A good manual

[20050627|3|008327|000043|65.183.99.20]

So I'm in need of a good manual. DOne some looking on Ebay but not sure if there is a preferred one.

What's prompting this is it's apparent my truck has had a bit of shoddy work done to it in the past, stuff that should be easy to fix but without a good manual means a trip to the dealer.

Here's my story (cause I just feel like telling it). Truck has made some black smoke since I got it s I was looking at the waste gate controller. Followed the vacuum line to check the vacuum only to find it disconnected. Happily connected it up and went for a drive. Way more black smoke, overheating and just ran crappy. Unplugged the vacuum line and left it at the dealership.

Turns out nothing was broken, just the hoses were routed all wrong. Labor charge only (for that problem, tranny needed a solennoid). Plus the wiring to the glow plug relay was installed wrong, was chafing and shorting out so they fixed that.

All in all, stuff I can do myself with a decent manual.

[99gmccrew]

I also wanted to be able to do simple and not so simple maintenance myself without some greedy mechanic sucking up my hard earned cash. Besides I'm starting to become a semi-closet-gearhead since buying this 6.5l. Strange love affair with this intriguing motor. A constant quest for more power.

Anyway back to the subject, I was able to get a good deal on this set of shop manuals which pretty much covers anything you may come acrossed.I heard these go for over $200/set new.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=7905664189&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT

[markrinker]

On the somewhat related thought of 'greedy mechanics sucking up hard earned cash'...

I have forged relationships with two local businesses, one is a Goodyear Tire Store and the other a Jiffy Lube. To help defray the cost of fleet repairs, we negotiated fleet rates and trade-out dollar for dollar in exchange for snow plowing in the winter.

Oddly enough, annual oil/lube/fluid changes on all vehicles (including my wifes car) almost perfectly equals my yearly bill of around $800-1,000.

The tire/repair store is a different story (i.e. I spend about 5x of what I bill in plowing) - but its nice to get the equivalent of a set of new tires and a brake job per year for 'free' (basically my time plus some fuel.)

I am sure there are others here on the board that could trade out 'professions for parts' and beat the taxman at his own game. Did I say that out loud?

[ttpost]

have you checked out alldata.com, my local stealership uses it, it is basically an online service manual that gets updated quarterly.

they have saved me thousands of dollars, it is really a great site. it costs 25.00 per year and then 15.00 a year after that but it is worth 5x that amount.

i like it better than a manual. check it out tongue.gif

[Marty Lau]

I think it was TTPost that steered me to ALLData and I agree with him it is well worth the $25 year I been on less than a month with them and I am think of adding another car to the subscription. It gives you parts numbers and Dealer list prices on them too so you order your parts by number.

[ttpost]

it was me that steered you there :D i found it when i went to chevy for a diagram and looked over the service mans shoulder. thought if they could get so could i and i did. :D :D ;)