Customer Reviews

GM Lumina APV, Silhouette, Trans Sport, and Venture, 1990-99 (Chilton's Total Car Care Repair Manual)

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1 star:		(3)

 

 

THIS BOOK IS INCOMPLETE. I ordered this book to help me fix a specific problem with my 1995 Lumina APV: The automatic sliding side door has failed. Although this book is supposed to cover all 1990-99 model Lumina, Silhouette, Trans Sport, and Venture minivans, the book contains no mention that I can find of any automatic side door feature. There is a photograph of electrical contacts (Fig 4, page 10-3), but I have otherwise found no information in the wiring diagrams or anywhere else in the book about any wiring or motors used to operate the side door. If information about an ENTIRE SYSTEM is missing from the book, who knows whether the information needed for my next problem will be there?

There are no other ways to explain this book but STINKY, PITIFUL, and AWFUL! I sure hope that if you buy this book you don't actually plan on fixing anything specific. The authors of this book raced through and tried to give as little detail about the repairs they were doing as possible.

I will never own another Chilton's manual. I suggest you stick with the Haynes manuals. The detail is much greater, the pictures are MUCH better, and they actually tore down and rebuilt the vehicle in the Haynes manual.

Please don't waste your money on this pitiful excuse for a repair manual!!

Worked great when I had a van. Worked great when I had a van. Worked great when I had a van. Worked great when I had a van.

The book takes a lot of space to describe what a relay is, but not where the relays are or what they do on this model car. The book has many sections similar to this, almost like a cut and paste exercise. Generic pictures of tire wear, spark plug condition - who cares? Reference is made to the low pressure switch on the air conditioning circuit - why not show you where it is. Wiring diagrams look like bad photocopies. Pictures of the engine compartment are reversed. Antifreeze colors have changed over the years! I would estimate that only 10 to 15% of the content has to do with the minivan model purportedly covered, the rest is auto "filler" - all in all, a pretty worthless book.