Customer Reviews

Ford: Aerostar 1986-96 (Chilton's Total Car Care Series)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

1.) This manual is next to useless, the publisher is trading on his reputation ?

2.) This manual has marginal utility, it is better than nothing.

3.) It is replete with errors, omissions and faulty captions.

Examples:

Page 3-129: the conspicuously absent main and rod bearing clearences

Page 1-34, fig 73: Incorrectly labled as the belt diagram for the 4.0L engine. The diagram is for the 3.0L engine with AC.

Page 1-47 to 1-49 Ignition timing 3.0L engine: Chilton's editor's think that you have to remove the water pump and timing chain cover to check/set the ignition timing ?

Page 1-52, item 3: "Unplug the single wire, inline spout connector near the distributor"...

1. spout should be SPOUT an acronym for spark out

2. The SPOUT is not located near the distributor. It is located (3.0L engine) above and to the left of the brake master cylinder, a foot or two from the distributor. The SPOUT functions as a manual switch to allow the basic engine timing to be set. A picture or drawing of the SPOUT would be real nice. Ah Shucks, what's a manual for anyway.

Front cover: The picture on the front cover does allow you to identify the Ford Aerostar van.

I have tried (in vain) to use this manual for any repair to my ford aerostar as I owned a 3 litre van and now I have a 4 litre one. The manual's diagrams are so tiny and the writing illegible so you don't know what you are looking at or what it says ( to give you an idea of how bad, I wore two pairs of 2.00 reading glasses - one on top of the other and STILL I couldn't make out the writing. Shoulda used the Hubble Telescope). The manual doesn't even have a fuse diagram so you have to guess which fuse serves which part - and that's just the beginning; I tried finding the horn on the 4 litre so I could run 12 volts to it and see if the horn itself was faulty, but the diagram doesn't show where to begin looking or where it lies in relation to the engine and front grille. If the basics aren't in the manual, I wouldn't want to use it for anything else. I am buying the Haynes Manual which I have used sucessfully before to do head gasket changes etc. in other vehicles and it was useful.

A much better manaul to work with than the Chilton small paper back RTUG

At first when I purchased the Aerostar I thought I would never find a manual that old...surprising I did find it on Amazon and the techniques and diagrams were very helpful for me (a Do-It-Yourselfer).