Mechanic (Automobile) Question

[Gizzard]

what is a haynes or chilton's manual?

It's just a manual which describes how to do all sorts of stuff for your car; you should be able to buy one for < $20 at any large auto parts store. I have the Haynes manual myself; it has lots of pictures of various procedures, which helps me a lot. It also give some guidelines for basic maintenence, so you remember things like changing the timing belt etc, before you smash all your valves. ;-) I suspect either manual is fine.

You might also search online or on eBay for someone selling a Field Service Manual for a 92 Metro cheap. This is what the factory techs use, though it's almost too "sledgehammer-to-kill-a-fly" if you know what I mean, and it's the absolute authoratitive source on fixing your car.

 

[Kid Charlemagne]

Lots of libraries also have Haynes and Shilton's manuals for common cars.

 

[CombatWombat51]

Sounds similar to a problem I had on my truck a couple years ago. There was a break in one of the wires, and occassionally the wire would jiggle itself close enough to some metal, so the truck wouldn't start. I couldn't figure out the problem until my breaks went out one night. The bit of metal it was arcing to was one of my break lines right next to the master cyclinder, and the juice eventually ate a hole in the break line.

Oh, I'd also recommend a Chilton's over a Hayne's. IME, the Hayne's manuals work well enough, but they tend to assume that the reader knows certain random facts. In any case, I'd certainlly recommend getting one of those manuals if you'd like to learn about your vehicle and potentially save money. Of course, that money saved and knowledge gained will be at the cost of your time, as you sit around reading the damn thing trying to figure things out

 

[Desdichado]

Huh. Yeah, that all makes sense now that you mention it. I used to have problems with my battery cables too; I finally had a good mechanic tell me that the 05 Neon battery cables were just pretty crappy; they werent' robust enough and tended to fail easily. He cut me some custom ones for cheap, and I haven't had an electrical problem with my car since (several years; I used to have recurring ones for years prior to that.)

So, sorry I didn't think of that!