Obviously someone has a high opinion of them self, Jeff. But just to keep you happy I'll address you're points.
* Mechanical engineer is not a mechanic. Big difference. * I believe I am qualified to give my opinion of the manuals. I'm am not telling people what to buy, I am trying to refute your notion that the Haynes/Chilton manuals are junk and stop YOU from telling people what to buy. I'm qualified for several reasons. One because I all three and have read the repair steps for the same procedure in all three and for 95% of the home mechanics out there the H/C manuals cover what they need. For another reason I believe I've put in the wrench time to qualify myself as a decent home mechanic. *True the pros would want the best manual available. They'd also want a shop with a center piston lift, $10K in snap-on/matco tools, a wheel alignment station, a wash bay, a parts dept, a body shop. Are you suggestion that the home mechanics should invest in all these things before getting started working on their own car, Jeff? *I bought the Haynes and the Chilton manual was a Christmas gift. I used the Haynes for about four years and got a lot of good use out of it. Then I tackled a job(1G->2G tranny swap) that I was worried would not be covered in the H/C manuals. It turns out I didn't need the shop manual after all, but I keep it as it's a resource that might one day come in handy. Not to mention that while all three manuals hit the same main points they are written differently. Sometimes the shop manual has the clearest steps, sometimes the Haynes or Chilton does. I pick and choose which ever manual states in the clearest manor for me. *Couldn't produce the alleged incorrect wiring diagrams? I figured as much. Just making slanderous accusations, because it's what YOU believe is true. I'm glad the Shop manual worked out for you. But since you don't own a Haynes or Chilton manual then I really don't think YOU are qualified to say they are not worth it. *Jeff, Jeff, Jeff... I think you took my sarcasm a bit too seriously. Not having the manual in front of me at the time I couldn't pick an overly complex schematic(ie the BCM board). My point is that your average home mechanic is tracing down things with a multimeter and is going to end up replacing a relay, control module, door lock, or other power devices. The Shop manual goes into some pretty unnecessary detail that most don't care about. Hey if you're an electrical engineer and want to get that deep then you'll love the shop manual. Jeff, I'm sure you'll have an abundance of angry replies. But I just don't think anyone should take you seriously. You don't even own the books you are critiquing. Well.... let's be fair, I'm not saying you're not qualified because you DO know a college student who bought an alternator he didn't need to. :rolleyes: Unless you come up with something new and/or interesting to say, I'll just drop this and let the group members decide for themselves. To everyone else, what I'm saying is open the manuals and judge for yourself. If you think you'll be doing more advanced stuff than is covered in the H/C manuals then by all means get the shop manual. I just think that the majority of home users will find that the H/C manuals cover everything most of us are going to do. Mike Web: <http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dodge_intrepid> Subscribe: <mailto://[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Unsubscribe: <mailto://[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Moderator: <mailto://[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dodge_intrepid/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
