[GAOLDGUY]

All,

I consider the HELM manuals to be the gold standard for documentation on how to work on our vehicles. For months I have been trying to look for the HELM "Shop/Service Information Manual" for my 2018 Camaro. The USB shows to be not available. It is only available in printed form. The USB is 349.99 and the printed form is 475.00. I would prefer the USB format. Also, I'm sure shipping would be expensive on the printed set. Do any of you know of an alternative? I'm not interested in a subsription service or any means by which i can only access the material for a limited time. In my experience, the alternative / cheaper solutions don't include all the necessary torque tables, etc.

Thanks,
Mark

[arpad_m]

I have this exact service manual you're after (2018 model year, USB format), let me give you some more information.

First, the USB version is VIN coded and the stick it comes on is a hardware key that has to be inserted into a USB-A port at all times, meaning you can't use the manual on your phone (just in case you were planning to). You can't copy it to another drive either (well you can, but it won't work), nor can you print it or save it in a different format, so if the stick goes bad, the product is a goner.

Second, the manual itself is ~10,000 pages, the printed version comes in 5 or 6 thick volumes, so if you chose that one, shipping would indeed cost a penny, as you suspected.

I have shared quite a few individual pages here over the years, but the entire manual is huge, as I said above. Copies of the 2016 and 2017 service manual can be found online, plus, although I know you don't want a subscription, cconsider that you can buy a 3-day ACDelco TDS subscription that allows you to download everything in pieces; it may take a long time and some effort, but it only costs $22 or so.

[GAOLDGUY]

Originally Posted by arpad_m

I have this exact service manual you're after (2018 model year, USB format), let me give you some more information.

First, the USB version is VIN coded and the stick it comes on is a hardware key that has to be inserted into a USB-A port at all times, meaning you can't use the manual on your phone (just in case you were planning to). You can't copy it to another drive either (well you can, but it won't work), nor can you print it or save it in a different format, so if the stick goes bad, the product is a goner.

Second, the manual itself is ~10,000 pages, the printed version comes in 5 or 6 thick volumes, so if you chose that one, shipping would indeed cost a penny, as you suspected.

I have shared quite a few individual pages here over the years, but the entire manual is huge, as I said above. Copies of the 2016 and 2017 service manual can be found online, plus, although I know you don't want a subscription, cconsider that you can buy a 3-day ACDelco TDS subscription that allows you to download everything in pieces; it may take a long time and some effort, but it only costs $22 or so.

You verified my suspicions. I should have purchased this long ago. I called them and they indicated they needed to see enough requests before they would burn more USBs. Thank you very much for you input. I was just reading about "factorymanuals.net". Do you have any info on them? By the way, I read your posts and love your build.

[arpad_m]

Originally Posted by GAOLDGUY

You verified my suspicions. I should have purchased this long ago. I called them and they indicated they needed to see enough requests before they would burn more USBs. Thank you very much for you input. I was just reading about "factorymanuals.net". Do you have any info on them? By the way, I read your posts and love your build.

Oh, thank you very much, I love my car, too It's unfortunate that demand for this USB manual has tapered off so much...

Sorry, I haven't used factorymanuals.net and don't know how useful their manuals are. As far as I know, these 3rd party manuals (e.g. Alldata) are the result of reverse engineering, so if you want absolutely accurate info, there is no full substitute for the original GM service info.

I'm happy to help if you need anything specific, or you can settle for the abridged 2017 shop manual that is easy to find online.

[GAOLDGUY]

Thanks! I appreciate your contributions to the forum.