[jendan2925]

Hey Guys

I have an '05 ZX5, 2.3 PZEV.
What book is recommended? The Haynes or Chilton.

Thanks alot

Joe

 

[gonefhsn]

well in my experiance haynes is more user friendly..I like pics but chilton on some things does get more in depth and on others haynes does. I would suggest looking at both in the parts store and see which one is best for you.

 

[FOCUSSTDRIVER]

um i just bought the ford manual off ebay...cant get any better than that

 

[NAD23ZX3]

yeah shop manuals all the way, haynes if you're in a pinch

 

[oldpunk78]

is there a ford manual that we can download?

 

[DarkFire1986]

My Haynes manual covers 2000 to 2005, and doesn't shed much light on the 05.
Its got enough info to make it worthwhile, but I'm fairly certain the Ford manual is a better buy

 

[bluefront]

I recently got a factory manual off E-Bay also ($60) and a wiring manual ($18). While being really complete, they are not particularly user-friendly.

The factory manuals for my Nissans were much easier to read. The Ford manual is so big it's physically difficult to maneuver.....plus the pages are extremely thin and would rip easily.

Tell you what.....the text in the manual reminds me of a Chinese translation into English. And big as the book is, much seems to be missing. For instance.....I want to remove the little audio control pod by the steering wheel. The manual says "loosen the tang using suitable tool"...... no picture. There is no tang visible. A Ford mechanic might know the trick, but only after someone showed him. They need to hire someone to redo the entire book (like me [cool] ).

 

[BradWhite]

Neither ! There is for more detailed and up-to-date information available by subscription on-line. Read my write-up on that HERE. And don't let the first price you see scare you, see the "edit" at the end.

 

[Waffles ZX3 Kona Sport]

Brad, you're so helpful. I'm glad we have you around!

 

[FOCUSSTDRIVER]

well i sometimes us alldata...but thats when im at work or school...but at home i use the ford manual

 

[BradWhite]

Brad, you're so helpful. I'm glad we have you around!

Well thank you [:I]

well i sometimes us alldata...but thats when im at work or school...but at home i use the ford manual

I haven't had a chance to compare alldatadiy.com to Motorcraft yet, alldatadiy still doesn't offer 08' info. But when they do I will subscribe (hell it's cheap enough) to compare the info available.

I have heard from others that the Motorcraft site is better, but I haven't seen for myself yet.

What I do know is that my subscription ($99 for a year) paid for itself a long time ago!!!

One example, I just installed some cold cathode lights 2 days ago. With the on-line manual I figured out that I wanted to power them from the stock ambient lighting controller, where the controller was located, how to take the console apart to get to the controller and exactly how the controller was pinned out so I knew going in which wire was hot and which was ground.

 

[NemesisEnforcer]

chiltons usually does better for wiring diagrams.

i have the alldata subscription. its awesome. cannot compare it to motorcraft, as i dont have that, but brad, does it offer up all the TSBs like alldata? i love that part about it.....if u have questions on the alldata, feel free to ask. it was only 14.95 for a year.

 

[HilloNative]

Does Alldata have the european focus??... im not talking about the new ones, because i got a Technical information system from ebay UK and is kind like the Chiltons but with all the euromodels from ford... i got this one because im putting the RS turbo on mine... so i needed to see where all goes.

 

[BradWhite]

Yeah, Motorcraft has the TSBs, and it's my understanding that the TSBs show up sooner on the Motorcraft site than Alldata, but who cares they still show up. The price difference is huge between Alldata and Motorcraft. As soon as Alldata has 08' info available I'll subscribe and really be able to see what's different, if anything.

Hey NemesisE - at alldata can you drill down in the wiring diagrams? Like at Motorcraft I can drill down to each individual connector and see how it's pinned out.

 

[BradWhite]

Well, I checked the "sample vehicle" information at alldata and the wiring diagrams in there. If that is really what you get for wiring diagrams I'll definitely stick with Motorcraft's site.

 

[NemesisEnforcer]

sorry brad, yeah, u can view all the diagrams, but you cannot get down to individual pin connectors. i would def. say that the motorcraft would be the better of the 2. i know that on my last car, the shop manual had so much extra stuff in it that my alldata did not have. BUT, many of the alldata diagrams of locations were much easier to read...just a bit less confusing.

as far as the european version, i dont know...i only have mine entered. each subscription is for one vehicle only.

 

[BradWhite]

Yeah, I just love being able to drill down all the way to the connectors. It sure saves a lot of time trying to figure out what's what.

Each wire is identified by pin, wire color, gauge and circuit. Sure came in handy the other night hooking up my cold cathodes. I wanted to use the ambient lighting connector and bingo, I knew even before I saw the connector that pin 1 was hot and pin 8 was ground.

 

[NemesisEnforcer]

augh! you have the ambient lighting option?? oh man, JEALOUS!!! i rode around in a fusion with that for a while, and i want that!!!