General Motors Full-Size Trucks, 1988-98, Repair Manual (Chilton Automotive Books) [Paperback]

Chilton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1999

Total Car Care is the most complete, step-by-step automotive repair manual you'll ever use. All repair procedures are supported by detailed specifications, exploded views, and photographs. From the simplest repair procedure to the most complex, trust Chilton's Total Car Care to give you everything you need to do the job. Save time and money by doing it yourself, with the confidence only a Chilton Repair Manual can provide.

Product Details

• Paperback: 552 pages
• Publisher: Delmar Cengage Learning; 1 edition (February 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801991021
• ISBN-13: 978-0801991028
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #36,901 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #2 in Books > Professional & Technical > Automotive > Industry
  • #6 in Books > Professional & Technical > Automotive > Trucks & Vans
  • #35 in Books > Professional & Technical > Automotive > Repair

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lots of Information on Trucks, June 15, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: General Motors Full-Size Trucks, 1988-98, Repair Manual (Chilton Automotive Books) (Paperback)

This book provides you with all of the basic information needed to proform basic and some major jobs on trucks. It was easy to work with and it gave step by step instructions. It was a nice change to work with.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Jack of all trades, master of none, March 12, 2003

By 

George H. Peden (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: General Motors Full-Size Trucks, 1988-98, Repair Manual (Chilton Automotive Books) (Paperback)

The problem with the guide is that it tries to cover all the different models in one book, but ends up not being specific enough for a given model. I found I have to constantly read between the lines to figure out what actually needs to be done on my 1997 Silverado.

I am going to try the Hanes.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very thick manual with all different models included, January 11, 2011

By 

henkkaj - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: General Motors Full-Size Trucks, 1988-98, Repair Manual (Chilton Automotive Books) (Paperback)

I have previously been very disappointed with many repair manuals (other than Chilton) that have for instance:
- very vague instructions like "year model 1973 shown, others may vary" when the model I'm working on is like from another planet rendering the instructions completely useless
- blurry black and white photos where you cannot tell if they shot a picture of a steam engine or a car part leave alone make any use of the photo
- manuals that outright do NOT cover certain engine/transmission/equipment or their combinations. For instance for a -96 320iA BMW with the single VANOS M50B20 engine I was supposed to purchase two books: one of the newer e39 BMW body type for the engine and another for the rest of the e36 model car. Needless to say I did not.

Because of that my hopes were not high as I purchased the Chilton manual, especially since my truck is one of the last ones to use the old 5.7 smallblock engine, using DI instead of HEI ignition and equipped with the less common heavy duty 4L80-E transmission. I was sure that Chilton would not cover my truck at all and would just say "1994-95 models differ, consult the owner's manual" or something as idiotic.

Well, what do you know? The Chilton manual actually acknowledges that these trucks have indeed had a lot of different engines (V6,V8 smallblock,V8 bigblock, several different Vortex engines and two diesels) and they have had different variations such as the HEI/DI ignition mentioned above, and the Chilton manual actually DOES COVER each and every different variation and how they differ from each other, with very clearly drawn pics and diagrams instead of blurry photos. No more guessing involved!

Each section is clearly labeled so that you will know exactly what you are supposed to be doing with your particular year model and engine type and repairing and servicing the truck is therefore very easy. Even the fault codes are listed for all years and combinations and explained with unprecedented detail.

As you can guess, I'm not just positively surprised by the Chilton manual but utterly and completely pleased. This is how a repair manual is supposed to be done.

If I would absolutely _have_ to find something negative to say about the manual then the only fault I've found is that the ignition timing chart is blank and you're told to refer to the sticker in the air cleaner. In many cases those stickers can be worn off or the air cleaner unit changed by a previous owner so you would have nothing but Google and truck forums to refer to. Luckily this was not the case in my truck but nevertheless that is clearly a minus, I believe this kind of vital information should be included. (BTW for the 5.7EFI the timing advance is set to zero with the electric advance wire unplugged if someone there is looking for that info)

So yes, if you have a 1988-1998 GMT400 body full-size truck, this is certainly money well spent and you will earn your investment back tenfold with the very first faulty sensor that you replace yourself.