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Post by kharnynb on Mar 25, 2015 16:40:03 GMT
As most of us here i guess, i got a haynes manual for my car, and today it again saved me a minimum of 40 euro's labour charge by being able to self-diagnose that the power steering fluid was low.
Instead of having to go to a mechanic and paying a lot, i just had to pour about 5 euros of liquid in a hole...not a bad trade-in.
Even though about 50% of the manual is things i never will attempt myself, it's probally payed itself back several times over.
So as a myth, is it always worth, for anyone, to buy haynes or similar extended guides to your car?
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Post by the light works on Mar 25, 2015 17:07:00 GMT
As most of us here i guess, i got a haynes manual for my car, and today it again saved me a minimum of 40 euro's labour charge by being able to self-diagnose that the power steering fluid was low. Instead of having to go to a mechanic and paying a lot, i just had to pour about 5 euros of liquid in a hole...not a bad trade-in. Even though about 50% of the manual is things i never will attempt myself, it's probally payed itself back several times over. So as a myth, is it always worth, for anyone, to buy haynes or similar extended guides to your car? I would think the haynes manual might be a little over what is needed for such things as learning how to check your power steering fluid. I have a similar manual for my Jeep - and have used it to change hardware. OTOH, I will not, if I can avoid it, do my own wrenching on any of the newer vehicles we own. I think in-depth manuals are losing value with the decline of user serviceable cars. certainly a more basic manual that taught people such things as what motor oil is and how to check it would be a good value for many people.
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Post by kharnynb on Mar 25, 2015 18:11:10 GMT
actually, concidering the (lack of) quality of the car's own manual, i would be unlikely to even find some of the things under the hood.
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Post by the light works on Mar 25, 2015 18:15:50 GMT
actually, concidering the (lack of) quality of the car's own manual, i would be unlikely to even find some of the things under the hood. yeah, I was thinking something midway between the car's manual and the haynes manual.
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Post by GTCGreg on Mar 25, 2015 18:28:42 GMT
I have Haynes manuals on all our vehicles. I really find them invaluable, but then, I do a lot of my own repairs. Even so, sometimes Haynes can lead you astray. When I had to replace one of the coil front suspension springs on one of our Jeep Cherokees, It would have been about a 4 hour job if I had followed the Haynes. It only took me about an hour using my own intuition. Another resource that comes in handy when taking on a repair job on anything, not just autos, is YouTube. Like Haynes, you may not want to follow those directions exactly, but at least it gives you a pretty good indication of what you're up against.
As far as your power steering fluid goes, you may want to take a close look for leaks. Especially around the hoses that connect the power steering pump to the steering gear box. Power steering fluid isn't "used up" in normal operation. If it was low, there is probably an underlying reason.
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Post by the light works on Mar 25, 2015 18:47:20 GMT
I have Haynes manuals on all our vehicles. I really find them invaluable, but then, I do a lot of my own repairs. Even so, sometimes Haynes can lead you astray. When I had to replace one of the coil front suspension springs on one of our Jeep Cherokees, It would have been about a 4 hour job if I had followed the Haynes. It only took me about an hour using my own intuition. Another resource that comes in handy when taking on a repair job on anything, not just autos, is YouTube. Like Haynes, you may not want to follow those directions exactly, but at least it gives you a pretty good indication of what you're up against. As far as your power steering fluid goes, you may want to take a close look for leaks. Especially around the hoses that connect the power steering pump to the steering gear box. Power steering fluid isn't "used up" in normal operation. If it was low, there is probably an underlying reason. which, depending on the age of the car, may be an issue or not. a 10 year old car, needing topped off, is not a major issue. a 10 year old car, needing topped off every week, is.
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Post by kharnynb on Mar 25, 2015 20:24:08 GMT
first time in 13 years, it was due i guess ;D
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Post by the light works on Mar 25, 2015 20:52:59 GMT
first time in 13 years, it was due i guess ;D so you monitor it for a couple fill ups to determine if it has taken 13 years to get low, or if it has developed a leak after 13 years.
