Motor manuals
Our large and popular collection of motor manuals covers cars, motorcycles, and many other petrol and diesel engines such as outboards, lawnmowers and two-strokes.
Motor manuals available online
Although there is currently no access to the Central Library’s collection of motor manuals, Christchurch City Libraries subscribes to ChiltonLibrary.com which can be used at our libraries or at home with your library card and PIN.
Central Library has the majority of the motor manual titles, but there are also collections at New Brighton, Shirley, Fendalton and Papanui. Old manuals are kept to ensure they remain available long after the vehicles may have become less common on our roads.
Searching for a manual
If you are searching for a particular manual in the BiblioCommons catalogue, enter the following information:
- Make of the vehicle – Toyota, Holden, Isuzu etc
- Model of the vehicle – Corolla, Commodore, Gemini etc
- Year, and
- Engine size – 1300cc, 3.3litre, etc
You can also search on engine series.
For motorcycles, the make and the engine size are usually sufficient.
Turbocharged and diesel models may have more than one manual in the collection, even for the same vehicle, so if you need assistance, ask a librarian.
Chiltonlibrary.com
This American resource provides more than 45 years of information on vehicle repairs. Unlike print versions of manuals, this format is updated monthly.
- Enter the year for your vehicle.
- Enter the make and model: e.g. 2007 : Mitsubishi : Outlander.
- You will be given an option to click on Repair or Maintenance. Clicking on repair will open a document tree and you can then navigate to the area of interest; click on the + sign to open more windows.
- When you have the information and ‘exploded diagrams’ on the right hand side of the screen you will see an option to enlarge the diagrams and also the ability to print the pages.
Remember that Chilton Library is an American resource, and as such the model names will be those that are on the American market.
Searching on the internet
We suggest you try Wikipedia. It has details on car makes and models, and includes models with different names in different countries. The list of external links at the end of the article can be useful. You may find out about an owners’ club for your vehicle.
Your next option is to do some internet searching. To refine your results we suggest you use the following pattern and words when entering information in to Google or your preferred search engine:-
- Free downloads car manuals +mazda 323
- Free downloads car manuals +mazda familia
In these examples we have used the Mazda 323. You can enter the make and model of your car e.g. Toyota Camry, Honda Jazz etc.
These will produce a lengthy list of possible sites offering manuals.
Search tips
- If you do add a date to your search, remember that the numbers could also refer to an engine size e.g. 1998, or a model e.g. 2002 (BMW).
A similar pattern can be followed if you are looking to work on an engine and you know the number:
- Free downloads car manuals +Mitsubishi 4G93
So far we have just had a look at manuals for cars, but a similar search strategy can be used to hunt down manuals for motorcycles and other engines. The following are examples:-
- Free downloads motorcycles manuals +honda 250
- Free downloads chainsaw manuals +poulan
- Free downloads lawn +mower manuals +briggs Stratton
- Free downloads outboard manuals +mercury
- Free downloads tractor manuals +ford
Manuals, handbook or databook
There are several types of books containing technical information about motors and vehicles. Each motor manual is catalogued and indexed in detail to make them as easy to search for as possible.
- Workshop manuals usually have exploded diagrams and comprehensive how-to-fix instructions for home mechanics. Factory manuals have extended technical information and most are reference only, meaning they cannot be borrowed.
- Handbooks are more like the glovebox guides that explain how to operate different functions of the vehicle as well as some basic technical information. Some handbooks can be borrowed from the library.
- Databooks provide helpful technical information such as tyre pressures, spark plug gaps, torque setting, fluid levels and so on.
- Autodata is a popular technical series. One of the titles they produce is timing belts – a useful reference for people wanting to know which cam belt they should use, for example. They also offer wiring diagrams, fuel system data and tune-up and servicing specifications. Diesel engines are also covered.
- Identicar is a New Zealand produced databook series that acts as a model identification guide for the imported Japanese vehicles. These books detail the many different names of imported vehicles and provides the names by which we know them in this country.
- Another comprehensive resource is Chilton Asian Mechanical Service 2006 – a three-volume work, it provides updated coverage for many popular vehicles on New Zealand roads.
Motoring resources at your libraries
Search the catalogue
- Automobiles - workshop manuals
- Motorcycles - workshop manuals
- All terrain vehicles - workshop manuals
- Trucks - workshop manuals
Other resources
- Search CINCH for car clubs in Christchurch
- Rides and responsibilities on the road and getting your licence from The Pulse
- Our page on buying a new car, motorbike or boat
- Rightcar.govt.nz
- New Zealand Transport Agency including Land Transport and Transit NZ
Internet Gateway
Our Internet Gateway lists transport websites, including:
