I was in Halfords the other day and noticed that a Haynes Manual for the 500 is due out. I e-mailed Haynes and a nice lady called Amy confirmed that they are in the process of producing a manual for the FIAT 500 & PANDA (04-12) 53 TO 61 (manual no 5558) and it should be available in April of this year.
Looks like I'll finally find out the torque settings for my rear wheel bearings!

I will pick up a copy. I love a good haynes manual.

a bit pointless these days now we have e-learn?

RobW said:

a bit pointless these days now we have e-learn?

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:yeahthat:

I've used quite a few Haynes manuals over the years, and IMO the quality is nothing like it used to be, both in terms of the content and the physical paper/binding.

In the old days, they were very car-specific and went into considerably more technical detail than the current set. IIRC my old Austin 1100 manual gave full instructions for stripping down & rebuilding the gearbox - later ones just have a comment to the effect that rebuilding a gearbox isn't a practical proposition for the home mechanic.

Also the present manuals make heavy use of 'cut & paste', with sometimes whole sections being just generic information that could apply to any car. All too often, I turn to the bit I'm really interested in, only to read "if this happens, take it to a franchised dealer".

As RobW says, elearn gives you (most) of the detailed info you need & the good folks on this forum usually manage to supply the rest. I think I'll be keeping the wallet shut on this one.

Except for the Wife's 500 and my own Cadillac (both cars too new), I've bought Haynes Manuals for most of my previous cars and found them to be invaluable. The first thing I used to do, was to carefully separate each page from its binding, then insert every one into a clear A4 plastic wallet in a ring binder. Up until recently, I carried out most of my own servicing and repairs, so having the ring binder next to me whilst pulling out a wishbone or bits of engine, was brilliant even when the weather was crap. Pages were ultimately saved from being coated in oil or getting a soaking in the rain. I can't really speak for the quality of the latest manuals, but certainly, I never really had any issues with the copies I've previously held. I wanted a manual for our MX5 when we had it, but I had to make do with a workshop CD and print off pages as I needed them. Didn't really like that idea to be honest. I will probably buy the new 500 manual, 'cause you can't beat just picking up a book and browsing through. I'm sure once the warranty is up on our own 500, I will resort to doing the vast majority of servicing myself, so a bit of help from a manual won't go amiss. I certainly won't be buying one from the High Street, not when you can inevitably pick one up from the auction site for several pounds cheaper!

frupi said:

Except for the Wife's 500 and my own Cadillac (both cars too new), I've bought Haynes Manuals for most of my previous cars and found them to be invaluable. The first thing I used to do, was to carefully separate each page from its binding, then insert every one into a clear A4 plastic wallet in a ring binder. Up until recently, I carried out most of my own servicing and repairs, so having the ring binder next to me whilst pulling out a wishbone or bits of engine, was brilliant even when the weather was crap. Pages were ultimately saved from being coated in oil or getting a soaking in the rain. I can't really speak for the quality of the latest manuals, but certainly, I never really had any issues with the copies I've previously held. I wanted a manual for our MX5 when we had it, but I had to make do with a workshop CD and print off pages as I needed them. Didn't really like that idea to be honest. I will probably buy the new 500 manual, 'cause you can't beat just picking up a book and browsing through. I'm sure once the warranty is up on our own 500, I will resort to doing the vast majority of servicing myself, so a bit of help from a manual won't go amiss. I certainly won't be buying one from the High Street, not when you can inevitably pick one up from the auction site for several pounds cheaper!

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why not, it's fine

in fact, download to a kindle or ipad and no need to print

Hmmm, don't fancy £400 worth of ipad being adjacent to me working on my car with heavy tools and greasy hands! I've put my owners manual on the Kindle, but due to the small screen and the manual layout, it's not a slick reading experience. Sometimes you can't beat a good old-fashioned book - Mr Haynes will probably get my money in April, if it covers the Twinair.

jrkitching said:

:yeahthat:

I've used quite a few Haynes manuals over the years, and IMO the quality is nothing like it used to be, both in terms of the content and the physical paper/binding.

In the old days, they were very car-specific and went into considerably more technical detail than the current set. IIRC my old Austin 1100 manual gave full instructions for stripping down & rebuilding the gearbox - later ones just have a comment to the effect that rebuilding a gearbox isn't a practical proposition for the home mechanic.