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Post by silverdragon on Mar 26, 2015 9:08:42 GMT
Two part answer.
YES!
Quite simply, all I learnt from mechanics and how to fix it myself, was out of a Haynes manual. With that on my Dads work bench, I did my first Clutch extraction on a Mini. How major engineering on a car do you want to get? For me, if by using ONE manual you can strip the major components to nut and bolts with the minimum of tools, and put it back together again, and it works, (And passes a safety teat...) then it has to be good.
NO!. If you is da klutz, like some of the >HELP!< requests I got when I was young, haynes is getting you nowhere if you never handled a spanner before.... I got one from a young lady who couldn't get the wheel of to swap for the spare (puncture) The nuts were "Stuck". So I turns up, puts the wheel wrench on, and sticks the boot in, as you do, to loosen the nuts.... She stares at me like I am mad and trying to break the thing?... No she didnt realize they needed to be that tight. Second time around, ok, yes, it took her time, but she managed quite well on her own.
On some of the trucks I drive, the wheel wrench is accompanied by a short length of scaffolding pole... you put the wrench on, slip the scaff pole over the handle, it gives you a longer leaver.
In Summary... The haynes manual is bloody useful if you are minded that way. And by minded that way, you have to accept that you need to undo nuts and bolts to get the cover off to get at what needs fixing.... To change the clutch and gear-box on say an old Land-Rover, the easy way (If you dont have a lift) is to take the floor of... I think I may be right on this, but there is 96 nuts and bolts to do that?... Power tools are a must. And having the right tools is also a must... Clutch pullers are a specialist tool, if you havnt got one, getting as far as cracking the bell housing to expose the clutch and thrust bearing is a little too far into the job to realize the nearest clutch puller is 20 miles away. Before you start any job, check you have the right equipment. The old Mini can be pulled apart with a screwdriver, a cross-head driver, a three-eights and a half-inch spanner, plus a set of mole grips, and serviced quite happily with those basic tools. Some cars will need a toolbox the size of the actual car just to service the bloody thing.... And changing the side-light bulb on a Mercedes A1 is a three hour job that requires you to strip out the inner wing.
Haynes is good, but only in the right hands.
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Post by kharnynb on Mar 26, 2015 12:19:20 GMT
I think anyone who is allowed to drive a car should be able to do anything in the first (0.x) chapter of the haynes manual(roadside repairs and weekly checks).
Sadly i know too many people who are incapable of a lot of these things, and some car manuals seem to be translated from chinese into english by a vietnamese ricefarmer.
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Post by OziRiS on Apr 3, 2015 19:31:44 GMT
I think anyone who is allowed to drive a car should be able to do anything in the first (0.x) chapter of the haynes manual(roadside repairs and weekly checks). Most people learn this stuff while they're taking their license, but most of them also seem to forget it again shortly after. Many men and (I'm sorry to say) most women have never had the hood of a car open after they've passed their driver's test. It's like they think the dipstick is only there to provide a pitfall for the unprepaired during the test and has no practical function beyond that.
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Post by srmarti on Apr 3, 2015 22:44:47 GMT
Dragon sums it up nicely. To the right person the manual helps. To the wrong person it's useless or even an opportunity to make things worse.
Not sure there's anything there I'd call a myth though.
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Post by GTCGreg on Apr 3, 2015 22:47:49 GMT
I think anyone who is allowed to drive a car should be able to do anything in the first (0.x) chapter of the haynes manual(roadside repairs and weekly checks). Most people learn this stuff while they're taking their license, but most of them also seem to forget it again shortly after. Many men and (I'm sorry to say) most women have never had the hood of a car open after they've passed their driver's test. It's like they think the dipstick is only there to provide a pitfall for the unprepaired during the test and has no practical function beyond that. I know many men, and some women, that are far better off if they never learn how to open the hood of their car. You don't have to know how to raise cattle to eat a stake and you don't have to know the first thing about electronics to watch a TV. As long as their vehicle is kept in good operating condition by someone they pay to do the job, there is no reason why they should have to know how to change the oil before they learn to drive.
