my fuel filter except that one should remove the case before attempting to remove the filter. It pictured a filter that wasn't in my vehicle and explained how to remove it. It didn't have flair nuts for fitings, it had banjo joints. My filter was mounted vertically and this one was pictured as mounted horizontally. The Chilton entry was much better, but rather general. Nothing was included about the difficulty of access or the location behind the cross-member support piece of the chassis. It recommends using a torque wrench to tighten the flair nuts as pictured. However, it seems impossible to be able to fit a 3/8 drive torque wrench correctly on the nut unless it was shortened somehow. I barely was able to tighten the nut with a motorcycle wrench. In fact after driving for two days and inspecting the fiting often, I found that I had indeed overtightened the nut and the connection was leaking. With the gas dripping down onto the floor, my face and my clothing, I tried finding the right torque for the nut without success. Today, I have to come up with the right solution. I've thought of installing an O-ring or sealing the joint with J.B. Weld. I'm afraid the joint has been compromised by the over-torquing.

Since Swiftwater = Windsurfer = Brucie, it's clear that you're again responding to your own posts.

But your comments are interesting and directly parallel my analysis of Haynes -- they're good if you know what're you're doing but useless if you're useless.

You have a manual that matches you. Brucie.