5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Haynes Manual for the Ford Ranger, January 5, 2007
This review is from: Ford Ranger Pick-Ups,1993-2005 (Haynes Repair Manual) (Paperback)
I ordered this one from Amazon because I felt it was better than the other manual ( from Chilton ) that I previewed ( at the local auto parts store !). Haynes has better step by step instructions and illustrations.
There is is a better manual sold by Helm Inc 1-800-782-4356. I was told this is the one that was prepared by Ford and used at the dealerships. For my 1997 Ranger, the cost for Helm Shop Manual, Eletrical Manual, and Emmisions Manual is $306.95 plus tax & shipping. And if your want to save a few bucks, they have all the above on a CD for $175.00 plus tax & shipping.
I'll try to get by with my Haynes Manual !
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
helped me, May 6, 2007
This review is from: Ford Ranger Pick-Ups,1993-2005 (Haynes Repair Manual) (Paperback)
For most cases you will find this book really helpful. Now for more of the high end, rebuilding a tranny. It's not gonna help. I would get it again just for reference if anything. It has torque values in it, alot of helpful tips on figuring something out, if you dont own the $3,000 snap-on scanner. Put it this way, if i lost this book, for the money i wouuld with out a doubt buy it again
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Buy this last!!! If at all., August 23, 2010
This review is from: Ford Ranger Pick-Ups,1993-2005 (Haynes Repair Manual) (Paperback)
This Haynes Ranger manual is one of the worst I've ever used. Instead of following a troubleshoot sequence and then studying the repair diagrams I spend a lot of time studying the car and figuring out for myself what is wrong because the book is so useless. Once I figure out part of what I need to do, I give the Hayne book another try before searching the internet. So far, in three substantive repair actions the Haynes has scored 0 (Zero) on usable information for me.
If you think you know what part or information you're looking for get ready to be frustrated as Haynes seems to take a perverse delight in not using the common or Ford accepted terms. Want to test this? Next time you're in the auto store, pick up ths book and try looking up OBDII, codes, fuses and many more you can think of. I'll give you a hint, they're not there. Nor are the chassis wiring diagrams for the later Ranger years. I need to know the wire bundle and colors for the back up light. Sorry, can't do it without the diagram.
OK, I hooked up a scanner to my truck and got a code P1537 plus some more information from the scanner about it being an intake manifold vacuum problem. I troll through the book and finally find a few pages with codes. Only the book, apparently doesn't admit to any codes existing above 999. Nor can I find any information on the intake vacuum plumbing.
What gives? If you ask any mechanic today about a problem with your car, the first question most of them ask is, "did you get a code?". Instead of recognizing and incorporating OBDII scan daignostic information, Haynes goes out of their way to ignore and avoid scan code diagnostics.
Once upon a time evey car manual had fairly good troubleshooting section. Got a problem with tires, there would be several pages of tire wear patterns and pictures along with likely causes. The same for spark plugs, pistons, oil, bearings, tie rods, ball joints and other parts. This Haynes book mostly does not. I had peculiar wear on my tires, sorry, basically all this book told me was that I had a problem. After crawling under the truck for a couple of days I decided it must be the lower ball joints because the boots were torn. The book basically said the ball joints were not replaceable and that I needed to replace the entire lower arm. The local Ford repair center told me the Haynes book was wrong. Instead of $200 in parts I was looking at $60. The information I needed about replacing the ball joints I got from the internet because Haynes had nothing. Oh, yeah, after all that, it turned out to be the wheel bearings causing the wear pattern. Once the front wheel off, you could feel the bearing was gritty.
Basically this book comes down to; when you don't really need a car manual you can get by with this Haynes manual, when you really need a good car repair manual this book will let you down, every time.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
