Shop Manual Recommendation?
1 - 18 of 18 Posts
Joined
·
1,799 Posts
You have options.
- You can pay for a Mopar Tech Authority manual (distroed on a USB stick) for your year / model.
- You can pay for a day / week / month / year online subscription to Mopar Tech Authority (all years / models)
- You can go with the Chilton / Haynes manuals
- What I do is, I go with a subscription with alldatadiy.com which is a yearly sub by make / model and year. A lot of their diagrams are the same as Tech Authority. They also have expanded wiring diagrams.
- Other options I don't know about 😂
Another possible option is your local library. If you're a member you may be able to access online and find the proper resource. Free...
Joined
·
1,799 Posts
Hi, Let's continue the discussion about service manuals in this thread.
I copied posts to a new thread to discuss the lighting issue.
I copied posts to a new thread to discuss the lighting issue.
Joined
·
88 Posts
Thanks!
Joined
·
88 Posts
Meanwhile I did find this, what appears to be a 2010 shop manual online and reasonably searchable: 2010 Wrangler JK - Lamps/Lighting Interior | Free Online
Joined
·
88 Posts
Anyone have any experience with a "Dave Graham" CDROM manual?
Joined
·
8 Posts
RockAuto sells it on CD. Its a 103 MB pdf on the CD. No title page, no table of contents. Includes electrical schematics at the end of the 6824 page PDF. The product description says:
Dave Graham repair manuals are licensed reproductions of the actual OE service manual. They contain step by step instructions and specifications for the maintenance and repair of the vehicle. CD manuals have been digitally scanned in and cleaned up, so the words and images are clear. The CD is searchable and usually bookmarked, for easier navigation.
This DG CD/PDF mostly looks like you expect a service manual to look. Almost all line drawings, but there are some color photos too. The pictures all say courtesy of Chrysler Group LLC. And the few pictures I compared are the same photos as the TA cd. Which makes sense if they are both getting the content licensed from Jeep. Clearly the formatting is different. I'm not sure, but maybe DG has compiled data from multiple sources? He also mentions a dead YouTube channel for Mitchell1.
I also bought the TechAuthority CD disk $130 which requires Windows & MSIE (Not Edge, unless you futz with it). Does not require internet. I searched everywhere trying to buy a legit Service Manual or Shop Manual for my late JK and almost came up empty - TA says out of stock. Until I found a guy selling a rare used CD of the TA disk at full price on ebay. In my opinion not as good as the printed Jeep shop manual book I bought when I got my TJ, but it is a legit shop repair manual and it is what is available.
I have been completely unable to find a legit Factory Service Electrical Manual with schematics for late JK. TechAuthority says it is out of stock, and they have been saying that for a long time.
In some ways the Dave Graham pdf is actually better than the TA! For example: the electrical system wiring diagrams included at the back, it doesn't need internet, it is searchable, & portable in your phone, cross platform, runs on any device that read a PDF.
I don't know but I'm told that ANY pdf service manual, pdf shop manual or repair manual is pirated from Jeep. I don't know. I really don't know. Apparently Jeep no longer sells a service manual that you can use without having live internet. But since I did buy the legit Tech Authority disk at full price, I figure I'm not a bad guy for also buying the (possibly illegitimate?) $21 DaveGrahm pdf too. And it included 57 pages of wiring diagrams that I have been unable to buy elsewhere.
Attached as an example; Power Windows circuit for a 2015-2016-2017 JK. I'm not sure if you'd call this a schematic or a wiring diagram. Anyway, it's page 6807 in the Dave Graham cd for 2015-2017 JK Wrangler.
Joined
·
88 Posts
Thanks. I did end up buying the Rock Auto CD. It's definitely 21 bucks worth of info, but boy is it tough to search. I copied it to a USB memory stick so that searches can run faster. I was hoping for diagrams, which are there and good, and trim removal info, which doesn't appear to be included.
Joined
·
8 Posts
Works faster if you copy the PDF to your computer directly. Also, you might try a different PDF reader app. Might be easier to search with?
Yeah, I also checked the TechAuthority CD, they don't include interior trim removal at all either. Geez. Even buying the legit TA CD leaves a lot out that I expected to get.
In addition to searching, check your PDF reader controls, this PDF also has an outline, bookmarks, chapters, or whatever they call it in the left sidebar. I didn't notice that at first.
