manuals
 

Has anyone used the on line manuals from Alldata. I have a 1983 300SD and need to find a good manual with out breaking the bank.

The CD version of the Shop manual from eBay for $10 is a much better bet. AllData is pretty slim on detail for many jobs.

Kevin

http://skinnerbox.steaky.org/Service/Library.html

The 126 part of the site doesn't seem to be working, but the 123 links work fine and contain most of the info you'll need concerning the engine, turbo, diesel injection and fuel systems.

I have used Alldata before. IMO, it is a poor copy of the service manuals. A few pages here and there but nothing significant. Better than nothing but that is about it.

Well so far I am spending more money than the information is worth. Just signed up with Alldata. Their information is somewhat less than I expected but readily available anytime with decent graphics. Last week I received a manual on CD that in total cost me $30.00 with almost totally worthless information and horrible graphics :o I am collecting a few thin manuals from ************** which offer valuable information but very far from complete on said topic for the price paid. Just sent away for Haynes, in spite of negative feedbacks, because it cannot be much worse than my above experience. Eventually I will spend on that $300 official MB hard copy shop manual...the only way to really go :rolleyes:

I had heard, and i'm not sure about this, but I heard tht Snap On had a shop program, which if true would be nice. Anyone heard of this?

I think Snap-On's program is called Mitchell on Demand. AllData was created by Motor. I never cared for Motor manuals and hated it when they took over Chilton and ruined their shop manuals. But, AllData has got progressively better through the years and seems to be the standard for independent shops now. I can't speak for the personal version (where you buy a subscription to your car only), but the shop version has pretty decent info on 82 and up Mercedes. Not as good as factory Mercedes manuals, but better than a lot of the other offerings. You can view a demo of ALLData at http://www.alldatapro.com/includes/main.jsp. It has everything that the shop version has, but only for a 93 Ford Ranger 4.0L. As for the Haynes, it leaves a lot to be desired, but the schematics are worth the price of the manual.

Yeah AllData is used by my father in his Transmission and Automotive Shop. I did talk to one guy here locally that said he used the Snap On(Mithcell) program, but said he switched to another program, not AllData, but some company out of New York area. He told me that it was absolutely the best program he'd had to help with his mechanical data, plus office accounting, etc..