Chrysler Reviews

This is a nice coffee table book but short on content if you are looking for any real information on the history of Chrysler and the related marques.

You can't cover all that history in a large print book with a few color photos. I was looking for production numbers, VIN codes, engine information. Almost none of that here.

If you are buying a gift for a Chrysler, Dodge, Plymouth or DeSoto fan, this is not the book. They will already know more than you find here. If you want a few excellent photos and not much content, this is your book.

If you're looking to give a history buff or general car enthusiast an interesting and detailed, but concise, book on the history of the Chrysler Corporation, this one is a good choice. Dennis Adler does an excellent job in describing the impact that Chrysler, and its divisions, have had on the world from the company's founding in 1926 to its merger with Mercedes Benz that led to the creation of Daimler Chrysler. He acieves this by describing each era important to the company's history through eloquent written word and superb photographs. Anyone who is a fan of Chrysler or simply likes cars in general would really appreciate this book. If, however, one were looking for a book with more specific detail into the company's history, it would be hard to do so in anything less than a full-length novel. Furthermore, if it is an individual vehicle from Chrysler that one is into, then this probably isn't the right book, especially if that person is looking for detailed technical information on specific vehicles. This is a book of history, not a technical manual that you would find at Pep Boys.

You would not be even able to change your air filter if you used this book. I tried to follow the instructions for changing the air filter on my 99 Grand Caravan, but I was left with frustration. This is just one inaccuracy I found. I would'nt be surprised if there are more.

Maybe the book is good for another year not for the 1999 Grand Caravan model.

Save your money on Chilton. They do not hold near the information, clarity and in depth detail, thus VALUE, that Haynes Repair Manuals do. Having said that, I would like to address some complaints I've come across about both Haynes
and Chilton's Manuals.
1.) If your manual suggests at a point to seek professional input it is because MOST NON mechanics don't possess the skill or tools or shop equipment to perform a certain procedure (be it correctly or safely). The publishers' lawyer insisted on the "seek professional input" so as not to take on legal liability for an unqualified person attempting to perform a critical step in their car care. The reason is valid. You can injure yourself and damage your vehicle as well as render your
vehicle unsafe to be on the road.
2.) Prior to purchasing a repair manual, LOOK THROUGH IT. Almost every auto parts store in America sells Haynes and / or Chilton's. If the particular manual you need doesn't have the plastic removed, look for a manual that does and look through the sections. CAUTION most auto supply stores will get mad and make you buy anything you rip open. They're trying to sell information contained in the manual, not give it away. Some copies are USUALLY open and can be looked
at. Does the manual seem logical, good pictures? Thorough? Then CHANCES ARE that brand will be a good choice for your repair. Also READ the cover front & back thoroughly. It will tell you if special vehicles aren't covered (AWD, Alternate Fuel Vehicles, etc) Know what vehicle you have so you get the RIGHT manual. The correct year, make, model, engine size.
3.) If you do encounter a problem in the middle of a repair, it's possible that it is YOUR not doing something correctly. Not the tool, or the repair manual. Go away from the car, get lunch or a cold glass of lemonade, read through the manual. Even start again in the morning.
4.) As automobiles become more sophisticated, there is truly less and less that a vehicle owner can do him or herself. It is a fact, you will need to take your vehicle into a dealership or well equipped shop for more things. In addition, used oil and other fluids are difficult to dispose of. DO NOT THROW DOWN YOUR DRAIN OR BURY IN YOUR BACKYARD!!!. Tires, batteries all have special disposal needs.
5.) There are some people WHO ARE NOT MECHANICAL. Buy them books, audio / video equipment, ties for Christmas. NOT A WRENCH SET!
6.) Neither Haynes nor Chilton are Professional Shop Manuals (these are available for hundreds of dollars).
As for the particular manual for the Haynes (ASIN: 1563923580) Dodge Caravan, Plymouth Voyager and Chrysler Town & Country from years 1996 through 1999: This manual does NOT COVER All-Wheel Drive nor Alternative Fuel Models AND SAYS SO ON THE COVERS. Haynes breaks down into different sections each of the engine options (in this example: 4 cylinder,3.0 liter V6, 3.3 liter V6, and 3.8 V6) If you're say, changing an air filter, make sure you're looking at the right directions for the engine for the vehicle you have. The different engines have important items positioned in different locations and thus DIFFERENT INSTRUCTIONS for each item on each engine. You can even utilize Amazon "take a look inside" feature to check out if this manual is for you or not. .I checked it's description for changing wiper blades, oil and oil filters, air filters and general repairs and found it both accurate and easy to understand. I've been happy with Haynes manuals over the years and recommend all vehicle owners purchase one even if you don't expect to do any repair or service yourself. It helps to know the information, to be aware of how your car works and to talk in a reasonably intelligent manner (on your part anyway) when you take your vehicle in for service.

