Do It Yourself Car Maintenance: Auto Repair Manuals

New cars and other vehicles come with their respective manuals, just like most new devices or gadgets. It does not provide instructions on how to drive your car because this is something that you should have learned before you took your driving test. Instead, it provides how to guides on your car’s different components and features like windshield wipers, turn signal lights, and others. Although this depends on the car’s manufacturer, the owner’s manual may also include tips on responsible car ownership such as when you should replace your tires or what road rules you are expected to comply with.

A car owner’s manual is, however, not the same as a car repair guide or manual. The former deals with the basic information on operating and maintaining a car’s features. The second one provides information on auto repair. A repair manual may also have illustrations on using and maintaining your car, but it concentrates on giving comprehensive guides in system repairs and replacing car parts. Car repair manuals are helpful when you need to save money on trip to service centers or auto repair shops, or if the problems is just a small one that can be easily solved.

Because of the large number of topics that car repair manuals can cover, it would be hard to put them all in just a single document or book. As a matter of fact, we could, in all likelihood, be able to print thousands of pages if we were to gather every single kind of repair guide one can use on a problematic car in a single manual. This is why auto repair manuals usually come in different kinds, both available in print or online.

For basic maintenance and troubleshooting of the most commonly replaced parts like fuses, windshield wiper inserts, and turn signals, use a generic car repair guide. Because they are generic, they can be referred to when you are troubleshooting cars of different makes and models.

Vehicle-specific repair manuals are also available like generic car repair manuals. Their content is practically the same as the generic repair manuals. They are, however, specifically made for certain makes and models of cars. They are aptly named as vehicle-specific because they are tailored to certain kinds of cars and are meant to be used for more complicated kinds of repairs.

If you set on troubleshooting and repairing your car by yourself, ensure that you are consulting the correct kind of auto repair manual. Use a generic repair manual for basic repairs and a vehicle-specific repair manual if the problem is limited to your car. With the correct car repair guide at hand, learning and performing repairs on your car should be no trouble at all for you.