Customer Reviews

Honda CRV and Odyssey, 1995-00 (Chilton's Total Car Care Repair Manuals)

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

 

 

I called all the auto stores in my area to see if they had a Honda CR-V service manual. No one had them, so I turned to the web for help. I found this book, ordered it, and was able to succesfully replace my squeaky brakes. This book can help you with almost any repair on your CR-V, and I highly recommend it rather than paying tons of money for the dealership to repair your car.

I changed my timing belt and purchased this to use as a reference. All the steps were in there except for the most crucial one, which is ABSOLUTELY REQUIRED in order to get the new belt on (the camshafts must be rotated slightly in order to line up the teeth on sprockets with the belt). Without this step, it's impossible to get the belt on. Thank the Lord, I found a website where someone mentioned this step. Hopefully, there aren't other critical steps like this missing in the book. I've used Chilton books for all of my cars through the years. This was a disappointment.

I must say that this guide is better than any Haynes book I've owned, case in point: dashboard/stereo removal. This book had more useable pictures and clearer instructions than the similar year Haynes book for my Honda Civic. Also, I reviewed the procedure for the CV joints and found the same to be true. I imagine this would apply to bigger repairs, but I haven't done anything major.

Other things that stand out are the bold headings, notes and warnings which are easier to read, the paper is better quality, and it has a glossary in the back. In my mind, no contest.

This manual covers too broad a vehicle spectrum and lacks detail necessary to do a serious repair with confidence. Diagrams are spotty in their coverage and references to obscure tools like "noid lights" are not explained.

As always, the Chilton's manuals are pretty comprehensive and easy to follow. However, Honda changed the style of the Odyssey from a four-door to a minivan in 2000. This manual doesn't cover the 2000 minivan in spite of what the title says.

I own a repair manual for each of my vehicles and they (at one time or another) end up saving my rear at some point. This happened to be the first Chilton brand one that I have purchased (the vehicle is actually owned by a colleage at my office). I must say that I was rather impressed, although it wasn't able to cover some of the specifics on his particular vehicle (which was actually a '97 Isuzu Oasis).

First of all, the first things I noticed about the Chilton manual (compared to the Haynes manuals I own) was the ease of finding torque specs and how "fresh" the printing seemed to be. My experience with the Haynes manuals is that they tend to look like they were printed 10 years ago but this Chilton looked much more recent. I think what made the difference was really the contract from the print to the page and how sharp the printing was. The layout also seemed to have a more modern feel.

I don't think I'm a convert just yet because I know how much my other manuals have saved me in the past. We'll have to see how my future experience with the manual plays out.

The reason I give it 4 stars is because the manual may cover just too many models. I realize that the vehicle was actually an Isuzu Oasis, but the Honda Odyssey is supposed to be exactly equivalent. I know that most repair manuals cover many models, but the cr-v and the odyssey seem to be quite a stretch. I still was able to navigate the different suspension components but I stopped short of fixing the problem because the book couldn't offer me a solution that didn't involve buying a thousand dollars worth of tools. This isn't necessarily the fault of the book since it's job is to tell you the correct way of fixing something, but I know the mechanics that ultimately fixed the problem did not follow the same procedure as the book did.

It's still a worthwhile book and still a great investment for a car (even if you only complete simple repairs, like brakes).

If you work on cars you already know Chilton makes some of the best manuals available.

If you dont and are looking for a car manual, you should be warned: These are not for the faint of heart. These are not magic bullets for people who want an 'easy do it yourself with common tools around the house' kind of guide.

These are for people with a good set of tools, some technical aptitude and a little understanding of how automobiles work. And patience. Working on cars take can take a lot of elbow grease. Again this manual is not magical.

Amazon was the only place with in stock and ready to be delivered by when I needed it, and had by the far the best price.

I bought this book because i needed to change the timing belt on girlfriend's crv. the details for this section were quite complete, but at times a bit confusing. the key to remember in this section is that you are not done loosening or tightening a bolt/nut until they give you the torque setting. for instance, when tightening the timing belt tensioner pulley, you are to loosen and tighten it at several different stages in the process, and only on the last instance are you given the torque (once you turn the crank about 15 degrees past tdc - three teeth on the cam sprocket).

of special note, one can make the crankshaft pulley tool out of a 2" - 90° street elbow, and a reducer ring with hex end. just put them together, drill a few holes in the elbow (and pound in a few appropriately sized bolts) then grind down the reducer to fit, and grind/drill a hole into the back of the elbow big enough to fit a 1/2" socket extension. then use a long piece of pipe, a breaker bar, and all your strength to loosen that bolt.

this was the closest manual I could find for my '96 Isuzu oasis-unfortunately it did not address the reasons I ordered it-repair of cruise control-defroster & heating controls - I'm always amazed by some of these DIY manuals that go into rebuilding an engine but overlook many simple maintanace items-I would go to the OEM service manual for anything complicated-I just needed a clarification on some issues so as not to have to pay someone else for diagnostics. it's an OK reference for tune-up specs & wiring diagrams-would have liked better coverage of diagnostic codes.

GOOD TO HAVE, IF YOU NEED TO SAVE SOME MONEY AND FIX IT YOURSELF