Automotive Factory Service Manuals Frequently Asked Questions
A factory service manual (FSM) is also called a dealer service manual or OEM (original equipment manufacturer) manual. It is written by the automobile manufacturer to be used by service technicians at auto dealers. These are also used by independent mechanics.
A factory service manual is the definitive reference source for maintenance, service, and repair information for the models it covers.
Third-party aftermarket manuals omit much of the detailed information included in factory manuals. They can be handy for simple routine maintenance tasks. But they may not contain all the information required for more substantial repairs or complex work.
If you’re experienced working on vehicles and you’ve run into the limits of third-party manuals, you will find the details you need in factory service manuals. Factory service manuals include detailed information for:
- Brake jobs
- Replacing tie-rod ends
- Replacing accessories such as water pumps and alternators
- Resolving engine code issues
- Tuneups & emissions
- Electrical problem diagnosis and repair
- Restoration and overhaul projects
- And other more complex work
The factory manual covers all models, versions, options, trim levels, and body styles for each model for the model year of that manual. Even rare versions that are not included in third-party manuals are covered. Our descriptions list the models covered by each manual.
If you’re not sure which manual or manuals you need for your vehicle, please contact us. We’re always happy to answer your questions.
We give almost all our used manual a condition rating of Used-Acceptable. Our original factory manuals come out of vehicle dealership service departments and other repair shops. Some may have been lightly used. Others have a lot more patina from use.
We decided to not grade our manuals (Very Good, Good, Fair, Poor, etc.). The quality of materials and binding varies from year to year and manufacturer to manufacturer. Some of our manuals are very old. Some have been repaired by mechanics with whatever they had at hand.
We aim to give our customers a good value for a complete, usable manual with no missing sections. We inspect each manual for quality control before shipping it to you. We make professional repairs when needed. We will send you the best manual we have in current stock when you place your order.
We like good old-fashioned print manuals because they are so easy to use. They don’t need batteries, cords, or chargers. You can use bookmarks or sticky notes to mark sections or pages you need for your current project. No need to scroll back and forth endlessly to find the right section.
Some digital versions are authorized by the manufacturers. Many PDFs you find on various websites are pirates of dubious quality. Many digital versions of manuals use images of manual pages rather than actual text. The quality and readability of these images varies.
Digital versions of manuals may not be indexed. So it can be hard to navigate to the section you need.
Paper reprints may not be the same quality as the original factory manual. We’ve seen some where the illustrations are too dark, blurry, or otherwise hard to read.
Helm and Bentley are the companies that actually print factory manuals for automotive manufacturers. Automotive manufacturers specialize in making vehicles not books. Helm and Bentley run the big printing operations that print the manuals for many manufacturers. Most of our original used factory manuals were printed by one of these companies.