Car factory service manual or car workshop manuals as mechanics refer to them as are manuals that are prepared by agencies in collaboration with professional automobile engineers that contain every bit of detail about a specific car make and model.
They are in fact the blueprint of an entire car that offer information on not just the engines and electric components, but they also offer guidance on how to fix each and every part among other things. The factory service manual at times also offer information on the common problems or rather the most frequent problems related to specific car makes and models.
Basically everything that a car owner or a mechanic needs to know about a car regardless if it is from a mechanical perspective or electrical perspective, the car service manual will have references to these components and how to fix any issues.
In most case scenarios these factory service manuals are actually prepared by the manufacturers themselves for the use of their service centres and also as a training handbook by in-house mechanics and engineers.
The manual also contain plenty of basic information about the car which make them very useful to the owners as there are many minor repairs that can be executed by car owners themselves without having to go to the workshop which means a lot of money can be saved by car owners through these manuals.
However, there are versions of these factory service manuals that are prepared by independent third parties for use at vocational training facilities that are referred to as car workshop manuals which are practically the same as the factory service manuals.
The primary reason that automobile owners should own such manuals is obviously to save money. Owners would know how to perform regular services or change fuses associated with the electronics or even reset the electronics to factory default with these manuals without having to visit a workshop.
Apart from the car owners themselves, these manuals would also be a great to mechanics or even car enthusiasts as they will help these individuals save a lot of time that would otherwise be spent on troubleshooting problems.
With these manuals, mechanics would be able to arrive at the root causes of problems very quickly. As most of us are already aware of, time equals to money and when time is saved, so is money.
How to Obtain Car/ Factory Service Manuals
A car owner could choose to write to manufacturers directly and request for a copy, however, there is no guarantee that they will send one, especially if the car is a newer model as manufacturers generally treat the manuals as ‘company secrets’.
They are however more relaxed about older models as trade secrets linked to automobiles do not remain secrets for more than a year. The best and most practical way to obtain these manuals is to download them from websites in PDF format. Some of these websites charge a small fee whilst others offer them free.
Please be advised that only a few free download sites tend to be reliable. The best we have found is a website called Workshop Service Manual. Others may be incomplete or limited with the information that is contained in the manual. The websites that offer these manuals for a small fee are normally the better option.