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every time I crack open the paperbacks I'm reminded of 15-20 years ago when I would type out huuuuuge sections of it to try and help MJ owners with their problems.  the internet just wasn't the same back then.  :laugh:  now I can just copy/paste a youtube link or the DIY master list. 

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I would like to buy more of those FSMs, but they're just expensive.  I could really use an 87 or 88 one, and a 91 or 92.

 

The Ford dealer near here tossed all their paper manuals a while back.  Truckloads.  They had it up on the buy and sell to come take whatever you wanted for free.  The Dodge/Jeep dealer has long since got rid of theirs though...

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1 hour ago, DirtyComanche said:

I would like to buy more of those FSMs, but they're just expensive.  I could really use an 87 or 88 one, and a 91 or 92.

 

The Ford dealer near here tossed all their paper manuals a while back.  Truckloads.  They had it up on the buy and sell to come take whatever you wanted for free.  The Dodge/Jeep dealer has long since got rid of theirs though...

I'm thankful enough that mine were given to me awhile back when I had my first MJ and ive held onto them after i sold it because i knew id be getting another MJ again some day.

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As much as I like having real books, it's so annoying trying to flip through a massive FSM while my hands are nasty and I'm trying to get something done. With a digital manual I can just print out the pages I think I might need beforehand with no worries. Plus I won't have to go looking for the damn things every time I get curious about something.

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I had a Haynes... for a short while at least. Cheap manuals are like cheap tools. They may work a few times, but they don't last very long, and they'll probably strip out your fasteners on their way to the scrap pile. 

My Haynes disappeared shortly after I swapped out the distributor and then spent the better part of a day trying to diagnose this problem: https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/distributor-cap-rotor-78168/#post872564

Note that's not my thread, but I'm pretty confident that's the thing I found that put me back on track. I don't specifically remember tossing the manual, but I also definitely no longer have it. I've never really looked too hard for one, but a '91 FSM would be cool to own, even if I don't use it much.

 

I kinda prefer the digital manuals. The paper ones are great for comparing a couple pages side by each, or for tracing along circuit diagrams.  But if I can load a PDF on my phone I can have it right there where I'm working and greasy handprints will come off my phone case easily enough, or sometimes with particularly dirty jobs I've dropped it in a ziplock, or plastic wrap over a laptop keyboard works great as well. 

 

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1 hour ago, Minuit said:

As much as I like having real books, it's so annoying trying to flip through a massive FSM while my hands are nasty and I'm trying to get something done. With a digital manual I can just print out the pages I think I might need beforehand with no worries. Plus I won't have to go looking for the damn things every time I get curious about something.

 

I usually use the books to look over whatever I plan on messing with and making sure i buy all the stuff I need and then use pictures of the pages on my phone while I'm working, that way they stay clean lol

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42 minutes ago, gogmorgo said:

I had a Haynes... for a short while at least. Cheap manuals are like cheap tools. They may work a few times, but they don't last very long, and they'll probably strip out your fasteners on their way to the scrap pile. 

My Haynes disappeared shortly after I swapped out the distributor and then spent the better part of a day trying to diagnose this problem: https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/distributor-cap-rotor-78168/#post872564

Note that's not my thread, but I'm pretty confident that's the thing I found that put me back on track. I don't specifically remember tossing the manual, but I also definitely no longer have it. I've never really looked too hard for one, but a '91 FSM would be cool to own, even if I don't use it much.

 

I kinda prefer the digital manuals. The paper ones are great for comparing a couple pages side by each, or for tracing along circuit diagrams.  But if I can load a PDF on my phone I can have it right there where I'm working and greasy handprints will come off my phone case easily enough, or sometimes with particularly dirty jobs I've dropped it in a ziplock, or plastic wrap over a laptop keyboard works great as well. 

 

 

You needed a manual for that? theres only like 479001600 different combinations for the firing order, could have knocked it out in an afternoon ;)

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2 hours ago, Pirate_Staz said:

 

You needed a manual for that? theres only like 479001600 different combinations for the firing order, could have knocked it out in an afternoon ;)

It's cast into the intake manifold. I just needed to know where #1 should be, and on the later distributor with a fixed position, where #1 goes matters. The diagram in the Haynes manual is clocked wrong, despite supposedly being for the fixed distributor. 

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I started wrenching when I was 16 in 1980 when I bought a 1970 Ford Maverick for $25.

My dad only gave me two pieces of advice when I was first starting to work on it. 

Discs are easier than drums and only dismantle one side at a time so you can see how to put it back together correctly.

It was drums all around and all the lines were rotten. I still have the brake pliers and stamped tubing bender I did the job with. Didn’t even use a manual. Just figured it out and did it. 

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21 hours ago, FrankTheDog said:

My dad only gave me two pieces of advice when I was first starting to work on it. 

Discs are easier than drums and only dismantle one side at a time so you can see how to put it back together correctly.

 

I wish I'd had a dad that could have at least given me that much advice.

 

Ah well, I do okay for being a totally self taught numpty. :roflmao:

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