Best repair manual?

I just bought my first xj and am wondering which is the best manual to get? Haynes? Chilton? Any opinions?

FSM, Factory Service Manual. No other options.

Rev

if you want to tear of your bolts, and break parts..... and bang your head against teh oil pan in frustration then chiltons or hayes....

Otherwise then that... the right FSM.... It runs about $90~$120 (I think) if you get a new one from the official sources... then there is ebay and you might get lucky...

Make sure though to get the right year

Kejtar

About $70 shipped for my '92, two volumes. Worth every penny and more, imo. Its saved me hundreds already, and I've had my XJ less than a year. Of course, the brilliant minds here have helped a little bit :wave:

http://www.techauthority.com

Chiltons has more pics, good supplement, but I wouldn't use it alone.

seymouj

I would recommend you get the factory manuals. If your profile is correct you are looking for 1987 XJ manual. Go to the techauthority site and get the 800 number, call them and ask for your manuals. They only list the last 10 years on the web site but less than a year ago still had manuals for my 88 XJ.

Back in the AMC days, AMC had different manuals for engines, transmissions, transfer case, Chassis, and Electrical troubleshooting. I am convinced the electrical troubleshooting manual is worth it's weight in gold. Figure to spend $100 for the manuals since they are all seperate.

I then would recommmend a subscription to alldatadiy.com, it will have all the tech service bullitens for your XJ. They also have instructions and tech data for most jobs. They also list the cost of the OEM part and book hours to accomplish the job. The book time comes in handy to help you figure out how long something will take you. This will cost you $25 for the first year.

You can also pick up a chiltons or haynes for additional reference.

I have all of the suggestions listed, it always good to have more information!

Martin

If you buy the Haynes then you still have to buy the Chiltons. I've got the Haynes for my XJ and the Chiltons for my YJ. More than once I've had to look at the YJ Chiltons to fix the XJ because Haynes was wrong or incomplete. I end up reading both for some jobs. I don't have a FSM but maybe one day I'll be able to cough up the big bucks.

Another vote for the factory manuals.

You *REALLY* want to be careful with the Haynes and Chiltons. There is some bogus info in them, not the least of which are torque values.

Agree with the above. First choice is the FSM. There is no second or third place. Tenth place is a tie between Chilton's and Haynes.

ditto on the FSM.. but i also have the chilton's CR-ROM manual for XJ's... pretty handy for quick searches and exploded views... quick to print out a page and toss it when u are done so u dont trash the good book with dirty hands. the only thing i do not like about it is that it will only allow you to acces 1 vehicle... i guess it is to keep it from being copied and borrowed.. kinda sux when i have 4 in the driveway...
mike

Definitely the FSM - a little expensive, but worth every cent.

Tenth place??? - Eagle, you're an optomist!

I hate my haynes. It is so broad and doesn't really cover anything. Wireing diagrams are okay, really the only thing i have used it for so far. Everything else is like, yes there are spark plugs in there and they are in the engine compartment. you take them out with a wrench and put them in with a wrench.

Looking at getting a FSM, just saving up the money.

FSM

The FSM for sure. Even helps when selling a vehicle to have the real, honest factory workshop manual. The price really does suck, but once you've bit the bullet you will love every moment following when is in use....and on these Jeeps is rather often, shall we say.

What year is your XJ? I just bought the FSM on CDROM off ebay for 23.99. Mine is an '88, if you happen to have an '88 then check ebay and you can get the FSM on CDROM for real cheap. I'll probably use the Haynes and Chiltons in addition to the FSM... never can have too much information esp. when you are kinda stupid like me when it comes to my XJ.

Sure like you needed one more saying get the factory ones, they are to only way to fly. Chilton and Hayes may be handy if you run out of TP though.