What is the best shop manual for subaru?

[206er]

I need a shop manual for my 91 legacy... what can you all suggest? I'm hoping bentley makes one... my VW bentley rules.
jeremy

[ciper]

The subaru shop manual would be the best.

A couple of us (myself included) have the manuals so feel free to ask for information.

I have a set for the 1990 model year then I have the 92+93+94+right hand drive+Abs+etc manuals as well. Stack them all and its about 18 inches high! Tons of information.

I only need the 91 suppliments and I have the complete set.

I also have the Chiltons and Haynes. Its always good to have at least two manuals. Sometimes the picture in one isnt good or the description is confusing. You can look at the other and get a better understanding.

[legacy92ej22t]

the 2 manuals idea is a great suggestion.I have the haynes manual.havent had a problem yet with it but my buddy has the chiltons and looking through it it seems to have better blow up diagrams.they're cheap get both.ciper such a good idea i'm getting the chiltons just for another reference

[Legacy777]

Depending on your year legacy, you might be able to d/l pdf versions of the FSM http://techinfo.subaru.com/html/index.jsp

I've got the 90 FSM's, 92-93, chiltons & haynes.

it's nice having a couple different ones.

[paf]

subaru wants us to pay for PDF's??? wtf???

[vrg3]

I'll toss in my opinion too...

The factory service manuals are the best, but all the manuals have errors and omissions. The biggest weakness of the factory ones (for us), though, is that they are written for dealerships and shops. The Haynes and Chiltons manuals are written for home mechanics and so explain some things better and have instructions to get around needing "Subaru tool number XXXXXXXXX."

I usually have the Chiltons, Haynes, and factory manuals on hand. Given how much I save by doing almost all my own work, the manuals all pay for themselves.

Bentley makes great manuals but I don't think they make any that cover BC/BF Legacies.

I don't think Subaru's tech info site has manuals going back this far either.

[206er]

looks like it's gonna be chilton's. I don't really wanna mess around with the subaru one, if its full of tool numbers and mumbo jumbo. my friend has a chilton's for his 626 and he likes it pretty well.
jeremy

[vrg3]

Don't misunderstand, I wasn't trying to say it was too complicated or that the instructions depended too heavily on special tools. That was just the only thing that the third-party manuals did better. I still think the factory manuals are the best of the three options. They go into much more depth and are much more specific about almost everything.

The Chiltons manual actually isn't that good for these cars, mainly because they cover all Subaru models rather than just the Legacy. The Haynes manual is specific to the BC/BF and BD/BG Legacies, which are both very similar anyway.

[Legacy777]

Honestly.......if you're just starting out messing with the manuals and working on the car.

The Haynes &/or chiltons will probably work better for you. The FSM's don't have an glossary, and index is pretty crappy.

So just finding info is a little difficult. After having looked at them for a while, I've gotten better at finding where stuff is.

[vrg3]

Actually, yeah, that's a really good point -- the factory manuals don't have an index.

Don't put too much faith in Chilton's glossary, though... It contains gems like "Analog Computer: A computer that uses similar values to perform calculations."

[206er]

hmmmm... maybe I'll have to go the two manual route. they aren't that expensive, and I'm sure they both have their strengths and weaknesses. Thanks for all the input fellas.
jeremy

[eastbaysubaru]

Get the Hayes manual first. Once you start getting into the car and tackling more problems by yourself you'll want to invest in the FSM's. I'm no mechanic and the Haynes was a good stepping stone.

-Brian