Recommendations for Repair Manuals

burgertimegirl · Post by **burgertimegirl** » 08 Sep 2010, 22:52

Hi,

Does anyone have any recommendations on which repair manual would be best for a 2000 V70? Chilton's, Haynes, etc.? I see a lot of DVDs for sale on eBay. I'm fine with that, too, if I knew which ones were good.

Thanks

adk793 · Post by **adk793** » 09 Sep 2010, 00:00

From personal experience, i would say don;t get the Chilton's unless its specific for the 70 Series. I know they have them out there. Look at ipdusa.com they sell one. But i have chilton's and i think its the stupidest thing out there. They released ONE book for over 10 different Volvo models ranging from the 80's design to the 2000 70 series. When i had a problem, most of the cases described the repair but for another year and model so the pictures and instructions were very different. It gave me a better understanding of the problem/how to find/fix it, but it wasnt that great of a book. I would find something else but this would work too

Post by **jreed** » 09 Sep 2010, 04:53

I've got the Haynes manual for the 850. It's pretty good for some procedures (for example, replacing the timing belt) and I'd recommend it for the 850. It may not be very helpful for the V70.

bw77 · Post by **bw77** » 09 Sep 2010, 05:01

The Haynes manual #4263 for the V70 2000-2004 is pretty good. I bought mine on ebay last year.

I also have Vadis installed on my computer, I find it useful for part numbers, not so much for repairs.

The best source I have found for repair information is the various Volvo forums on the Internet, especially
Matthews.

Retired MVS Contributor · Post by **Retired MVS Contributor** » 09 Sep 2010, 07:05

bw77 wrote:The Haynes manual #4263 for the V70 2000-2004 is pretty good. I bought mine on ebay last year.

I also have Vadis installed on my computer, I find it useful for part numbers, not so much for repairs.

The best source I have found for repair information is the various Volvo forums on the Internet, especially
Matthews.

I found Vadis to be pretty good, but I had a lot of trouble with it in the beginning because it would not fully install...The trouble was that Vadis needs to be installed onto a 32 bit system and mine is 64 bit...Once I found that out, I installed it in compatability mode for Windows 98 and it is fine now...Vadis does not provide wiring diagrams, but they are available separately...Got it on e-bay from the expensive guy but the other two vendors that use the blue Volvo logo in their ads say theirs is also Vadis...They are a LOT!!!! cheaper...One starting bid is 99 cents...It does not seem to be available for anything later than 2007...

nightc1 · Post by **nightc1** » 09 Sep 2010, 13:54

For most stuff I use:

Haynes - It seems to be detailed enough for most tasks

Volvo_850.zip file from this site covers the 850 but much of that information is accurate with my 99' V70. Some stuff just isn't (try looking for info on an Idle Air Control Valve sometime... it looks nothing like the older models and it's not even mounted in the same area but rather on the main air hose between the MAF and ETM under a little black cover) but a little research for parts on my specific car seems to yield the correct item to look for. Here's the link:
https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/downlo ... vo_850.zip

Electronic wiring stuff is found here as well for free:
https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/volvo-wiring-diagrams/

NO sense in spending too much $$$ on much of this stuff. I hear VADIS can be found on some file sharing sites. It doesn't solve everything but it can help figuring out part numbers for odd items. I also hear that there's a Haynes manual available in pdf form on some file sharing sites.

More than any of this, I find this site seems to be a variable treasure trove of information and the community is pretty tight and pretty open to sharing. But you already know this as you are have had an account here for over a year.

Beyond all Repair manuals...

Getting an OBD-II to USB device and software to read your cars computer can be of great value in diagnosing a problem (assuming you have a PC to connect it to). It doesn't tell all, as some codes will not resolve to common known issues... but enough stuff will come through that it'll help if you ever need help diagnosing a problem. And for most stuff 3/4 of the battle is in diagnosing what really is going on.

Retired MVS Contributor · Post by **Retired MVS Contributor** » 09 Sep 2010, 16:56

The problem with Vadis, if there is one, is that it was intended for the experienced mechanic and does not describe some routine procedures, assuming that the mechanic is already well schooled...It will say something like "remove the dash board", but not say how...It does give wrench sizes, torque specs, capacities, etc...No wiring diagrams...

I acquired several Haynes, Chilton's, Bentley's, etc over the years and they were helpful, but skipped over a lot, too...For instance, the Chilton's did not cover A/C and in the brake section it had NOTHING about the front brakes in the 740 while covering the rears thoroughly...