Just thought I would ask which manual gives the best info.

I keep trying to read some threads trying to fix my problems but unfortunantly initials are often used for the parts in question and I do not know what that stand for.

Haynes?

Chiltons?

Clymer?

 

Click on this URl http://www.helminc.com

They publish the factory service manuals for Ford.
The manuals are not cheap. Some of the older manuals are no longer available.

 

As far as the repair manuals that you can get at the parts stores, I'm partial to Chilton. Alltho I do have a really good Haynes one for the 6.9/7.3 engines... When it comes to the 87-96 general repair manual, I think the Chilton one is better. And I'm sure the next poster is going to tell me that I'm an idiot, but ooh well...

 

I'll second the Chilton's vote for a off the rack book. Much better then Haynes manuals.

 

Factory ford manual is the way to go.

Cost is high but it will have spicific year info for your truck.

 

to me it depends on how long your gonna keep the vehicle. I knew I was gonna keep mine for at least 10 years so I spent 90 bucks for the factory service manual. I also got the haynes manual. The oem manual is good for level of detail and accuracy but the haynes manual give you more shadetree shortcuts when you don't have an endless selection of ford special tools. I found both to be invaluable during my last rebuild.

 

I have both the Chilton's and Haynes off the shelf repair manuals. I had the Chilton first (gift) and I bought the Haynes later when the Chilton didn't have something in it I needed. I would like a factory service manual, but I haven't really put in the time or effort of finding any.

 

Chilton's but a Ford Service Manual would be better. I picked up a 2003 Dodge neon FSM on ebay for 30 bucks. Unlike the Ford FSM, there close to $100. Thanks, I'll keep my Chilton for the Ford.

 

ford manual.

look on ebay for a used set.

 

You can buy used and reprints of original Ford shop manuals here: faxonautolit.com.

 

I never liked the Chiltons. I always bought Haynes, it has wiring diagrams.

I bought my Ford shop manual off eBay for about $30. No diagrams in shop manuals for some reason.

 

I have both . They all hve short comins. I got my factory set for $20 on eBay . The off shelf ones prop up thecoffe maker now.

But for general maintanance Haynes is a good one.

 

Hey Lost, I like your "Red Neck rule #1", that's funny.

 

Now, no offense to gweeds, but:

I'm 47 and I've been maintaining multiple vehicles for years (Fords, a Toyota, a Cheby, a Pontiac, a Subaru, Audi, a Starcraft/Mercruiser, etc....) and Chilton's have been a running joke with me. Specifically, I've always said:

"If you can use a Chiltons, you don't NEED a shop manual."

Put another way, by analogy: my Golden Retriever is so smart he can almost read, but he’s a big ***** about some things, like jumping over stuff that, in different circumstances, give him no problems. For example, he can LEAP up onto the tailgate of my F-150, but if I ask him to jump over a temporary garden gate (only 2/3 as high as the tailgate, but backed up by a 2”x4” which freaks him out visually) he won’t do it. However, if I so much as TOUCH HIS NECK and ask him to jump over the plywood “gate,” he’s fine. My fingers, anywhere near the region of his collar, give him the reassurance he needs, to do what he’s afraid of.

To me, that is the ONLY value provided by a Chilton’s shop manual. In other words, if you need the mere reassurance of having a “shop manual,” but you already possess the knowledge to perform the repairs anyway, than Chilton’s is the manual for you. (To me, a Chilton’s manual is the “fingers on the dog’s neck” of shop manuals….) Me, on the other hand, I actually NEED a shop manual, for the actual information it contains, as opposed to it’s talismanic or symbolic value. Hence, sadly, Chilton’s will not answer….

I have both the Factory manual and a Haynes, for my ’88 F-150. The (reprinted) factory manual cost me hundreds of dollars, but I shared it with a friend who also has an ’88, albeit an F-250 4x4. (The Factory manual covers all models, but in multiple volumes, with NO OVERALL GUIDE, so YOU have to figure out if a given problem is in "Body," "Electrical," "Emissions," "Engine," etc.... (You'd be surprised how many of your problems that YOU think are engine-related are termed "Emissions" by FoMoCo....) *sigh*

I now have a '97 F-250--Yaye! I will buy a Factory manual (somewhere--I'll be checking out ebay and the links, above) and a Haynes.

The DEARTH OF REAL PHOTOS in any Chilton's manual I ever used, when compared to Clymer's/Hayne's, etc..., and their CRAPPY LINE DRAWINGS, in addition to their inaccuracies, turned me off to Chilton's, some 15 years ago.

If they've improved since then, my apologies to gweeds and any other Chilton's fans.

Haynes are consistently good, though not as good as the Factory stuff. However, Haynes are MUCH EASIER TO USE than the Factory manauls, which are over a FOOT HIGH and LACK A COMMON INDEX AND TABLE OF CONTENTS.

I've found Clymers to be as good as Haynes, IIRC. One (or both?) claims to "disassemble an entire car for each manual," or at least, they used to.

Chilton's, by contrast, seems to pay some broken-down technician who last worked for flat rate when Nixon was president, for their gauzy rememberances, immortalized by charcoal pencil under a shady tree near a babbling brook after a heavy lunch, for which Lobster Newburgh was just the appetizer, washed down by copious amounts of grappa. Additionally, I believe the *cough* "artiste" of the Chilton's line drawings was told that the Bon Jovi groupies that were in town would be getting on the bus by 5pm, so if he wanted to meet them, he'd have to finish the manual's graphics right after the same lunch he shared with the Chilton's "author/technician" mentioned above....

Sorry to "shout," but Chilton's manuals have been the cause of MUCH frustration in my life, until I swore off of them. On the other hand, as was mentioned, the Factory manuals are constantly referring to "Rotunda Special Part Number Tool X000," which, of course, no one at my house had.

Hayne's/Clymer's at a minimum--factory for the tricky stuff.

Just my .02--no offense intended.

Peter