Haynes Workshop Manuals – no longer a thing?

Looking for a last minute Christmas present for my brother-in-law and my sister mentioned a Haynes manual might be a good idea. The car is a Volvo XC60 2013 – 2018 (Phase 2). Seems there is only a workshop manual for the Phase 1 2003-2013. The only product from Haynes I can find for the Phase 2 is an online-only Autofix manual.

This might be ok, but doesn’t seem quite the same thing as the workshop manual. I take it there will never be a workshop manual for the Phase 2?

In all honesty they are no longer worthwhile. The printing quality is poor making the photos indistinct and not worth the ink*

In this case YouTube etc has taken over.

* I have one for my Fiesta and the last three jobs I have tried to use it for were all better served by the internet.

Yep just discovered this.  I have an aging Suzuki Grand Vitara and I’m doing more and more of the servicing and maintenance on it to save a few quid.  I tried to buy a paper Haynes manual for it only to discover they only do an electronic version now for my model year (2010).  A quick glance suggests it’s far less comprehensive than the old hard copy manuals.

I think that’s a shame – yes youtube has filled the gap to some extent, but it’s a bit scattered about and the quality of video guides varies massively.  I find for example you often have to watch 2 or 3 before you find one that seems credible and relevant to what you are trying to do. IMO it’s really handy to have all the torque settings, capacities, tech specs and how to guides for common jobs in one place.  It’s a sad day if I can no longer have a grubby, well thumbed, oil stained Haynes manual knocking about in the garage somewhere.

Ahh the Haynes book of lies.

Step 1 (a) a (see fig 4, part b) – remove car interior.

Step B (2) b, (see sub-paragraph b under sub-header b2} – using special VW tool…

My Renault 5 Haynes didn’t mention having to unbolt the exhaust manifold and engine mounts then jack up the engine to get the starter motor off.

Yeah, hooky/semi dodgy copies of OEM workshop manuals and YouTube seem to be the order of the day.

I think the Mondeo manual will be the last I ever buy.

I got one for my 07 MX5, very useful in identifying what the various bits are so I can find a Youtube vid which shows how to fix it.

jambourgie

“Ahh the Haynes book of lies.”

Legit Lol for that. My Omega blew a head gasket and the manual for the MV6 was full of talk of special dealer only tools. I think I bodged the cam sprocket locking tool with a large flat-blade screwdriver.

…. then simply remove the engine.

Ha – you could tell where I’d used it from the fingerprints all over the pages. Not dissimilar to other publications from my youth 😀

I’m talking about recipe books obvs!

Changing glow plugs (difficulty level 2)
….
….
19a) To access the fourth glow plug remove the timing chain and tensioner (see chapter 14. Difficulty level 5)
.
If you have to do a 5 to get to a 2 then the whole thing is a 5!

I always assumed step 1 was buy brand new vehicle that doesn’t have 15 years of accumulated road grime all over the underside and engine bay…

This is one of the very few things that the US does well – right to repair is one of the things they’re very strong on, and as such anyone selling vehicles in the US has to make all the repair manuals available to anyone. Bentley publishing are the guys that seem to sell all the manuals. Just be aware all the writing and measurements will be in third world English and will require a bit of maths to get them into civilised.
You’re unlikely to get one over here in time now, although I have had stuff from LA arrive at my door two days later before now, so you never know…

Refitting is reverse of removal

Installation is reversal of disassembly….

They lost relevance when cars stopped being made from nuts and bolts in my opinion. They were great for the old Ford’s, Opel’s, Volvo’s that I had. Cars are infinitely more difficult to assemble and disassemble these days.

Ah joy. Last one I had was for an allegro that you would ‘tune’ using a glass spark plug and twisting the distributer.   I think things are a bit more complicated now.  Pictures were never that great but you did get the idea that someone may actually have done it at some point

They lost relevance when cars stopped being made from nuts and bolts in my opinion. They were great for the old Ford’s, Opel’s, Volvo’s that I had. Cars are infinitely more difficult to assemble and disassemble these days.

I’ve got one for my Mini and one for my Fabia, the difference in quality and scope is massive! The Fabia one is twice as thick but there’s so many different engines that I reckon 70% of it will never apply to any car you own. There’s also whole sections that basically say ‘Nope, dealer job that is.’ like anything to do with the gearbox. The Mini one has a complete diagram for every part with clearance specs etc and takes up a 1/3 of the book!

Ah joy. Last one I had was for an allegro that you would ‘tune’ using a glass spark plug and twisting the distributer.

Those were the days. I probably have said glass spark plug tucked away in the garage somewhere.

The Mini one has a complete diagram for every part with clearance specs etc and takes up a 1/3 of the book!

And it’s still thin and lacking detail compared to the BL workshop manual.

Those things have rebuilds and exploded part diagrams + PN for all the rebuildable components.

Come to think of it my diagbox has similar for my french cars. Haven’t bought a Haynes in years the data’s either easier to consume or it’s more comprehensive else where.

The last time I looked in a Haynes manual it was when junior wanted to change a drive shaft. I read the appropriate section and shook my head in dismay. It had to be easier than that. A few minutes on Youtube had a vid from a guy in Moroco. We didn’t understand a word but could see exactly what he was doing. Job done with a tiny fraction of the number of bits Haynes would have had us remove – it just required removing a few bolts and using a long crowbar. 🙂

Yes, be aware, the online version is nowhere near as good as the printed version, something I found out recently when I couldnt get the alternator out of my van. I paid the £23, downloaded the ‘manual’ only to find – ‘remove the auxilary belt and alternator’. No explanation that you need to remove one of the engine mounts and both lower, and raise, the engine to get at the various bolts. No wonder I couldnt work out how to get at it. The advice was found on an online forum. The Haynes manual is useless.

