Editor Reviews:

Book Description:
The Total Car Care series continues to lead all other do-it-yourself automotive repair manuals. This series offers do-it-yourselfers of all levels TOTAL maintenance, service and repair information in an easy-to-use format. Covers all models of F-150, F-250, F-350, and F-Super Duty; Bronco, Chassis Cab, Commercial Chassis, and F-Series Motor Home chassis; 2 and 4 wheel drive; gas and diesel engines. :Based on actual teardowns :Simple step-by-step procedures for engine overhaul, chassis electrical drive train, suspension, steering and more :Trouble codes :Electronic engine controls

Rating : - Chilton's, what happened?
I have a Chilton's manual that I bought when I had my old mustang. It covers '87-93 Mustangs and was an INVALUABLE resource when I had that car. In fact, I continue to reference it frequently when I'm doing work on my '87 Thunderbird, because it's based off the same chassis and many things are similar. I bought a Hayne's manual for my Thunderbird and I hated it, so I went back to the Chilton's for most reference.

So, when I bought my '94 F-250 diesel, I figured a Chilton's would be a good investment.

Boy was I wrong!

For starters, my truck is a 7.3L IDI Turbo diesel, which was produced in '93 and '94. There is not even a MENTION of this engine in this book. It jumps straight from the naturally aspirated 6.9/7.3 IDI, to the Powerstroke. Now, granted, the Turbo IDI is pretty similar to the n/a IDI, but some mention of the turbo system or something would have been nice.

From there it gets worse. I can't believe the amount of detail that is nowhere to be found in this book. As another reviewer mentioned, this thing completely omits anything about the fuel filters on the IDI engines. Then, later on in the book, it skips over many other topics. It describes how to remove the instrument cluster, but doesn't specify which model year it's talking about, and includes several unnecessary steps while leaving out necessary ones (I removed mine with help from some folks on a message board). No instructions on how to remove the headlights or marker lights are present anywhere in this book...only how to change the headlight bulbs. The exploded assembly diagram for the 4WD front suspension is smaller than a 3x5 index card and it's impossible to make out any detail. Things like this should have at least half a page dedicated to them! And that's just what came across for things I've been trying to do on my truck so far.

I don't even understand how you could produce a repair manual that was lacking this many important details.