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i can build cars from the ground up, given the tools and materials necessary for the job. that said i still read shop manuals, owners manuals, and anything else i can get my hands on that will give me more information about the subject of motor vehicles. heck i still read books about building engines, there might be a combination i havent thought of for instance. i read books about chassis design and modification, again new technologies often have new suspension geometries.
i will also study wiring diagrams, vacuum hose routing diagrams, etc. if it has anything to do with motor vehicles at any level, i will read up on it.
i can build cars from the ground up, given the tools and materials necessary for the job. that said i still read shop manuals, owners manuals, and anything else i can get my hands on that will give me more information about the subject of motor vehicles. heck i still read books about building engines, there might be a combination i havent thought of for instance. i read books about chassis design and modification, again new technologies often have new suspension geometries.
i will also study wiring diagrams, vacuum hose routing diagrams, etc. if it has anything to do with motor vehicles at any level, i will read up on it.
I'm kinda the same way except I couldn't build a car from the ground up... I do read up on everything I can find automotivewise though and am constantly researching and watching YouTube videos of various repairs.
I hate to have to depend on other people for anything and that includes repairs of any kind to my vehicles.
I have always read the owners manuals of every vehicle I've owned.
Every time I buy a car I read the manual. I don't just read the manual. I take it with me to the car to physically see and touch some of the things talked about in the manual, especially the stereo controls since they've become so complicated. You can even download a copy of your manual. With it you can edit out the things that don't apply to your model car like engines, stereos, and other features not included in your vehicle. Some vehicles have details you'll rarely if ever come across but when you do, it's good to know.
Nope. If I need to know something specific I might look in the index and go to that page. I typically learn the new features and controls by playing with them. Controls should be intuitive. If you have to read the manual to understand how to use a feature then I consider the feature to be poorly designed.
You should read the owner's manual for any vehicle you own. At the very least read the maintenance part concerning fluids, bulbs etc.
Chilton's and Haynes manuals have been replaced by YouTube. The books they put out for specific things like A\C or rebuilding engines are still useful though.
If you like working on your own cars, invest in the service manual for the model you drive. They tell you everything. You may be able to find a free version online if you're so inclined.
The owner's manual I got with a Volvo 122 had a map of the US on the back cover showing the location of all Volvo dealers. There were six of them.
The reason the brakes were weak on that car were that they had never been adjusted, and were not self-adjusting. I learned that from the manual. (Talk about dangerous driving!)
I look into my Camry's manual for specific things, like oil weight and capacity. It doesn't have the tire pressures, though, you have to look at the door decal and the tire store gives you a different figure anyway. The manual contains all sorts of general stuff like how to clean a battery terminal and should really be much thinner.
Ever notice how the old Chilton books had the same engine rebuild procedure, regardless of what car they were talking about?
I skimmed it when I bought the car. I've pulled it out several times to figure out how to do something. I've downloaded it several times because it's so poorly indexed that you need the search function in Adobe Acrobat Reader to have any chance of finding the documentation for the problem you're trying to solve.
I'm at a ski resort in the winter. The toughest thing to find in most manuals is "How do I disable the traction control?" 2/3 of the time, it's given some funky marketing name that isn't "traction control". I've encountered many cars "stuck" in ski area parking lots in deep snow where the owners had no clue that their problem was that they hadn't disabled the traction control.
In my Subaru Outback, the button is bottom left at my left knee below the power liftgate button. That was 10 minutes at night duffing through the paper manual to find it. In my last VW GTI, it was in front of the gear shift and labeled "ASR". That was 10 minutes on the side of the road at night on a steep hill in a car with best-of-breed snow tires. I now know that a Ford Escape has it buried 3 layers deep on the touch screen menus for the NAV screen on the dash. That required downloading the manual. No chance you'd find it in the paper manual.
Finding the oil spec is often just as painful on most cars. It should be on page 1 of the manual.
I always go through mine. I learn a lot of things. When I bought my 2016 Silverado, I just assumed the 5.3 took six quarts of oil, just like my 2001 5.3. Nope, the newer 5.3s take eight quarts of oil. Read the manual, because you can't google what you don't know to ask about.
I always read mine, too. When I buy the vehicle, I go through it with highlighter and pen in hand, to note sections that I know I will later refer to. There are entire blocks I skip over, such as child seat attachment and options I did not buy (sunroof, factory stereo that I replaced with aftermarket, power seat settings etc).
I don't trust all instructions posted on the Internet. Factory paper manual isn't necessarily foolproof, but it is a more reliable source.
I never read any of my car manuals, whenever i have a doubt i just google it
Last I read was the stereo and electronics setup on my '15 Porsche, it's fairly elaborate and like most modern systems, runs a *lot* more than just music. I must say, they did a nice job on the UI/UX and one could, given not too much time, discover just about everything it can do. Some stuff is downright strange, but nice. Still, I read that section in-detail and walked through everything at least once so it might stick in my head. Then I set it up my way and set as master memory setting no. 1, mapped to Key Fob 1. Other Fob could have entirely different settings, and the car adjusts to that person when they enter.
The rest is mostly irrelevant, since the salesman did a great job walking me through the car's features (that had changed from my previous), items I may not have easily noticed. Anything else, I'll look it up when needed, or use Google since Porsche 911 991 (series) have a rather vast following online, all the way back 50 years to the first one. Looked up something in the manual for the very first time after a 15 months of ownership a week or two ago, which was easy (and clear) enough.
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