who has the best repair manuals?

Since I work in the industry, I can speak with just a tiny bit of authority here. lol. Owning a shop I have gone through a half dozen different "software companies" that sell service manual information. After all the ones I have used I have found that AllData is the most comprehensive of them all. They don't actually have or make their own service manuals. What they have done is gone to each of the manufacturers and bought the right to copy and use the factory service manuals. This means that the manuals you are looking at for each different vehicle are the same exact manuals that the dealership techs access.

Bearing that in mind, the most comprehensive and detailed service manuals are, and have for many years, been the GM vehicle lines. (Chevy, Buick, Cadillac, etc) Their service manuals are broken down so well that a 10 year old with basic comprehension skills and a tool set could diagnose a problem.

 

Hmmm, I don't know, Bill. All that really tells me is that GMs need a lot of repairs and they were built by 10-year-olds.

 

Humor all you want. My point is that when it comes to service manuals, the ones GM have for their vehicles are the easiest to understand and follow. Most diagnosis procedures involve simple flow charts with detailed information in their steps. Try diagnosing a P0101 on a Ford, using their manual, then do the same for a GM. Much easier to understand and diagnose by far for the GM. They give you a lot more information.

 

Here is Ford's diagnostic information and service manual procedure for P0102:










Here is what GM gives you for a Chevy truck:







And there were 3 more pages I didn't copy after that...

So yeah, GM makes the best service manuals for their techs by far.

 

Bill, babe, just joshin ya. But yeah, that is how all manuals should be for everything. Sequential steps, if-then statements, etc. And how much is an All-data subscription?

 

I pay $100 per month for my subscription. Of course owning a shop it is a no-brainer there! Haha. I plan to jeep my subscription going while I transition to the new location in Florida. It may be several months to a year before I open a new shop back up, but having service information available is always worth it.

 

I am a repair manual BWAAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAAAA

 

Wat?

I must have not got that punchline.

 

Hey some of us are technicians but we don't put it our user text brah!

 

I was just giving you a hard time. But I doubt you have every procedure and spec memorized. lmao.

 

I sure do! and to prove it...

37!

 

Thanks for that. I just used your code and signed up for my '09 Camry and my '97 Tacoma. I figure for $35 for a year, can't hurt!

 

I have the full FSM on pdf. Free to whoever pms me their email address

 

I knew it! You forgot 42, 173, and 203!

 

When I had the shop , I used Mitchel on Demand . back then they were similar to All-data with about the same user subscription fees $1200/year. I see they are still active but cant really speak for wether or not they are the best or not in 2014 .
With this said , their information package worked hand in hand with the Snap-on scanners and digital Vantage oscilliscopes .
Doesnt look as if the system is available to individual users .
http://mitchell1.com/main/

 

I am also a HUGE fan of TIS:

https://techinfo.toyota.com/techInfoPortal/appmanager/t3/ti

I have a pdf FSM thanks to some folks here, but I like to hit TIS when I am plannning something a bit larger. When in for my 2 day $15 sub I hit every thing I think I may be doing in the near term and print, print, print. I got quite the stack of paper for my Toyotas now

 

Awesome. No problem.

 

I used to run Mitchel1 and won't go back. There were too many problems, and the software was glitchy at best.