Joined
·
1,799 Posts
Since this seems to be a fairly hot topic over the past couple months, I did want to drop a quick note in here reminding folks that there is a reason why these manuals and guides cost money.
After countless hours of R&D, these companies came along and documented these processes and procedures at considerable expense. Other companies paid large sums of money to license content to produce their own manuals as well.
So just a friendly reminder, if you are sharing links to manuals, please reference legitimate sources, not stolen / reproduced / copies of copyright material.
I would highly recommend referencing @RockAuto (forum vendor), or other sources, like FCA TechAuthority, AllDataDIY, etc.
After countless hours of R&D, these companies came along and documented these processes and procedures at considerable expense. Other companies paid large sums of money to license content to produce their own manuals as well.
So just a friendly reminder, if you are sharing links to manuals, please reference legitimate sources, not stolen / reproduced / copies of copyright material.
I would highly recommend referencing @RockAuto (forum vendor), or other sources, like FCA TechAuthority, AllDataDIY, etc.
Joined
·
88 Posts
Disk space is unfortunately very tight on the ancient laptop I use for this!
Thanks, good to know that spending more money won't necessarily get all info.
I need to delve deeper into the PDF reader, I don't see any of that table of contents stuff. Thanks!
Joined
·
88 Posts
That was a good hint, found the bookmarks and that's a really big help!
Joined
·
8 Posts
Oh, I spoke too soon. Sorry, I haven't had either the RockAuto CD shop manual nor the TechAuthority repair manual very long, so I'm far from an expert in using them. Very far.
But both of those do have at least some interior trim removal pages. I don't know if that is enough for you, and I don't now how it compares to the online version of TechAuthority, or AllDataDIY.com
Try search the Rock Auto CD for: Remove the sun visor
and you'll get close to removing the A-pillar trim.
Or in Tech Authority; (not searchable) look under Body, then Interior, then PANEL, A-Pillar Trim -> removal.
Attached is screen shot of Tech Authority Table of Contents, with BODY > INTERIOR expanded.
(Screenshot removed)
From JKO Terms of Use:
Use the Web Site to post or transmit any information, software or other material that violates or infringes upon the rights of others, including material that is an invasion of privacy or publicity rights or that is protected by copyright, trademark or other proprietary right, or derivative works with respect thereto, without first obtaining permission from the owner or rights holder.
From Tech Authority Terms And Conditions:
Data and information presented on the on-line subscription site is for viewing only. No data or information may be copied, reproduced, or re-sold in any way.
Joined
·
8 Posts
Understood. Of course. Stealing is bad. I fully agree with that. 100%.
Which is why I put the time & effort in to find & buy legit repair manuals. It was difficult, but I was able (eventually) to find a legit FCA shop manual (out of production), and it was expensive. Well, not really any more expensive than the printed book Factory Shop Manual I bought from the Jeep parts counter for my 98 TJ. That was a great book & I used it a lot. Sometimes I used it on the trail, far from any internet. I kept that book safe in a big ziploc bag under the passenger seat and I took it literally everywhere I went. Fantastic reference material, very comprehensive, and no question, it was worth the money.
The current problem as I see it, is not that the manuals are expensive. Because the shop manuals always were expensive. The problem is that the manuals are becoming not available for purchase at all, at any price. What is mostly available is available only as a subscription, and that is only useful if you have a working computer with live internet at the time & place that you need to use the repair manual. I'm not going to argue the price. I'm not even going to argue the subscription concept (although I vastly prefer to buy my repair manuals rather than rent them). But based on past experience, I really do see the need for a portable shop manual that doesn't require live internet. And that is getting more difficult to find.
Maybe it doesn't matter so much to people who keep their cars on the street within reach of cellular internet signal, and within range of tow trucks that can tow them to a dealership service center. However I expect that among Jeepers we'll find more people who aren't always staying on the pavement within cell phone range.
Joined
·
8 Posts
just take it off, you will direct yourself.
Joined
·
8 Posts
you have to explore your jeep, take off everything and then you learn it, no?
Joined
·
88 Posts
Yeah, that's what ended up happening. I had assumed there were tricks to it, but it's just a case of patience and care being needed. Funny, in the end I decided that the different pieces of trim had been designed by different people, and they'd taken bets to see who could use the most types of fasteners on a given piece. Whoever designed the rear corner trim won.
1 - 18 of 18 Posts
Join the discussion
