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Chilton or Haynes repair manual?


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Well, all I can tell you is than in my opinion the Haynes sucks big time. Better than nothing I suppose, but it's not very accurate or inclusive.

 

From what I have learned on the board here we need the FSM, which I think stands for Fuji Service Manual. I know I want one, just havn't got around to it yet.

 

 

 

Pyro

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I've never seen a Chilton's manual that I felt was worth the paper that it was printed on. My personal opinion.

 

Haynes has known problems, and not a very good reputation on this board. The Factory Service Manual (FSM) for any make is the gold standard for any manual, as it is what the Dealer's mechanics use.

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have one of each, my dad lives by his haynes (has one for every car he's ever owned), I think it's pretty crappy, but if you can't get your hands on an FSM (or just to lazy, like me), you can usually find the info you want between the 2.

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everyone is so down on the haynes manual, but i find it rather useful. all the chiltons i see are too in general to be specific

 

the heaynes book is rather good i think as it shows valve lashes, engine specifications, ecu trouble codes, and wiring schematics

 

the "Known Problem" with the haynes book is the timing belt procedure skips a picture, but the text DOES mention the 360 deg crank rotation. be sure to read the text british translation can be confusing. dont go by the pics alone. i think its laid out rather well and the newer editions cover the air suspension.

 

these are my opinions. yeah i know timing belts and head torquing sequences, firing orders without the book, the book doesnt even mention axles, but i find myself refering to it often for electrical schematics or ecu codes. its not total crap and is handy to have around

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My advice is to get them both. They both have errors and information the other doesn't. If you have them both you can cross reference between the two and usually come out with the best course to take. That's what I do. I would love to have the FSM (I thought it was an acronym for Field Service Manual), too. But, no doubt they had mistakes and errors too. So, unless you can get all the updates and corrections that go with them you might be in the same boat.

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Could I get an FSM through Subaru?

 

FSM's are usually very expensive. I've used Haynes Manuals for over 30 years. (Not because of any similarities in name.) They have gone down hill over the last 5yrs or so but are still better than anything you can get off the shelf. They'll have pretty much everything you can get in a Chiltons.

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I remember having a Haynes, a Chilton and some other book for my old VW beetle. I grant you, A Sube is not a beetle, but point is that I needed all 3 books at one time or another. Some had better text for some procedures and one of the others probably had better illustrations. Between them, I usualy got the job done.

 

Jon

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I have both Haynes and Chilton and find the Haynes much more usefull, especially for wiring. (have '82 hatchback, '87 3 door, & '89 wagon)

 

In fact, I think the Chilton is pretty much useless.

 

Check out http://www.books4cars.com. I recently found this site while searching for manuals for an old caddy. They list all kinds of Subaru FSMs 1970-2004 - latest I saw for Loyale is 1990, though. I have not bought anything from them yet, so have no idea about the quality.

 

Maybe a bit pricey, but if they're the real deal, might be worth it. Best deal appears to be 89 loyale sec 1,2,3 and sec 4,5,6 manuals - should contain pretty much everything about your '92 as I believe there were few differences.

 

If anyone happens to get any manuals from books4cars, I'd like to hear what you think of them.

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get a Factory Service Manual (FSM) - they are well worth the $ if you get one off ebay - over the past three months I have seen manuals for all 80's Subarus appear - keep an eye out, one will show up - usually they go for ~$50 for the set

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