Jay P

Hi all, I finally scrounged up some 88 sedan repair manuals.
Here's my 2 cents.
Do not buy haynes manuals, as a general rule they are almost useless.
Do not get a reprint of an acura service manual, generally reprints have poor bindings, poor diagram reproduction, are expensive, and have no collectable value.
Do get an original acura service manual on ebay, going rate $10 to $20 per book. There is a service manual and an electrical troubleshooting manual. There is a specific service manual for the coupe and a different service manual for the sedan. Same for the electrical books, two versions.

cheers, Jay

 

sleeprlegendcp

Anyone doing regular things like changing rotors, replacing fuel filter, removing throttle body, flushing cooling system, etc. the Haynes is perfect. I have never found a situation it does not cover in my G1 except the frame less windows. From many I hear they can not understand the acura manual. They say it is too technical. The Hayes shows you where the part is with a real picture, tells you the procedure, and gives you all capacity and torque specs. There is even a troubleshooting section. I believe it to be perfect as your first manual. If you start on more serious work pick up an Acura one.
Later!
Lee

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Jay P

Hi, yes haynes manuals are fine for learning how to do basic maintenance. But for any slightly complicated job they aren't so great. If a step in a repair turns out to be difficult then the haynes book seems to ignore it, sage words of advice like 'step 12, install engine' when in fact at least a couple paragraphs could be written about how exactly to get it in the right place. Electrical diagrams are also a pain in the haynes, most books cover several years of vehicle and include some but not all wiring diagrams, and usually the wire color codes and symbol descriptions are absent. Automatic transmissions are not that tough to fix, hell even I can do it, but you need the acura manual. If you want to learn how cars work then get an old copy of "automotive mechanics" by Crouse, cars have changed since then, but the principals have not.

Jay

cigarettcancerman

i have a chiltons book from the library, it doesnt go into detail about much at all, and the index is horrible, all the images are drawings and theres hardly even any of those, ill have to dish out the money to get a haynes one. I like haynes because there are so many actual photos and things usually go into a decent amount of detail, there is even a trouble shooting section that is somtimes helpfull to narrow down your problem. i wouldnt reccomend using anything except haynes based on my experience. i wouldnt know about how helpfull their electrical diagrams are because of the electrical things i usually do i dont need a book for that. I cant say anything about the actual honda manuels except for the online pdf which are decent for the fact that they are free. Haynes taught me basically everything i know and will learn more as problems arise. i have never in my life had anyone else work on my car except for tires and inspections and plan to keep it that way.

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[b][color="Red"]My legend has been sold!
New car...
Black 5spd 93 integra GS hatch back
MP3/CD player
100w (500 RMS) profile amp
100w (600 RMS) Dual 12's bandpass
4 280w Pioneers
Red calipers
Factory alloy rims
STILL NO FACTORY CUP HOLDER!!!!!

ND1980LS

I got my OEM Acura '90 Coupe repair manual off ebay for $ 10.

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'90 Granada Black Pearl LS Coupe, 302K miles
'89 Geneva Green Pearl LS Coupe, 142K miles

My 1989 & 1990 Legend LS Coupes

chuckee98

In my opinion, there is no substitute for the Factory Service Manual (published by Helms). I bought the Haynes initially because I need one quickly, and there were none on eBay at the time, but when one came up, I was made sure that I got it.

Have you ever seen a GM factory service manual? (Also published by Helms.) Not worth the paper it's printed on - all Five Volumes of the one I have for my truck.

Honda / Acura manuals are very straight forward and easy to understand, and has everything you need from a simple tune-up to major overhauling.

But yes, if the Haynes is to be your first manual, make sure the factory one is your second.

My first manual ever was "How to Keep Your Volkswagen Rabbit Alive - A Step by Step Manual for the Complete Idiot". I bought the one for the Honda Civic when I replaced my Rabbit with an '82 Accord. Then I got my first Factory Service Manual for the Accord. Between those two books, I learned a lot. Did my timing belt, water pump, struts, clutch, almost everything.