Customer Reviews

Ford Tempo and Topaz, 1984-94 (Chilton's Total Car Care Repair Manuals)

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

 

 

I have been sorely disapointed in the entire series of the Chilton "Total Care " line of books. Many of us who purchase these manuals are familiar whith the much older Chilton manuals and these books are nothing like them. Often the books are under illustrated(or offer generic advice) and frankly do not even describe the same vehicle or it's components. I have been a professional mechanic for many years and cannot recommend this book for anyone who is serious about repairing their own vehicle. It will however suit those wishing merely to change their own oil and filter and perhaps the occasional (gasp) tire. The Haynes manual series is far superior in every resect for the more serious owner.

Chilton manuals have indeed seen better days. This book has very little helpful info. I agree with the above reviewer that the Haynes Manuals are far superior to Chilton. I own them both and hardly crack open the Chilton.

We were trying to replace the heater core, the instructions were foggy to say the least. Further repairs or maintenance just as foggy, its a good book if you have a lot of experience with repairing the vehicle and don't need a how to. Amazingly the "Ford Tempo Mercury Topaz 1984-94" book by Mark Christman, which is by the same company, was a lot better for repairs and maintenance. But neither book helped with replacing the heater core, we eventually used other resources for more ideas on how to actually get to the heater core to get it out.

I had hoped that with the take-over of Chiltons by Haynes, that the manuals would get better. This one is still a piece of garbage! I'm replacing a water pump, and this manual is simply of no help to me! If I could get my money back for it, I would!

I never liked Chiltons manual, in that they were too general, illustrations are very poor, and their layout is a virtual disaster. Half of the information I need to perform the work I'm doing is not even in the manual.

I wouldn't buy another Chilton's manual again......period!

Spent good money for advise on repairs by purchasing and following outlined details in the Chilton's Ford Tempo/Topaz 1984-94 repair Manual -- ran into a major problem. I find that there is no way to contact Chiltons for direction!
Guess, I'll have to pull the engine in order to replace the water pump! Why did they not tell me this to begin with?
Their publications of yesteryear are far superior.
An Unhappy consumer,

M.P. Kreizenbeck

I've used this book for nearly three years now, and keep wondering why I go back to it. (Actually, it's because it's the only Tempo/Topaz book I own.) I have found several major errors in the illustrations, usually due to showing a 2.0 engine setup as a 2.3 or vice versa. Some instructions, like how to change a water pump, are just plain wrong. Electrical schematics, particularly of the instrument cluster are sketchy to the point of being useless when troubleshooting anything other than a hard failure. I suspect that much of the text in this book was a quickie cut-and-paste job of info that pertained to these same components as installed in other Ford products. It really doesn't do justice to the model-specific problems of navigating the limited space of the engine compartment or tracing an intermittent electrical circuit. Proofreading was spotty at best. It's better than doing a repair job blind, but not by much.

Chilton's Ford Tempo and Mercury Topaz Repair Manual 1984-94 is not for the average car owner. It is probably not even for the average mechanic. It is written in difficult language and at times seems to display unnecessarily complicated methods of performing simple tasks. From beginning to index it offers low quality information and instruction. There are too many diagrams and not enough photos. The photos available are poor. Overall this book was not very useful to me. I have used the Haynes manual for the same car and found it much more useful.

I'm just trying to get out of here