I already own the Haynes repair manual for our '96 Explorer. That covers quite a bit of ground, but obviously doesn't cover everything. (One specific example - it's missing a lot of wiring diagrams for our Explorer.) If I'm going to spend any more money on more detailed manuals for this vehicle, what would be my best bet?

The one specific one I was looking at is the Alldata subscription which can be purchased for $25 for a year. Has anyone else purchased this for their vehicle? Does it offer much more than the Haynes manual does, or is it essentially the same thing?

I know Mitchell also makes incredibly detailed manuals, but I think they're extremely expensive.

Any others out there? What would you all recommend?

 

I have looked a little at the AlldataDIY subscription. Personally, I can't justify the expense. A Chilton's/Haynes manual is a good start, and several libraries around here carry either Mitchell or Motor manuals. If my DIY manual doesn't have what I need, a handful of change and a trip to the library and I have copies of just about anything I need.

As I recall, there was someone on evilbay who sold factory repair manuals on CD for ~$10-20. You might check that out.

 

For my 87 Ranger & 95 Taurus, i have the Ford "electrical & vacuum troubleshooting manuals"
Paid about 20 bucks for the Ranger & 35 bucks for Taurus.

By making electrical problems easy to figure out & fix, these manuals have easily saved me a $1,000.

I wish that all my "investments" had paid off that well.

 

Before shelling out, have you looked here http://www.autozone.com/servlet/UiBr...3d800ba9c7.jsp to see if it has what you want? Fairly simplistic, but useful.

 

I managed to snag the EVTM (electrical and vacuum troubleshooting manual) for my 97 mountaineer on e-bay for 15 bucks. When it comes to wiring diagrams there is none better IMHO. I payed 50 bucks there as well for the two binder set workshop manual.

 

JerrySimm, thanks for mentioning the repair info available on AutoZone's website. I forgot to mention that. I have used that quite a bit in the past, although most of the time (at least with the items I've worked on in the past) I've found that the information there mimics the information in the Haynes manual. Sometimes it has more info than Haynes, but not very often.