The Hayns Manual Can Suck it!
 

So my roommate's Acura's radiator has taken a nose dive. She flew out to Minnesota last week to visit family and pack up her husband and such. Long story short, I said I'd swap out her crap radiator for a brand new one. There's only one hindrance in this story... The F&@$ing Haynes manual she bought.

I figured it would be fairly easy and straightforward. Boy was I wrong. It's a simple process now that I have reverse-engineered it. If the book had outlined the key points [accurately] I wouldn't be b$(%@ing about about the lack of info. Anyways, the Haynes manuals are totally useless unless you own a vintage VW.

/rant

So true...

They are a hit or miss affair. In general the manuals are nice in that they at least show you where to look for stuff and how to get to it. Also handy in figuring out how big any job really is before you tackle it. When they get it wrong it is quite frustrating though.

As an example I re-did a timing belt 8, yes 8 times in one day 'cause I followed Haynes and couldn't get the car to start. I only later decided to do it my (the old fashioned) way and only then discovered the book was wrong. ..

On the other hand they have been spot on with regards to both my Volvo and my wife's Mini.

Haynes and Chilton manuals have never helped me at all.

Whats this manual thing you speak of??:D

I use Mitchell, it's a no hassle straight forward set of steps to get the job done. I have many of them in CD but they have them at my public library as well. I don't even trust the torque specs in the haynes manual.

I've got a Haynes or similar for "porsche 356 and 912/911". The radiator diagrams are very interesting.

And for an old VW bug or van, Muir's "Idiots guide to keeping your VW alive forever" is better. In fact, I use it for my 356 (along with Elfrinks for actual number specs)

I had Haynes manuals for years, for every type of vehicle you can imagine. I thought they were quite a bit better than anything else I saw at the local FLAPS. I always assumed that if I couldn't figure out how to do it, it was my fault and not an issue with the manual.

Then I bought a Bentley manual for my 911. I threw the Haynes manuals into the recycle bin after using the Bentley.

angela

edit - also - I do have Muir's manual. Absolutely love that thing.

muirs manual for every VW we have owned. i think there are 4sitting in the bookshelf in the garage. the shop he had in santa fe was a true extension of the books....

i think most old independent air cooled vw shops followed that design for a long time.

alldata.com

if you fold it down the middle, it makes a fantastic floor jack cushion to protect our 911 jackpoints!

I have a shop manual for my Acura, it is outstanding, but was sort of pricey.

"Installation is opposite of removal"

500 pages of technical details for $20. Who could foreseen an error?

Famous last words, Eric? :eek:

By the way, I was able to complete the radiator swap last night. Buttoned it all back together at approximately midnight, system was bled and running fine by 12:05AM.

It only took roughly 5 hours. On a 1998 acura, you wouldn't think there would be so much to do "while you're in there" but there was. Had to replace some vacuum lines, clean up electrical connections, treat a bunch of rust...

So when I re-install the cams on my 3.0l flat six I can just put them in the same way they came out? That's a cool tip! I hate using a dial indicator and block to time the stupid things.

:)

This famous Haynes phrase has bitten me in the azz a few times. And their abundance of black and white photos where nothing can be made out clearly.