I was just about to pick up the Haynes service manual off ebay for $15, but before I pulled the trigger I wanted to see if there are any other decent service manuals made.


In the past I have used Bentley manuals, but they only cover 4runner up to the 2nd gen, no 3rd gen manual available. The last Haynes manual I had was sufficient, but totally lacking detail.

 

nothing better than the FSM ( factory service manual ) and theres people with links to it on here. search for a IAMSUPERBLEEDER. he has it in his sig.

 

you can get a Haynes manual from any auto parts store for $15.....no need to order one off the net and pay shipping?

and yes the FSM is pretty great, but there are a few different ones....and no one manual seems to be COMPLETELY complete......

a Haynes or Chiltons also has certain diagrams that a FSM does NOT

 

Like camo said , thet all have stuff the others dont, sometimes important stuff.
I buy as many different manuals as I can for each car I own. Its cheap compaired to the cost of a mechanic.

 

I have Haynes, Chilton and FSM--the real paper one for my exact year I bought the week after I bought the car. It sat unloved for at least five years, but now it has paid for itself many times over. I only look at the other two when I am really in doubt about what I am doing. The 2002 FSM on-line has its limitations if you are an earlier year, and of course, it skips manual trans because it wasn't produced by then. (The 1996 Taco one can help fill in the gaps.) I'd hate to be stuck with only the Haynes, it covers a lot of years and models (Tacos, 4Runners and T100's) and the Chilton is worse (add LC's to the list). Anything to do with the throttle system or auto trans can get very confusing--both had a lot of changes along the model run.