I'm happy with this purchase. And have been with every Haynes manual I've bought and used in the last 20 years.
John Row

This book has a lot of good information about the early Chrysler, De Soto and Dodge hemis and the later 426 hemi, but this information is available in several other books out there which have been available to the hemi lover for some time.Where I feel Mr. Genat dropped the ball is in his coverage of the new hemis. He wrote only 2 chapters on the new 5.7L hemi, and does not even mention the new Pro Stock hemi. Mr. Genat had a great opportunity to cover these two new hemi engines in this book, but instead chose to limit his coverage to the older engines.

This is the latest in a long line of very good automotive-related books from author Genat. The photos are top-notch and the text informative, if a little simplistic. The overview of the early and late hemi's origins at the beginning of the book is top notch. The chapters on the many Mopar bodystyles that featured the hemi option are also quite good. My only quibble is that the book often does not show the featured cars' engines in the make and model chapters.

However, if you're a Mopar enthusiast or a hemi nut, this book will "light your fire." Despite the minor quibbles above, it's a great book and I can heartily recommend it.

The Haynes Repair Manual for the 1993-1997 Chrysler LH cars is useful overall, but lacking in some regards. I bought this manual as a complete beginner to the mechanics of automobiles. I only know the primary basics, and only in minimal detail. I thought this book would be a great way to get to know my 1997 Dodge Intrepid in a more intimate way. To an extent, I now can. The manual does lack in a few areas though, mainly in description and illustration. While there is basic instruction for all the repair and maintenance jobs covered, detail is scant. The pictures and illustrations are sometimes marginally helpful, but are usually of poor quality. Sometimes the pictures seem to not even correspond to what the task at hand is.

The manual can also become frustrating when you cannot find a certain repair or other task you'd like to read about. For example, nowhere in this manual can I find information about the reverse light that is located in the center of the rear lights cluster on my Dodge Intrepid. Another instance of frustration occurred for me when I was reading about the wheel and tire sizes for my vehicle. The manual briefly discusses tire size, quote "All vehicles covered by this manual are equipped with metric-sized fiberglass or steel belted radial tires (see illustration)". Upon examining the illustration, where it gives a tire size of P185/80R13, confusion is easily encountered. After talking with other Intrepid owners, and e-mailing Haynes Publishing Group, I was able to determine that the illustrated tire size was just an example and was not intended to indicate the actual tire size of the vehicles covered in the manual. In case you're wondering, the actual stock tire size for the Dodge Intrepid is either P225/60R16 or P205/70R15, depending on the trim (base or ES). The manual doesn't say this though, and I have yet to see where it discusses wheel (rim) size at all.

So if you're planning to buy this manual, I hope I have given you a little insight on how it reads. In my opinion it was worth the money I spent on it, even if I found it a little lacking for someone of my skill level. More pictures and better detail, and maybe some color, would have made this a five star manual for me. As it is, I can give it a solid 3.5.

He takes many liberties in trashing Chrysler products of the early 80's. For instance, he states that chrysler's 2.2 engine was based on "twenty year old technology" yet he offers no evidence to back up this claim. Mr. Levin also carps about the lack of technology in Chrysler's cars such as using a "beam axle" while conveniently overlooking the fact that other cars of this time frame used solid rear axles quite frequently. Nor does he give much coverage to Chryslers lowest cost per unit, the VNT technology used in its turbo cars, the fact it had OHC engines on the market LONG before GM and Ford, the first domestic auto company to use airbags in its cars, the firs electronically adaptive transmission.
Mr Levin admitted he got little in the way of cooperation from Iacocca and it appears he wrote this tome to vent against a good yet flawed man and a great company.

I really wanted to like this book, but was disappointed with the end result. When the author sticks to the facts of the story, it is a revealing look at the politics of running a struggling auto company. The biographical information of the main players in upper echelons was quite interesting, also.

However, there is a sense of the author's bias lurking throughout the pages. He manages to imply that somehow, once Toyota introduced the Corona in 1966, there wasn't a marketing misstep to be made by the Japanese, particularly Toyota. Do the nameplates "Crown", "Cressida" and "Echo" ring a bell? I won't even mention some of the other sad cars that other manufacturers have coughed up in the ensuing years, and still do occasionally, from both sides of the Pacific.

Every now and again factual errors will appear, but they're so glaring that somebody with even a moderate interest in the car industry will pick up on. For instance, Honda earned customer loyalty because they "never dropped a nameplate." Really? Where did one go in 1987 to purchase a new Honda 600 GT or Sports 800?

More troubling was a hint of elitism that came up a couple of times. Was there (is there) really anything wrong with selling new cars to the blue-collar crowd? I know that some people are consumed by image, but most of us don't care what anybody else is driving, as long as they know HOW to drive it. People without a stratospheric income should be able to make a fully warranted purchase and get "that new car smell", too.

Finally, too little of the book is spent explaining exactly what was wrong, quality-wise, with Chrysler vehicles. Aside from the Aspen / Volaré twins, there was precious little time given to specific examples of lax quality control or design deficiencies. Even the A/V cars were a major problem only in their first year. More detail would have been revealing as to why buyers were steering clear of Chrysler's showrooms in the late 70's, when the whole mess started.

I've always had an avid interest in the auto industry, and have been waiting for somebody to write a book on the true Lee Iacocca to show the savior / charlatan that he really was. Unfortunately, somebody else is going to have to write it. This one falls short.

