repair manual, CD vs. book

[superflydudebike]

I'm looking to purchase a repair manual. Is a book preferable to a CD? It seems like you can purchase the CDs for a whole lot less than the books. What are the pros and cons of each?

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: repair manual, CD vs. book

i prefer book, i find scanning the cd hard. true you can print pages off cd, but you can also scan pages, from book to keep it clean.

 

[F_R]

Re: repair manual, CD vs. book

How's your concience? If the CD is a copy of the original factory manual, it is illegal. If it is not the original factory manual, the factory one is better.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: repair manual, CD vs. book

Most of the cd's i have seen are NOT copys of the factory manual.They are usually Seloc or Clymer copys...Waste of money really.
I see them on ebay all the time.
Nothing beats the REAL manual...
If you post what engine you have we can find you the right one.

 

[superflydudebike]

Re: repair manual, CD vs. book

I have three outboards, but will likely sell the oldest (Johnson) in the spring.
1967 9.5 Johnson
1972 6 Evinrude
1986 15 Evinrude

 

[Molaker]

Re: repair manual, CD vs. book

As tashasdaddy indicated, CD's are a pain in the gassach to peruse. Most are PDF's and do not have links from the index to the section/page you want. Nor do the PDF page numbers match the page numbers on the page. Some do not allow copying text and some even prevent printing.

 

[Scaaty]

Re: repair manual, CD vs. book

CD's are good for hanging in the garden to scare the birds away...
Paper, anytime...

 

[samo_ott]

Re: repair manual, CD vs. book

the other thing of course is you can take the manual to your garage/shop... most folks dont have a computer out there...

 

[Molaker]

Re: repair manual, CD vs. book

I have a CD for a Kawasaki PWC and just tried to use it after some time on the shelf. The darned thing is encrypted and now I can't find the password. Never had that problem with a book. About the only thing good I can say about CD's is they don't usually get greasy.

 

[Rick.]

Re: repair manual, CD vs. book

I purchased a C.D. via ebay for my 15 h.p. Evinrude. It contained pages and pages of useless information about a bunch of other models and very little useful information about my motor. Certainly not enough information to confidently fix anything. It didn't even have the information to replace the impeller which I found disappointing. I would be very careful about buying another C.D. I felt like I'd been had. Rick.

 

[superflydudebike]

Re: repair manual, CD vs. book

So which paper manual is the best to get? How are are Seloc and Clymer? I see some used Clymer ones on e-bay that would cover my motors, but are they complete enough to be of any great value. It seems to cover such a large range of motors.

 

[HighTrim]

Re: repair manual, CD vs. book

Do not get either of those, you will be sorry. Get an original manual,from ebay, or a reprint from outboardbooks.com, although it will be a little more expensive that way.

 

[superflydudebike]

Re: repair manual, CD vs. book

Are the Seloc manuals any better than the Clymer ones?

 

[HighTrim]

Re: repair manual, CD vs. book

I would get the factory OEM manual. Try this guy on ebay, he usually has what is needed.

"http://search.stores.ebay.com/SEARAY...ageNameZRC0024"

 

[wilde1j]

Re: repair manual, CD vs. book

Are the Seloc manuals any better than the Clymer ones?

Both suck ... get the OEM book.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: repair manual, CD vs. book

oem to repair motor, seloc to keep oil from getting on driveway, clymer for the outhouse.

 

[DJ]

Re: repair manual, CD vs. book

I bought my last manual (genuine OEM) on CD. It is the best of both worlds.

I printed the entire thing for the shop reference but still have the CD back up.

 

[samo_ott]

Re: repair manual, CD vs. book

Wow. That's a lot of pages to print. Did you do it at home or take it somewhere to get done?

 

[superflydudebike]

Re: repair manual, CD vs. book

oem to repair motor, seloc to keep oil from getting on driveway, clymer for the outhouse.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm getting the idea that you have a low opinion of both Seloc and Clymer.

 

[statzk]

Re: repair manual, CD vs. book

I asked the same question when I got my boat a month or so back...

I got the OEM manual and it is really really nice- Certainly worth the $30 it cost me on E-bay. From what I gather the other two manuals are not worth the paper they are printed on...

~K