O/T Haynes Manual: The Truth

Haynes: Rotate anticlockwise. Translation: Clamp with mole grips then beat repeatedly with hammer anticlockwise.

Haynes: This is a snug fit. Translation: You will skin your knuckles!

Haynes: This is a tight fit. Translation: Not a hope in hell matey!

Haynes: As described in Chapter 7... Translation: That'll teach you not to read through before you start, now you are looking at scarey photos of the inside of a gearbox.

Haynes: Pry... Translation: Hammer a screwdriver into...

Haynes: Undo... Translation: Go buy a tin of WD40 (catering size).

Haynes: Retain tiny spring... Translation: "Bugger what was that, it nearly had my eye out"!

Haynes: Press and rotate to remove bulb... Translation: OK ? that?s the glass bit off, now fetch some good pliers to dig out the bayonet part.

Haynes: Lightly... Translation: Start off lightly and build up till the veins on your forehead are throbbing then re-check the manual because this cannot be 'lightly' what you are doing now.

Haynes: Weekly checks... Translation: If it isn't broken don't fix it!

Haynes: Routine maintenance... Translation: If it isn't broken... it's about to be!

Haynes: One spanner rating. Translation: Your Mum could do this... so how did you manage to botch it up?

Haynes: Two spanner rating. Translation: Now you may think that you can do this because two is a low, tiny, 'ikkle number... but you also thought the wiring diagram was a map of the Tokyo underground (in fact that would have been more use to you).

Haynes: Three spanner rating. Translation: But Nova's are easy to maintain right?... right! So you think three Nova spanners has got to be like a 'regular car' two spanner job.

Haynes: Four spanner rating. Translation: You are seriously considering this aren't you, you pleb!

Haynes: Five spanner rating. Translation: OK - but don't expect us to ride in it afterwards!!!

Haynes: If not, you can fabricate your own special tool like this... Translation: hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!

Haynes: Compress... Translation: Squeeze with all your might, jump up and down on, swear at, throw at the garage wall, then search in the dark corner of the garage for whilst muttering "bugger" repeatedly under your breath.

Haynes: Inspect... Translation: Squint at really hard and pretend you know what you are looking at, then declare in a loud knowing voice to your wife "Yep, as I thought, it's going to need a new one"!

Haynes: Carefully... Translation: You are about to cut yourself!

Haynes: Retaining nut... Translation: Yes, that's it, that big spherical blob of rust.

Haynes: Get an assistant... Translation: Prepare to humiliate yourself in front of someone you know.

Haynes: Turning the engine will be easier with the spark pugs removed. Translation: However, starting the engine afterwards will be much harder. Once that sinking pit of your stomach feeling has subsided, you can start to feel deeply ashamed as you gingerly refit the spark plugs.

Haynes: Refitting is the reverse sequence to removal. Translation: But you swear in different places.

Haynes: Prise away plastic locating pegs... Translation: Snap off...

Haynes: Using a suitable drift... Translation: Fetch the biggest nail in your tool box

Haynes: Everyday toolkit Translation: Ensure you have an RAC Card & Mobile Phone

Haynes: Apply moderate heat... Translation: Placing your mouth near it and huffing isn't moderate heat.

Haynes: Index Translation: List of all the things in the book bar the thing you want to do!

Reply to
mark
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Also known as provocative maintenance.

Reply to
PeterC

Or repetitive posting of something years old...

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Hope they're not going to say that about my Haynes manual when it comes out...

Regards,

Reply to
Stephen Howard

Interesting. Let us know when it does. Most of the Haynes specialist subject manuals are pretty good - unlike the car ones. One I reckon is particularly good is the (car) Electrical and Electronics Systems.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

What I never understood is why the reasons they were so ruddy useless were so obvious, yet they never did anything about it, just kept churning out junk grade manuals. I eventually learnt go buy the mfr's workshop manual, forget Haynes. More money, yes, but well worth it.

BTW the one about removing sparkplugs does work, I even used it once. Perhaps the manual forgot to mention that you remove only half of them, so the starter gets twice the runup to get over each compression. Push starting is quicker though

NT

Reply to
meow2222

Unfortunately proper maker's manuals are rare these days. Although some are available on CD. Which never seem so good as 'properly' written ones.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Should be out by Christmas, all being well.

I've always found them invaluable - even when I've bought the official workshop manuals. Kept my Avengers going between the two manuals, and complete rebuilt a 88" SIII Landy in the same manner.