Also the present manuals make heavy use of 'cut & paste', with sometimes whole sections being just generic information that could apply to any car. All too often, I turn to the bit I'm really interested in, only to read "if this happens, take it to a franchised dealer".

As RobW says, elearn gives you (most) of the detailed info you need & the good folks on this forum usually manage to supply the rest. I think I'll be keeping the wallet shut on this one.

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Exactly, this forum has people like you who know about cars.
I know the basics and if in the worst case i have to go to a dealer, the indie is known to me personally so i can have a chat with him.
Franchised dealer? Please no!!! I do not want to walk into their doors again! Very soon they will charge you an entry fee into their service area before asking for any service related thing with your car!

RobW said:

why not, it's fine

in fact, download to a kindle or ipad and no need to print

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Mmm, sorry for sounding like I'm old and should therefore be stood in a Post Office queue, but I'll stick to the old fashioned methods which have so far served me incredibly well. The thought of trying to swipe electronic pages with greasy fingers or oily latex, just doesn't float my boat. I'll therefore leave you to your new fangled technical ways!

StaffordMike - the e-learn torque figure for the rear wheel bearing nut is 28 daNm.
You asked for this information on Brian Gunns thread - yet then didn't bother to check back.

Thanks for that snes, I thought I'd started a new thread, "Noisy Rear Wheel Bearings on 500" last week and have been checking back. I think my e-leasrn CD's are both missing some sections as I couldn't find that information anywhere.

frupi said:

I've bought Haynes Manuals for most of my previous cars and found them to be invaluable.

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You'd change that opinion if you'd ever owned an X1/9 and tried to seek help from a Haynes manual. Crazy people at bus shelters would have been more help.

jnoiles said:

You'd change that opinion if you'd ever owned an X1/9 and tried to seek help from a Haynes manual. Crazy people at bus shelters would have been more help.

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Despite my age, up until a few moments ago, I didn't even know what an X1/9 was until I googled it. Not being a Fiat purist, I didn't know what they were. The 500 is the only Fiat that's ever been in our ownership and as it's the wife's and not mine, that's as far as my own relationship with Fiat will go (though I did once drive my Dad's old Uno from Johannesburg to Port Elizabeth). I do like the 500 from an aesthetics pov and I agree there are some nice looking Fiat's out there, but I wouldn't buy one for myself. I've decided I will buy the Haynes Manual for the wife so she can find out where the bonnet catch is.

frupi said:

<snip> I've decided I will buy the Haynes Manual for the wife so she can find out where the bonnet catch is. <snip>

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Are you familiar with the old adage "you can buy a manual for the wife but you can't necessarily make her read it" lol.

Personally I think buying her a pair of earrings would be a better way. Put one on the bonnet catch and tell her the other one is under the bonnet, perhaps fixed to the dipstick might be good.

*** usual FRA ***

jnoiles said:

You'd change that opinion if you'd ever owned an X1/9 and tried to seek help from a Haynes manual. Crazy people at bus shelters would have been more help.

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my first experience of Haynes' twisted sense of humour was when i was faced with the task of re-assembling my basket case Suzuki AP50

"assembly is the reverse of removal" is a statement that still makes me annoyed :bang:

RobW said:

my first experience of Haynes' twisted sense of humour was when i was faced with the task of re-assembling my basket case Suzuki AP50

"assembly is the reverse of removal" is a statement that still makes me annoyed :bang:

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Agreed with you on that one. I have to admit, that particular statement does wind me up somewhat. It is a little lazy, though I suppose if they then shoved in a load of pictures and extra paragraphs, the manual would be double the size and cost, so I suppose a little bit of common sense and mechanical confidence has to make up for it.

The other classic is, you glance at the manual and see that the job is only half a page long and think "happy days". Then you start it and find one of the little paragraphs is "Remove gearbox as described on page 197". Doh!

Belated apolotgies to StaffordMike - I really must learn to re-read before I post! You did not ask for the torque figure in Brian's thread - I think I must have been day dreaming.
Much apologies!

Its Finally Arrived.........

And the cheapest place to buy the manual is eBay ....£12.00 post free . I have had my copy for 2 weeks ...shame it doesn't cover the Twinair .