Shop Manuals

I actually downloaded mine from the site techinfo.subaru.com These are also in .pdf format with ambiguous filenames. It actually made it hard to download them because I did not have an easy way to reference where my last download ended and where the next should begin.

The manual is broken down into sections, engine, body, powertrain, etc. Then there are sub-sections there such as fuel-injection, engine lubrication, etc. What I did when I was downloading was create a folder hierarchy to match the layout on the web site to sort my files into sections. I still have the ambiguous filename problem. So at this point I am looking at going back through the website and rename each file to reflect what it is for. That is quite a project, because the complete manual I have is nearly 500 files.

For now, a lot of the sections have only a dozen or so files, so once I am in the folder for the section I need, it is a matter of searching through a dozen or so files to find the one I need.

I am thinking of offering my CD on EBay or perhaps a different way as well after I get it all finished. I have the complete manual for 1996 Impreza. Any thoughts on this?

I also did not see anything in the way of an index file on the site. You do have the option to buy all the .pdfs on CD for $199. I figured for 72 hours @ $20 mine was a steal. I got the entire '96 manual and 2/3 of the '93 in that amount of time.

Does this mean that owners can't buy the full set of shop manuals on paper from Subaru? If this is true, then Subaru is on my new car blacklist, along with Volvo.

To reply, please remove one letter from each side of "@" Spammers are VERMIN. Please kill them all.

In news: snipped-for-privacy@News.Individual.DE, Florian Feuser /FFF/ spewed:

Google for this (including quotation marks) "4 - Transmission.pdf" and you'll find several links to the 2002 US WRX service manual.

I may be able to help: I built a script that can spider the techinfo site to download PDFs and build a javascript or an HTML menu. They both make the manual MUCH easier to use...

If you can tell me which model/year you have, confirm that the file names you have are similar to the names on the techinfo site (for example, the PDF for "Specifications And Service Data- Awd System" for the 1996 Impreza, is under "1996 IMPREZA SUPPLEMENT > AWD System" and is named "29660.pdf") and that your PDFs are all in one big directory, with no structure, I can build the menus without downloading files (and needing to subscribe...) and send you the menu files.

Hope this helps.

Nicolas

I have the Impreza 1996 manual. I left the .pdfs with the ambiguous filenames that you mentioned. I did build a folder hierarchy for the files, but I can copy them to one large folder with no problems.

You can buy the manual for $199.

Just one, SoA's copyright. If you do a nice CD, there's always the chance that SoA will shut down your sale if you don't have permission to reproduce the material.

--My company does this regularly, as we still sell manuals and all our copyrights are in place and valid.

-John O

Sounds good. I think it would be easier if you copied them all into a flat folder, as I don't know what structure you used... :-/

I'll build the file later today, just email me at the address in this post so I know where to send the zip (only a few KBs).

Nicolas

lubrication,

From the techinfo site's FAQ:

Can hardcopy manuals be ordered from this site and shipped all over the world? Currently, you can order manuals from this site to be shipped to residents of the Continental United States only. For items shipping to other countries, please call "Service Technical Information Company" Help Desk at (866) 428-2278 for availability and shipping quotes.

Nicolas

That's not bad, actually.

-- Todd H.

I already thought of that. I was thinking along the lines of compensation for putting it together, CD, shipping, etc. Not trying to charge for the material itself.

From a copyright standpoint, that doesn't matter.

-John O

Oh well. I guess I'll just have to stick with BUYING them on EBay then.

I have the .PDFs in what I believe is the proper directory structure.

Does your script spider the site for links to .pdf files and parse a list of their associated natural-language links?

Florian

Use the website to find the name(s) of the file(s) you need.

Yes, it produces folders and files with meaningful names. The problem with the structure is that it is very hard to match an existing structure to links in a menu. It is much easier to do it if all the files are in the same folder.

Like Henry Paul, if you tell what model/year you need I can get you the menu for it.

Nicolas