eBay and Shop Manuals

I just wanted to take a minute to share to some money saving ideas with everyone. I am a big believer in factory shop manuals. I have paid the $150+ price tag a couple of times to Helm Inc. for the manuals for particular cars I have owned.

Out of curiosity while I was eBay'in I decided to look for similar manuals. To my amazement I have found many different CD's / DVD's for various years of Ford vehicles. I have purchased a couple of sets off of eBay. They cost me about $50 per set. One set I have covers 2000-2004 every make and model of Ford vehicle up to the F550 trucks. The cd's are the exact same thing dealerships use. The 2 sets I have don't expire.

Now be careful if you decide to purchase a set off of eBay. If the seller says you have to roll your clock time back on your computer don't buy it. You will expire most anti-virus software you have. I mention this because I have a set of cd's I have to do that with and it is more hassle than the savings.

I have recently received an Actron Code reader for Father's Day. It does a fine job of reading codes and resetting them. It also allows you to read current vehicle running conditions as seen from your car's computer.

Once you get the code you can troubleshoot it from the manuals. They do help and save you dollars. The last thing you'll need is a simple Volt-Ohm-Meter. Most sensors can be pass or failed simply by reading the Ohm value. But you need the shop manual in most instances to know what is an acceptable ohm value or not.

Anyway I just thought I'd throw my 2 cents out there for some of the younger people comming up through the ranks.

And for factory service manuals that are every bit as legal as those on eBay, you can perform a search on this forum for "service download." After checking the results, you can find a site that will let you download the same data for free (PayPal donations are welcomed).

-Rod

Hey Rod. You are giving away the secrets that make people think we are smart. ;)

BTW. Congrats on the advisor title. I appreciate all the help and information you share with the users. I am sure the other users appreciate you also. Keep up the good work. You save my brain a lot of work.

Man, with all the kind words you share, I'm gonna owe you a few cold beers if we ever meet! Thank you!

I spend all day reading specifications and working with difficult customers (large companies). Reading about cars, issues, and posting suggestions and experience on this forum when I can is actually quite relaxing for me. And reading follow-up messages where people actually figure out their issues is very rewarding, and even more so if I had the opportunity to help them out. That makes the thankless job that actually pays me somewhat easier to deal with. :) Too bad my dad (whom I respect) told me he'd cut my hands off if I went into the automotive repair business. He spent much of his life in the business and wanted better for his kids. He paid my way through college though, so it treated him (and my brother and I) well.

-Rod

Hello Rod,

Didn't realize that option was available. Thanks for the info.

Jim

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to be as readily available for some of the other manufacturers. But for Ford, there seems to be a good selection.

-Rod

if that is the one that is bit torrented i am an active seed so as far as i know it will bee seeded for a while.