Manuals and Reference Material
Disclaimer: Direct from ipd’s Tech Tip archive! This tech tip contains information from previous publications. Products mentioned may not be available or the information may not be accurate due to changes in supply, manufacturing, or part number association. Please contact ipd Customer Support if you have further questions.
If you do service and maintenance work on your Volvo or have ever considered it, a good set of manuals is a must. Manuals help you troubleshoot problems, provide information to help you decide if mechanical repairs are within your abilities and will alert you to the need for special tools. The best mechanics in the world rely on manuals for information and consider them to be one of their most valuable tools. I have found that some-times it can take several manuals to fully understand a procedure. You'll find over 50 manuals in my home garage ranging from a 1960's vintage Harold T. Glenn hardback on 544's, 122's and 1800's to the latest facto-ry manuals for the 70 series. Here at the office we have several factory and aftermarket service and workshop manuals that we use for training and to help customers now and then. If you're unsure of what manual is best for your Volvo and skill level or maybe you're trying to locate a specific manual, give us a call and we'll help you select a manual that will best suit your needs, we carry over 40 different books and manuals.
Alternate Sources
We're the first to admit that the factory workshop manuals sold by Volvo are the best you can buy. They are expensive, a full set can exceed $1000. Call Volvos literature department at 1-800-25-VOLVO for a free brochure or download it at www.volvocars.com/lit. The Volvo technical and service information website shows all the available manuals and their cost for models 1975 to 98. The advantage of the factory manuals is that they are written specifically for your year and model making them easier to use and more accurate than traditional aftermarket manuals that cover many different years and models. If you're lucky, you can find a good used set of factory manuals for around $100 advertised in Volvo club magazines, our free web classifieds at www.ipdusa.com or on one of the on line Volvo forums like www.brickboard.com.
Another overlooked resource is the owners manual that Volvo provides with the car when it is sold new. This is the small booklet probably hiding at the bottom of your glove box. If you don't have one, you can order them on the above Volvo website for about $15.00 or try your local U-Pull-It Auto Parts where they should be a buck or two if you can find the one you need. I used to think the owners manual was useless, but they really are chock full of good information. They don't get too technical, but I have learned quite a bit about my Volvos from them. Next time you're stuck sitting in your Volvo, dig it out of the glove box and flip through it. Again, if you need some help selecting a manual for your needs.