My one beef with Bentley

[psych-illogical]

OK, I'm gonna whine about the Bentley manual a little bit here. Sure it's a very concise and thorough manual with all the procedures done very correctly w/o any shortcuts. Great. All the procedures are written with a fully equipped VW shop in mind and list all the required, special VW tools. A lot of these can be worked around with just a little ingenuity. The thing that bothers me is that it doesn't ever give much of a clue as to what a specific component does or how it works. It only tells you how to check it/repair it. By contrast, the Haynes manual for my old 4Runner has a good introduction to each chapter explaining the operational theory of each system and the component functions. This is very helpful. More than that, it has a great trouble-shooting section with a list of symptoms and possible causes. A great help. If I have multiple symptoms I can look them all up and see which causes are common and usually solve the problem very quickly. I'll admit that I haven't read the manual cover to cover but, I've checked the T of C and the index and don't see anything about trouble shooting. Am I missing something. I've always been a big fan of having a couple of manuals for any vehicle just for cross-reference purposes. I haven't had my Westy for very long now and haven't bought a second manual for it yet (it came with a Bentley) but I plan on getting something. Anybody, out there have an additional manual for theirs? And which would you prefer? Haynes, Clymer, other?

[VWGirl]

i've found bentley leaving me hanging several times... without going to look i can name a couple...

in the body section of the cabriolet book it tells you to remove the fender by taking the bolts out on the back side of the fender with the door open (or something to this extent) implying that you need to open the door and remove the bolts on the back of the fender.. well there ARE NO BOLTS THERE... and everyone at vortex agrees that this is wrong in thebentley book... they are on the other side... but having never taken off a fender on a rabbit i never knew and was going crazy trying to find these bolts that did not exist!!

then on my diesel rabbit i was trying to figure out how to properly change the belts... the alt belt was quite obvious, but not the main belt... the bentley book says "remove the three bolts" doesnt say bolts on what or show a picture or anything... just says remove the three bolts and leaves it at that. i later asked a vw tech and he said just stretch the belt over the pulley with a screw driver... and had no clue what three bolts thebentley was referring to.

[buspor63]

It also does not have a diagram for the vacuum hose layout in a digijet WBX. The english Haynes manual for the vanagon is good, not great. It doesnt have the vacuum diagram either.

[earthmuffin]

I agree, there is not a manual that does everything.
If I had to pick one, it would be the Bentley, but I would like to get a good backup for the vanagon also.

I have 2 for my baywindow and it helps a lot.
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This thread SUCKS!!!

[Wellington]

I have the Bently for the Beetle and find it very complete, the Vanagon Bently leaves a lot to be desired.

[DanJReed]

I can tell you, no manual for *any* car is *perfect*. You have to own at least 3 to get the whole story right.

I fond mistakes all the time on Ford's website that the techs' have to use, and my factory Nissan manual has a few errors as well.

Hands down, the best factory manuals has to be Honda. Each section starts with a "how it works", with pictures and basic idea of how each component functions, and what tools are needed to service it. I honestly think part of Honda's sucuess as an auto maker has to begin with quality, AND how well its techs' are informed in the field. Honda factory training is leaps ahead most others...

But as someone pointed out, I think that Bently is the best for the most part, but it does have some goofy diagrams for electrical work (its own conventions, such as 15/30 power, off wire color names) but I know some of this is just how the VW people built stuff, like BROWN for a ground, rather than BLACK like 99% of the other cars on the road..

One time, when I was doing the T-belt in my Golf, the Haynes manual shows the picture backwards, all the timing marks are 180 deg off. Whoops. No wonder it would not start!!!

-Dan
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-Dan
(87 Westy Vanagon, 98 Jetta GLS 2.0, 95 Golf Sport)

[psych-illogical]

[crukab]

I have to agree, the Bentley takes you only so far, is there a Clymer for the vanagon ?? Does the Haynes have more "how to" stuff ? I also have the ETKA cd, its old but gives you a diffrent look at some parts..........
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'65 Bus/Panel/camper W/T/Shed
'66 Singlecab
'66 Westy
'82 Rabbit Truck
'86 Doublecab W/T
'91 Vanagon carat/wolfsbrg.Tiico
and others.

[Hippie]

I like my Haynes manual a lot. In fact, I gave my Transporter Bentley to a friend who had nothing at all when he got his first Westy, figuring I would use the Haynes more and replace the Bentley eventually.
That was last spring and I still haven't replaced the Bentley, but it is useful and I will get another one some payday.

[buspor63]