Howdy

Does anybody know where I can get a factory Service manual for a 1998 Suzuki Sidekick Sport?

Has anybody bought one of those Manuals on CDs off ebay? Are they Chilton, Haynes or Helms?

Thanks

Thanks

How about a repair book from an auto parts store? They are better than the service manuals. Service manuals don't tell you much and they don't tell you how to go about rapairing anything. I've seen them for about 15 bucks at NAPA.

I'll have to respectfully disagree with maraquez. I have had FSMs for about 10 of my vehicles and found them far superior to the aftermarket manuals in nearly every case. However, finding the FSM for an older vehicle can be difficult and the aftermarket manuals are much better than nothing.

I looked for quite a while to find a FSM for my '98 Sport, but settled for a FSM for a '98 Tracker. I can't say how good it is because my Sport hasn't broken yet.:D I will say that the organization of that manual leaves a lot to be desired.

I'm looking for an FSM for my 2000 Tracker and ran across the CDs on ebay. There are bootlegs and actual factory endorsed issues, but I'm not sure what either one offers. One mentioned some kind of active link up with the factory for TSBs and such. Look at the system requirements, too, I believe one needed Microsoft Office Professional operating system. I'm still looking around for the paper FSM, but if any one has any info on the CD FSM's, I'd be interested to get info, too.

I have always found that the factory service manual is better. I use to buy the aftermarket ones in an attempt to save some bucks but ended up getting the the FSM in the end. The problem that I've mostly encountered w/ aftermarket manuals is that they try to cover a range of years. We all know that things will change slightly even in the same generation.

So back to the original question... The dealer may be able to help but that would be an expensive route. Try eBay. I've bought various different ones that are on CD out of curiosity. All were bootlegs. Some are aftermarket, some are factory with non-US models.

I agree that the FSM is the way to go. The Haynes I'm using covers from 1986 thru 2001 Samurais, Sidekicks, Trackers, X-90s and Vitara; its adequate, but too broad. Since the only FSM I can find for my 2000 Tracker is about $130 to my door, I'm considering the ALLDATA manual. For a yearly fee of $25 its accessible on the internet. I think the advantage is its always current with updates.

I really like a paper FSM so I can take it out to the vehicle when I'm working and compare a picture to what I'm doing. I've never used ALLDATA so I'm concerned that its just a Haynes type manual online.

A lot of independent shops use Alldata or Mitchell. The professional versions are pretty detailed. I don't know about the consumer ones, though. You may want to eval some from eBay just to take a look.

I paid for a month of the Mitchell manuel for an 87 toyota 4 runner. It's better than Haynes or Chilton in that it trys to cover only one vehicle, but it is no factory shop manual. I'm putting an 87 engine/EFI into an 84 pickup & I already have the 84 FSM, so the Mitchell info was good enough to fill in the gaps without buying a FSM for the 87.

If I was runing an 87 rig, I'd pay for thr FSM. The after market manuals can get you through a lot of problems, but having the factory-specific info at hand is worth the money they ask...

Dave

I ended up buying a year subscription to the ALLDATA manual for my 2000 Tracker and its ok. Its not the easiest manual to get the needed info from. It has menus and sub-menus to get the info. The info is there, just a pain to get to at times. It has more info than the Haynes I was using. I'm still looking for a paper FSM though.....