I now own a car that doesn't have an associated Haynes manual - and it's a complete PITA at times.

Regards,

Reply to
Stephen Howard

Dave Plowman (News) coughed up some electrons that declared:

Indeed. I make a habit of getting them for any car I have on principle.

The Daewoo Lanos was the best - just a CDROM full of PDFs.

Mini and VW both come on umpteen CDs and want to install everything on the PC including a wibbly fat viewer program that's IMHO crap compared to just loading up a PDF and printing the relevant few pages.

Cheers

Tim

Reply to
Tim S

The DS is great: lots of original Citroen manuals have been scanned in

- with Citroen's blessing - in an international user effort and are available for free download. You just print the pages you need for the job and chuck 'em away afterwards.

Ian

Reply to
The Real Doctor

I sort of meant for new cars - in other words traditional manuals for them don't exist.

I'd expect anyone with a DS to be happy to pay for a proper manual - assuming they exist in English. Many now officially out of print from the maker have been copied and republished by others.

Of course if it's available on line you could always print your own copy.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

The one time I bought the manufacturer's manual, I was somewhat hacked off to find out how many things were 'missing' or inferior on mine compared with the models sold in other markets. Example: In most other markets they had energy absorbing bumpers utilising something like shock absorbers; on mine they were simply bolted on.

Reply to
Rod

-------------------8><

Typical of the contempt with which British manufacturers regarded their home market. No wonder they lost it.

Reply to
Appelation Controlee

It was that famous British brand, Honda. :-)

Reply to
Rod

Ach!

Reply to
Appelation Controlee

Makers who export always have to conform to local markets. And the US demanded bumpers which were at a uniform height and could survive a low speed bump without damage - seems it was the fashion to park by touch over there at that time. This lead to abortions like the last versions of the MGB where they raised the overall height of the car and ruined the handling, let alone the looks. Making is less safe to drive. And heavier too - thus making it less efficient.

IMHO making cars which can survive parking knocks without damage simply encourages careless driving and has no effect on overall safety in a real accident.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

I found all sorts of stuff missing or incorrect in the Triumph one I had. The haynes one wasn't much better, but a combination of the two was reasonable.

Reply to
Jules

Which are great except that many just contained gems like this:

Use special tool abc123 to remove item xyz - said special tool from the dealer was over half the purchase price of your (secondhand) vehicle

Whereas the Haynes manual said "manufacture a puller as below" then remove xyz

This paragraph was followed a fully dimensioned drawing, photographs of the puller positioned correctly and in use.

But Haynes manuals went down the nick long ago, the last decent one I probably used in anger was probably the mid 80's Mini one. By the mid

1990's it got reprinted on recycled partly used toilet paper.

Now,and for the past 20 years you open a Haynes manual and get

"this assembly is not user serviceable, buy a replacement or exchange unit from your dealer"

"this assembly is not user serviceable, entrust the job to your local dealer"

And as for now showing the spark plug photos in black and white. What monochromatic f****it thought that one up?

Reply to
Mike

Of course. Those maker's manuals are produced by the factory for dealer's use - not DIY. So they naturally give details of how to do the job most efficiently to keep labour costs to a minimum.

Trouble with Haynes is they often say 'take the car to a dealer' when it's not impossible to DIY a repair. Gearboxes are a favourite where they do this. Especially autos. But both can often be DIY fixed with the appropriate skills. And a maker's manual will usually give the overhaul procedure so you can decide for yourself if a DIY fix is practical - even although most dealers would just fit a new or exchange unit. And it can be good to read up on such things even although they're working ok.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Or the Haynes manual says "borrow this from your local BMC service garage" in my old Mini one.

Being innocent, I tried this. "Could I possibly borrow your suspension compression tool please?"

"F*ck off"

Ah. He eventually gave me a nut that fitted the end of it and I made my own.

Or the Haynes manual (Mini again) had a foreword from Paddy Hopkirk talking about improvisation and how, on a rally, he had removed a stubborn inner bearing race from a stub axle by "hitting it with two hammers from either side and shattering it". I'll try that, I thought, having the same problem.

First shot a sliver of metal took a chunk out of my cheek. Tried again with brother's fencing mask on. tiny sliver of metal went through mask and just missed eye Tried again with plastic sheet over mask. Beat it to b*ggery. No effect

Used heat in the end.

Reply to
Bob Mannix

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