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Post by OziRiS on Apr 4, 2015 1:57:59 GMT
Most people learn this stuff while they're taking their license, but most of them also seem to forget it again shortly after. Many men and (I'm sorry to say) most women have never had the hood of a car open after they've passed their driver's test. It's like they think the dipstick is only there to provide a pitfall for the unprepaired during the test and has no practical function beyond that. I know many men, and some women, that are far better off if they never learn how to open the hood of their car. You don't have to know how to raise cattle to eat a stake and you don't have to know the first thing about electronics to watch a TV. As long as their vehicle is kept in good operating condition by someone they pay to do the job, there is no reason why they should have to know how to change the oil before they learn to drive. You might not need to know how to change the oil, but just like it's helpful to know how to cook a steak if you want to eat it, or that pressing the remote won't do much if your TV isn't plugged in, it might be good for you to at least know that the car NEEDS oil and where to check if it has any.
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Post by GTCGreg on Apr 4, 2015 2:32:34 GMT
I know many men, and some women, that are far better off if they never learn how to open the hood of their car. You don't have to know how to raise cattle to eat a stake and you don't have to know the first thing about electronics to watch a TV. As long as their vehicle is kept in good operating condition by someone they pay to do the job, there is no reason why they should have to know how to change the oil before they learn to drive. You might not need to know how to change the oil, but just like it's helpful to know how to cook a steak if you want to eat it, or that pressing the remote won't do much if your TV isn't plugged in, it might be good for you to at least know that the car NEEDS oil and where to check if it has any. All you need to know is who to call when the little oil can on the dash lights up. Why else would they have put it there?
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Post by OziRiS on Apr 4, 2015 14:13:40 GMT
You might not need to know how to change the oil, but just like it's helpful to know how to cook a steak if you want to eat it, or that pressing the remote won't do much if your TV isn't plugged in, it might be good for you to at least know that the car NEEDS oil and where to check if it has any. All you need to know is who to call when the little oil can on the dash lights up. Why else would they have put it there? According to my cousin, to annoy her and make her spend money on stuff she doesn't need.
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Post by GTCGreg on Apr 4, 2015 15:03:31 GMT
How many of these warning symbols would the average driver know? I didn't know some and had to look them up. Like 45 and 55. Really? Attachment Deleted
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Post by the light works on Apr 4, 2015 22:08:30 GMT
How many of these warning symbols would the average driver know? I didn't know some and had to look them up. Like 45 and 55. Really? View Attachmentmine has different standardized symbols, and omits some of those. for example, it indicates low light levels by turning on the headlights. an when it is low on fuel it flashes up a pictogram that looks like "LOW FUEL" addendum: #45 - I have a thing on my filter - if the plunger is pulled down to the red the filter is too clogged.
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Post by srmarti on Apr 4, 2015 22:15:34 GMT
How many of these warning symbols would the average driver know? I didn't know some and had to look them up. Like 45 and 55. Really? View Attachmentmine has different standardized symbols, and omits some of those. for example, it indicates low light levels by turning on the headlights. an when it is low on fuel it flashes up a pictogram that looks like "LOW FUEL" addendum: #45 - I have a thing on my filter - if the plunger is pulled down to the red the filter is too clogged. Mine won't have the particulate filter warning because it's not a diesel. I don't have rain sensing, etc. ......
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Post by the light works on Apr 5, 2015 0:48:08 GMT
mine has different standardized symbols, and omits some of those. for example, it indicates low light levels by turning on the headlights. an when it is low on fuel it flashes up a pictogram that looks like "LOW FUEL" addendum: #45 - I have a thing on my filter - if the plunger is pulled down to the red the filter is too clogged. Mine won't have the particulate filter warning because it's not a diesel. I don't have rain sensing, etc. ...... mine's too old to have a filter. no rain sensing, but if the washer fluid is low it pops an icon that looks like "LOW WASHER FLUID"
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