How to Use Car Factory Service Manuals Effectively 

Any purchase of expensive gadgets or equipment generally come with a user guide or instructions on how to use them which often contain detailed instructions on how to use the item and a basic guide on how to maintain the product. 

However, when the product breaks down, more often than not consumers end up at a service centre because we are unable to or do not have the slightest clue as to what is wrong with the product. In the end, consumers end up paying more than they have to just because a fuse in the product required change. 

This scenario may be familiar to the most of us, and this scenario also applies to automobiles. How many times have we brought our cars to workshops due to some issue and paid-up whatever that was charged, only to find out much later that we had been overcharged by the workshop. Fortunately for automobile owners, there is something called the car factory service manual that can help vehicle owners avoid such situations. 

So what is a car factory service manual? A car factory service manual or car workshop or repair manual is a document that contains all the information there is about a specific vehicle. 

In general these manuals contain not just instructions on how to conduct regular service for the car optimally, but it also contains step by step instruction on how to fix, replace, disassemble and reassemble any part of the car. High quality factory service manuals even provide the layout of the car’s entire electrical system along with a troubleshooting guide that even a novice engine enthusiast could follow and fix whatever that is wrong with the vehicle easily. 

Please note, that the car factory service manual ‘IS NOT’ the car owner’s manual which come with the car upon purchase. As useful as the ‘car owner’s manual’ is it does not contain everything and the information in this manual is ‘superficial’ to say the least. 

Generally, the owner’s manual will contain very basic information on the fuse board, setting the audio/video system, service requirements and the likes. In contrast to the factory service manual, this manual contains information on how to overhaul the entire car engine or how to resolve or replace specific components or rewire the entire car’s electronic interface! 

These manuals are downloadable from various websites, however caution is advised in choosing a good site as not all the service manuals are the same, some are indeed of better quality than others. 

Once you obtain the manual, it would be a good idea to refer to the manual when the car start showing signs of low performance or produces strange noises as the manual contains sections for troubleshooting which would give the owner of the vehicle a good enough idea of what is wrong with the car. 

What is good about this is that, armed with a little knowledge of what is wrong with the car would be sufficient to deter mechanics from overcharging vehicle owners.