Pdf Service Manuals-any Good?

[darrylg33]

2002 GS300 Sport Edition, looking at the ebay service manuals that are PDF files on CD ROM, has any one purchased one of these and are they any good? They seem economical enough, but of course...you get what you pay for. Thanks for your time...D

[AndyFish]

I purchased a pdf service manual for my 1998 GS300 and also the dealer 2 volume hardcopy service manual. They were exactly the same in content. So you can save some money by getting the PDF version.

[darrylg33]

I purchased a pdf service manual for my 1998 GS300 and also the dealer 2 volume hardcopy service manual. They were exactly the same in content. So you can save some money by getting the PDF version.

Thanks for the reply Andy...cheers

[travelervii]

2002 GS300 Sport Edition, looking at the ebay service manuals that are PDF files on CD ROM, has any one purchased one of these and are they any good? They seem economical enough, but of course...you get what you pay for. Thanks for your time...D

The quality of information on the CDs sold on Ebay will vary greatly by sellers. Many will be missing various portions, especially the diagnostic sections which is essentially volume 1 of the 2 volume hardcopy set. If you have the time, it will be cheaper to sign up with Toyota’s technical information system and download the manual yourself.

Anybody can sign up for this service for as little as $10 a day and up to $350 for an annual subscription. You will have access to all technical information, including service and repair manuals, service bulletins and many more, on all Toyota models. Many of the CDs sold on Ebay are actually just pdf files downloaded from this site.

[herculesx]

I’ve bought both the CD’s and the 2 Big Book’s Lexus GS 300 and GS430 Manuals and I’ll tell ya they’re both about the same and I don’t care if they’re brand fing New “THEY ARE HARD AS HELL TO READ” there isn’t a lick of explanation,It’s like Sitting in the Pilots Seat of the Space Shuttle with 2 Big Manuals with 1,000 words and 10 to 30 Drawings on each page,but No put the Key in here Or How to even Start the Darn Thing, Your SOL, Or The Take this Bolt off First then Pry This Out of The Way So You can get At This! Hell No It Does Not Help you One Bit or Tell you Anything,It’s like a Parts Catalog,If you can Figure Out What goes Where FIRST Your Better Than Me,I have already been in the Mechanic’s bays in my Lexus dealer and They have Videos on How to Do EVERYTHING and Their Manuals are nothing like the ones you used to see for $75 now are $300 and $500 For What You Can hardly read 1/2 the part Numbers Why,Because They Have Been Reprinted 250,000 Times,Your Better OFF With ALLDATA or someone like that!

 

[Bykfixer]

My son bought an 04 GS 400 and quickly discovered a parasitic drain so he'd unplug the battery after driving it. It was a car he wanted to convert to an Aristo. One day he removed the battery then when he put it back he reversed the terminals. Woops. He purchased a hard copy edition of both books and set about replacing fuses. Well the Lexus way is to have two biggies screwed down with hidden screws. One was busted. 

I helped him one day and being used to Honda repair manuals I discovered Toyota does there's a whole lot differently. I found what I needed eventually and went to youtube for a how to. A little while passed and all was replaired. But the logic of where they place things in the manual has me scratching my head. I suppose the Honda one did at first too. Once you "crack the code" on how those engineers pieced things together you say "well gee that makes sense".

My son now has a genuine Arista and has passed on the GS300 to me so I'll be seraching down the reason(s) for the muliple parasitic drains. As I learn more I'll share info here in hopes to help somebody else resolve some of the gremlin induced issues that occur as these cars age. 

 

 

[Bykfixer]

https://www.toyota-tech.eu/wire_harness_rm/RM06H0E.pdf

Here's a broken wire or connector repair manual. 

Hope nobody ever needs it.