As a long term tinkerer of our own cars the new Haynes ones are better than nothing but I agree with the points above. Landrover Defender ownership was the best for availability of genuine comprehensive workshop and parts ID manuals. Volvo is a close second but is digital (VIDA) but doesn’t cover P3/newer stuff.

I remember my old Citroen C15d was covered my 3 manuals:
1. C15 (but that was 3 bolt hubs, different front suspension / subframe and petrol only)
2. Peugeot 205 for front suspension and gearbox etc.
3. XUD diesel manual for the engine.

For more recent Citroens anyone could get a login for the parts & accessories bit of the website, so from model or VIN you could get exploded drawings and part numbers which got you half way to pulling apart and fixing things. Not tried it for a bit but hope it still works.

Then those newer Haynes online things give torques etc.

so from model or VIN you could get exploded drawings and part numbers which got you half way to pulling apart and fixing things.

The online parts sellers have those along with all the compatible parts. You do need vernier calipers and the ability to count spline teeth etc. to be certain but I’ve rarely needed to look further than the seller’s and part manufacturer’s web sites. Same for torques, if not just use the standard for that size of bolt/thread/material.

A lot of suspension bolts are now single use yield torque so no such thing as “standard” torque for those. And some of the non-oem bolts are pretty crummy.

I’ve got 3 on the shelf, and kinda agree.

The 70’s MG one is obviously as good as expected.

The Ford C-max one (mix of mk1 Focus era mechanicals and Mk2 body) was pretty good.

The Berlingo one was just irritating, things seemed badly explained, or were written based on guesswork from other models / LHD markets. e.g. there’s no way to get the brake master cylinder out without getting the engine out, yet the manual just says it’s behind the battery (which is on the other side entirely).

Mixed feelings about it. On the one hand even the MG book says the differential is a factory part, despite the fact you can (with some skill and various gauges) rebuild one. And once the engines out the car, taking one apart is 99% the same on a Ford Fiesta as it is an Austin 7. There’s always going to be a level of complexity at which it becomes futile to strip and rebuild something at home, no one rebuilds a starter motor or dynamo even if technically possible.

I’d still buy one for any car I owned, even if it just gets used a few times for simple jobs it’s so much easier to work through a list of steps on paper than try and follow/pause a video.

CBA cutting and pasting all the quotes but some of the replies made me giggle

Ahh the Haynes book of lies.

Step 1 (a) a (see fig 4, part b) – remove car interior.

Step B (2) b, (see sub-paragraph b under sub-header b2} – using special VW tool…

…. then simply remove the engine.

19a) To access the fourth glow plug remove the timing chain and tensioner (see chapter 14. Difficulty level 5)
.
If you have to do a 5 to get to a 2 then the whole thing is a 5!

For more recent Citroens anyone could get a login for the parts & accessories bit of the website, so from model or VIN you could get exploded drawings and part numbers which got you half way to pulling apart and fixing things. Not tried it for a bit but hope it still works.

Sadly not, it’s now on a subscription model, 7EUR an hour or something daft like that.

@RustyNissanPrairie

Volvo is a close second but is digital (VIDA) but doesn’t cover P3/newer stuff.

What’s this? It is a Volvo manual I’m looking for as BIL wants to service his car.

I’ve seen easymanuals which get good reviews. Pretty sure some dubious copyright issues are lurking there though. Unless they are US ‘right to repair’ manuals that they are reselling?

I had to get one for my brother for Christmas, he is restoring an old R5 turbo. Had to get it second hand from eBay.

I bet the R5 manual is actually pretty good though. Made in the days when a complete nut and bolt strip down and reassembly was possible at home.

@dmorts

Vida is the Volvo dealership level diagnostics software/parts ID/workshop manuals, the dongle needed to interface between a PC running Vida and the car is called Dice. You sometimes find Dice on eBay but are easier to source from AliExpress.

Vida is a 30gb download and only runs on specific Windows configuration but is easy to run within a VM.

It’s an amazing tool for DIY servicing of Volvo’s but it only does the original ‘Swedish’ stuff – it doesn’t do newer Geely.

Still a thing just not for cars.
My mate Ben wrote the BBQ one.

Still a thing just not for cars.
My mate Ben wrote the BBQ one.

If it’s anything like the car one… Are you sure Ben owna or have access to a BBQ for the purposes of writing it ….

Yep. Obviously a change in direction for them in more than one way!🤣

@dmorts easy manuals are good but they fall into the previously mentioned hooky/semi dodgy category. My Vivaro manual is actually an obviously copied Renault Trafic dealer workshop manual. Plus once you buy you only have 48h or something stupid to download the manual or the link expires, that doesn’t scream legit source to me.

That’s not to say it’s not a good source but no doubt you could probably find the same manuals on some site that sounds like Irate Day for free with the same provenance. Just have the usual precautions.

I think the last Haynes manual I bought for a car was for my Morris Minor. My Mog was a ‘54 split-screen, but it had a 1300 A-Series instead of the original side-valve, and bugger-all else had changed. It got Riley drums fitted to the front, along with new shocks and a van rear axle, but the mate who helped me had a split-screen and he went through several engine changes so knew his way around them. Still a useful thing to have at times, though.

https://www.youtube.com/@HaynesManuals/featured

Very nostalgic. Might flick through my very oily old Haynes Yamaha RD350 manual later, one of the few things I haven’t thrown out. Obvs after I cook dinner.