EXCELLENT CITROEN MANUALS !!!!!!!

paranoid · Post by **paranoid** » 05 Mar 2004, 06:38

I have purchased the most brilliant manual for my xantia, It is published by Peter Russek and is called pocket mechanic vehicle manual.[:D]
I have been told before about these manuals, but being used to the usual haynes[V] tat I never bothered, I thought they were all crap. BUT I WAS WRONG, It shows and tells you how to do all the jobs clearly and with understandable diagrams. All the numbers and figures etc seem to be spot on as well, they seem to be aiming at people with a bit more experience than filling the washer bottle.[:D]
The price seems a bit steep at £15+ p+p but when you see one it is all worth the money, It explains if you need special tools and also WHY unlike the haynes rubbish, availble for most cars,I purchased from www.motorbooks.co.uk (it may be .com sorry)
book number is ISBN 1 - 898780 - 59-5

Johnno · Post by **Johnno** » 05 Mar 2004, 13:50

Thanks for the tip, Paranoid.
I have to agree about the latest Hayne's manuals. They seem to have lost the plot, with minimal diagnostic information. The book I have for my BX is better than the Xantia one. There seems to be a drift towards the "if it's not working, replace different bits until it is" school of thought.
Now I'm off to compose my two cents worth in the debate about diesel fuelling currently raging on another thread.

tomsheppard · Post by **tomsheppard** » 05 Mar 2004, 13:58

If the BX book is better than that for the Xantia then you'll have to colour the Xantia one in! The old book is not too bad but the new one is a disgrace.

Guru Meditation · Post by **Guru Meditation** » 05 Mar 2004, 15:08

They strip so much detail out of them it's ridiculous. I have an old 309 workshop manual, it details removing trailing arms and torsion bars etc, resetting ride height. It also has a good section on dismantling the gearbox. The later manual says 'gearbox is too hard to touch at home so no info' and the rear suspension section simply gives it 5 spanners and says that it is beyond the scope of home mechanics without 'specialist' tools. B*llocks!
Don't suppose this Russek manual from the same page'Citroen ZX 1.9 Litre Diesel to 1994' covers the Turbo Diesel aswell does it?

davek-uk · Post by **davek-uk** » 05 Mar 2004, 17:00

Cheapest place to order is Smiths who waive the p+p if you pick up from a store. Otherwise Blackwell.co.uk who have £2 p+p on top of the books £13.50 list price. Unless, of course, you know otherwise!
There are quite a lot of Cit books in the Russek range - if they are that good it's worth checking them out.
I quite agree about Haynes books getting worse - fewer diagrams and less real content than the older ones...

BonceChops · Post by **BonceChops** » 05 Mar 2004, 19:24

I agree that the new Haynes books are not as good as the old ones.
Why do we keep buying them then ????
Neil

Post by **philhoward** » 05 Mar 2004, 22:01

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Johnno

Thanks for the tip, Paranoid.
There seems to be a drift towards the "if it's not working, replace different bits until it is" school of thought.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Like dealers, then??? lol [;)]

ZXturbo_Aura · Post by **ZXturbo_Aura** » 05 Mar 2004, 23:27

theres some guy selling those books on ebay for £5, he seems to have all models part from the diesel and TD!

MW · Post by MW » 05 Mar 2004, 23:29

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by BonceChops

I agree that the new Haynes books are not as good as the old ones. Why do we keep buying them then ????
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
I used to know one of the senior editors at Haynes. Even ten years ago, he was saying that people were no longer buying the manuals so that they could do the jobs themselves. Instead, he said, they bought them so they could argue with their garages.
Interesting thought. No wonder Haynes have gone into sex manuals. More of a hands-on sort of situation!

AndersDK · Post by **AndersDK** » 06 Mar 2004, 00:42

Having got 3 different issues on the BX Haynes - 2 grey/brown (early) and 1 blue (later) - I have to agree the later Haynes are direct crap compared to earlier standards.
The only reason I still buy a Haynes these days - are the common info department - on spec's, service items & service intervals.
Growing on with DIY on cars - I must say that experience and general knowledge by far outraces the time spent searching for specific subjects in the Haynes - and then often the info is very pauver - if anything found at all.
The best way to describe it - is a feeling like the editorial staff has lost their addiction to the plot.

Paulxmski · Post by **Paulxmski** » 06 Mar 2004, 04:21

Well anythings better than nothing and in the CIT case nothing is what you get. In the Haynes case owners of V6 xm's getting nothing alsO.
Thanks paranoid I have just ordered a copy the Peter Russek manual because it has details of the V6. I have been desperate for info on this beast for quite a while!

Russell · Post by **Russell** » 06 Mar 2004, 04:54

Hi Folks,
Like most of you guys I am frustrated by the later Haynes manuals, and have just complained to their customer services about it.
I suggest if all who have a gripe, vent their feelings here, it will be easy to email them with our collective thoughts. I think they are confusing style with content: I would much rather have some of the old block diagrams that show you how something worked or was put together. They used to have exploded diagrams of things like cooling systems, and references on the the electrical diagrams that told you where things were as well as what they were. All of that has gone and has been replaced with turn to chapter 4A, where that reference points you to chapter1, unless you have a diesel, in which case follow the instructions for the petrol model and use your imagination.
How do you remove a cranshaft nut when you have an auto box? Haynes just ignores the possibility that you might want to.
cheers
Russell [}:)]

DLM · Post by **DLM** » 06 Mar 2004, 20:04

My feeling, as an ex-bookseller, is that it would take a great deal to make Haynes change from their current marketing strategy. There's a lot less demand than there used to be - and publishing is incredibly marketing-led nowadays. The days of manuals like the old CX or GS manuals are long gone - they included sections on how to test the hydraulic system and how to construct a test rig to do it.
We'd do better to ask Haynes to commission Anders to write a Citroen manual for us - playing heavily on the "classic" nature of old Citroens! Anders, on the other hand, would probably do much better for himself if he wrote and distributed one himself via the net...
As for ordering the Russek manuals, if you don't go to the publisher, then (no offence meant to Smiths) a decent independent bookshop or a specialist motoring bookshop can make just as good a job of ordering one in as the big boys - because they're used to having to work hard to survive. Smiths will probably be ordering in via their Swindon head office, or getting a wholesaler to do it for them.
Unfortunately this doesn't look to be an item the UK book wholesalers stock - otherwise it'd be available within a day or two as an order from an independent bookseller - or the sharper chains.
By the way, if you do need to order the Xantia manual from wherever then the most important item to quote is the ISBN, which I think is 1898780072 - though I'd be much happier if someone could quote it directly from the back of the book as no supplier's database is ever 100% accurate.

DLM · Post by **DLM** » 06 Mar 2004, 20:22

Whoops - should've checked more closely before replying - be sure you select www.motorbooks.co.uk and NOT www.motorbooks.com - it's American and doesn't acknowledge the existence of xantias... (or Europe, probably).
Two ISBNS are given on www.motorbooks.co.uk
1 898780 072 - (8 and 16v petrol models - the one I just quoted)
1 898780 595 (diesel and turbodiesel models the one paranoid quoted)
Do check that your engine is covered...

DLM · Post by **DLM** » 06 Mar 2004, 20:46

Hmmmm..... Haynes have just decided to give Citroen the coffee-table treatment in their "famous marques" series (ISBN: 1859608965) so I guess the chances of them being interested in something practical are probably not good. Might just take the washing machine apart for entertainment....