In case anybody's wondering, I have owned several cars from both American and Japanese manufacturers, including an 80's era Chrylser product. I have enjoyed the majority of them, and the only lemon I ever picked was from a European make.

I found this book provided a quite interesting history of not only Chrysler, but the entire auto industry between the years of '70-'80. I particularly enjoyed the author's insights in to Chrysler's main player Iacocca. The book did however seem to jump around from subject to subject with no clear tie-ins. I found it difficult during some portions of the book to figure out what time frame the author was speaking of, as he tended to bounce back and forth. All in all I found the book to provide some excellent information on Chrysler and the prevailing personalities and values that has kept the organization alive for so many years through so many triumphs and tragedies.

Not alot of Diagnostic info. Basic maintanence info. I returned this book and bought the factory book. Much much more useful info.

YURTY RTYU R

Good pictures and corresponding instructions. Helpful reminders for those of us who don't work on cars for a living.

i was looking in the manual for directions about how to change belts on my a/c,water pump, etc, and it doesn't say anything about something so simple like that..

This book is very informative, it had valuable information of electrical panel locations and how to open up certain parts of the dash board. Could not have done this with out it.

I received this manual last week. It has been very helpful to me from adjusting the head lights, changing radiator fluid and replacing the PCV valve. I am sure that this book will be a good reference for me to do future maintenance work on my Chrysler Town & Country.

This book is supposed to be for all Dodge Challengers from 71-89. WRONG!!! It only addresses the import 4 cylinder pseudo-challenger. If you have a REAL Challenger, this book does nothing for you. It doesn't even mention them. One star rating is over-rated, but the system won't let me give it none.

I bought this book for Conquest repairs and I also did not find it to be the best companion. It included a lot of info on the Colt and Challenger and I believe the Conquest info belonged more of on it's own do the the vast differences in these cars. I bought it to rebuild the engine and found it fell short and left me looking elsewhere for more detailed info. If your buying it for the Colt or Challenger, I give it a 4. If you want the Conquest/Starion aspect, look to what the mechanics use and get a factory shop manual. much more detail.

I've found it very difficult to find Chrysler Conquest repair manuals. This was the first manual I found, so I bought it. I've bought Haynes manuals before, but one was not available for the Conquest. Haynes contains detailed photos of all the steps involved in a repair. Chilton relies more on "exploded view" illustrations without actually showing many of the repair steps. However, basic repairs like brakes, trim/bodywork, coolant system tasks, alternator replacement, and minor headwork is described and photographed well. Unusual repairs lack the same detail. For example, replacing a steering box is described in a curt, 7 step paragraph. An archaic looking pen and ink illustration of the steering system, not of the repair steps or even an exploded view, accompanies the description. As this is one of the repairs I wanted to make, I got a Chrysler factory manual. I found that many of the Chilton illustrations are in fact Chrysler illustrations. However, Chrysler adds numerous other illustrations (in clear pen and ink) showing every step (and the tools!) necessary to complete a repair. If you have a Colt or a Vista, I would recommend the Haynes manual. If you have a Conquest and are looking to do a lot of work on it, get a factory manual. But if you want to do normal maintenance (aforementioned brakes, trim, etc.) on a Conquest, or need electrical diagrams for the car, this book is sufficient.

In the section on modifying, this book says you can't modify. Great! Thanks! What a waste. Don't buy this book. Send me email, you can have mine for free.

From the title, I was expecting a hands-on guide to hop-ups and modifications to Chrysler EFI systems. There are NONE, however. Not a bad guide to initiate someone into the world of Mopar EFI systems, but the title is terribly misleading! It's just a troubleshooting and shop manual. Period. And the factory year-specific manuals are way better.

Understanding and Maintaining your Chrysler Fuel Injection.
That should be the name of this book. If you want a book that really explains how Chrysler fuel injection systems work, in a fairly straigtforward manner - then this is a good book. Has a good section on how to approach fixing your car based upon which error codes you are getting.

I have a 1996 Dodge Ram Cummins 3/4 ton four wheel drive. I purchase this manual to help me do maintenance on the vehicle. The manual does not show my front or rear differental or brakes and believe me if you have a Dodge 4/4 you are going to need a manual that does.

I was very disappointed to find out that this book is only slightly more instructive than the owners manual. If you are looking for a "repair" manual that covers everything, look somewhere else. I purchased this book with hope of repairing 4 items on my 1996 Dodge Ram truck. The first was my mirror, it's not covered in the book. The second was my steering stabilizer, it's not in the book. The third was the replacement of my shocks. There is a section in the book, but it provides absolutely no pertinent information regarding the replacement. The last item was a glitch with my cruise control, again there is no useful information. All the book displays is how to replace the cruise control mechanism on the steering column. What if the problem is not in that module? There is no diagnostic information in the book period. Nothing like the Chilton's repair manual's from years ago. Again, this "manual" is only slightly better than the owner's manual that came with the truck. Save your money for something else!

I have found that overall Chilton's auto repair manuals have more information and are easier to understand that any others I have come across. I always look for a Chilton's first.