hi i am posting this as i am getting more annoyed with the haynes manual for my car.

I have had probs in the past with it not tlling me important things and finding out the hard way how to do them.

yesterday i was removing the engine from my saab, i didn't want to remove the gearbox as i am trial fitting the zetec i will be fitting there in the future. i was following the instructions in the haynes and had got to the point where it was supported by the hoist and ready to be slid out of the input shaft. the haynes manual said it would slide out.

however after 10 mins of its refusal to move i realised that the starter motor needed to be removed which would allow the engine to come out. this took hours as the access on the bolts securing was terrible. had to make my own tool to get the nut off!

this has annoyed me as the haynes manual made no mention of this! is this the same elsewhere with other haynes manuals? are there any other type of manual that actually get it right?

quite often aka "The Haynes Book of Lies" due to missing / wrong information....

[Edited on 11/4/06 by stevebubs]

I need to replace a front wheel bearing on a Mini at the moment. The Haynes manual says (after undoing all the appropriate bits and lifting the hub off the suspension arms) tap the end of the driveshaft with a soft faced mallet to release it from the hub. I have been belting it with a lump hammer and it still hasn't moved. Even getting it red-hot with an oxy torch didn't move it. Bought a new hub this morning

Somewhere I have a translation list between what haynes say and what they actually mean. Think it was posted on here too. Come to think of it, don't they produce a book about building a sports car for £250.............

I think this LINK says it all really.

They are all a load of smelly pants.

They're only available in American for the Mk1 MR2, so everythings the wrong way round and has funny names. (They're brake disks not rotors!) Plus there's two whole chapters you can ignore (EGR and auto transmission) and the wiring diagram is useless. I wonder sometimes why I bought it!

IMHO i have found that the sierra haynes has served me well. some stuff you just ignore but you just have to check things and see if YOU think its right. If the Haynes told you to losen the bolt and then jump off a cliff>>>>>?????

Grumpy old man mode ON...Unfortunately the Haynes manuals of today are as good as useless.
Every haynes book used to be based on a complete stripdown nand re-build. Now they just use generic pictures that quite often bear little or no resemblance to the vehicle in question.
It seems that as cars have got more technical Haynes manuals have become less.
The problem is there doesn't seem to be an alternative!!
Ford now no longer produce workshop manuals in paper form just the useless TIS system which is aimed at muppet mechanics who just replace parts and don't actually repair things like they did in the good old days...... Grumpy old man mode OFF....

Well - I know it's illegal... cough... but you could investigate

AutoData... on 'torrent'

That details how to remove components and is WAY better than a Haynes manual...

[Edited on 11/4/06 by muzchap]