Do you always use the Service Manual? Is "Shotgunning" better?

[Carrameow]

I know that yes you should always use the Shop Manual and if you don't you are asking for trouble.
There is always some specification or technical issue or criteria that your lacking could destroy a critical component or system. I single handledly destroyed a 240D Manual transmission that way, by using Gear Oil vice ATF. There is always a dissasembly trick or twist that lies there clear as day in the Text.
But the other day i was adjusting my Volvo sunroof. Lucky enough I had the patience to stop by the Junkyard and practice on a car there. The service manual made no sense.
So at the junkyard I practiced taking it out of the car completely and putting it back in and studied the thing and did not have to worry about scratching Paint. When I got to the Yard I realized my Sunroof had been serviced badly by itrs previous owner and was missing key parts.
After doing it and going back and reading the service manual again, I was still confused. I have to admit a lot of things about the contraption were intuitive and elusive and hard to depict. And some techniques like holding two moving pins in during reassembly with tiny dabs of SuperGlue that wanted to pop out on their own until the roof was screwed down were things only Diesel heads could guess.
So sometimes I guess experience is starting to take hold. 99% of shop manuals are Critical but shop manuals are also as only as good as the writer.

[tangofox007]

Originally Posted by Carrameow

shop manuals are also as only as good as the writer.

Or translator, in the case of the MB publications.
What exactly is "shotgunning" anyway?

[lietuviai]

Practicing on something in a wrecking yard is a good idea as long as you don't end up ruining the part that someone else could have used as well. I've seen on many occasions of some very nice parts ruined by thise who didn't know what they were doing. Case and point, I saw what would have been a perfect dash in a MB that was gouged by someone who tried to pry out the center console. It almost made me cry.

[leathermang]

It is OK to practice on Volvos that way......
Would be nice if everyone had both a salvage yard close and the time to go practice....
Amen to the translator importance....

[Ganaraska]

When I buy a car the first thing I get for it is a service manual if I don't already have one.

The manual assumes you already have certain basic skills and knowlege. If you know nothing about auto repair it might as well be written in Sanskrit for all the sense it makes.

Experience is the teacher. After you have been working on cars every day for 5 or 10 years, if you have been paying attention and learning, you won't get caught out more than once every few weeks.

[Jim H]

When all else fails, read the manual.

If THAT doesn't work, try following it!

I usually understand something really good once I've broken it...

Best Regards,
Jim

[Pete Burton]

While there is a lot of good info in a FSM, you do need to override it with common sense. Some years ago, the transmission failed in our Chrysler minivan (don't they all?) and I rebuilt it. The pictures and clearance data was well done, but the removal and rebuild sequence was clearly never checked by anyone actually doing it. They missed so many things it was almost laughable, although the actual teardown wasn't too bad. At least the FSM usually includes the clearances and torques you need. Not like Chiltons, which goes through a page of how to jack up the car, chock wheels, (all the stuff that if you don't know already you have no business in there) and then step #27 - remove transmission....gee, thanks.

[Wes Bender]

I've got factory manuals on all four vehicles and I check the manual first... unless I've done that job before and remember every aspect of it. When I encounter something out of the ordinary (left hand threads or a particluar position for a part to be installed, etc) that isn't covered in the manual, I annotate the manual accordingly. The Austin-Healey manual is rapidly getting to the point where I've put more info into it than the Brits did in the first place. But then, I've had more time to do it too.

When I sell a vehicle, the manual goes with it (unless I need it for a similar car).

In my opinion, Haynes manuals are only better than nothing, and occasionally worse than nothing. They usually try to cover too many models in one book and, as a result, don't cover any of them adequately. I've got one for the 280SL and I've also got the factory manual. There is very little in the Haynes that isn't covered much better in the M-B manual.

Wes