I saw this book on an Oldsmobile Facebook page? Anybody know how, or if, this book is different than the Maintenance Manual

 

Shop Manual = Maintenance Manual = Service Manual
The book that told dealer service mechanics how to fix that year 's cars .

 

That is the shop manual, if you don't have one get one. Re-pops are available on eBay even on cd's. The other manual is the owners manual which was the same color but very small, found in the glovebox. There was also a chassis manual and body parts books. You can also find decent used ones on eBay.

 

The repops and CD's are not as good as the original. As I usually say, you want to get one with a few greasy thumbprints on it.

 

I have one, greasy fingerprints and all, but it’s called a 1955 Oldsmobile Maintenance Manual. It’s about an inch thick. I can’t imagine that Oldsmobile would have bothered to print three different books that are the same except for the cover. My book has 15 sections covering things from General Information to Chassis Sheet Metal. If someone has the Shop Manual or the Service Manual, it would be interesting to see if they really are the same. The Maintenance Manual does not have a section on replacing weatherstripping, a task I need to complete. So having that information might be worth the expense to buy those other books.

 

I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who just googled this. As Charlie Jones said above, Shop Manual=Maintenance Manual =Service Manual.

The American version was called SHOP Manual and the Canadian version was called MAINTENANCE Manual.

 

Well, that clears it up. My 55 spent its first few years in Detroit before moving to Arkansas. So it was probably born in Canada, thus the name of the repair book - Maintenance Manual. I will not be looking for the shop manual. My manual may be written in Canadian but it’s close enough to English that I can still understand it. Thanks for the effort to resolve this very important issue.

 

You're welcome. That's what we're here for.

 

Adjust the brakes, eh?

I think you'll find your Canadian manual is also unfailingly polite!🙂

 

GM tended to have a chassis manual per division, and a Fisher body manual. Other companies, like Ford, had multiple volumes for engine, electrical, body, chassis, etc. My 73 Econoline has a 5 volume set.

 

Separate FB manual started 1966. Before that each Division incorporated body procedures in their CSM.

Those multiple service books are the bane of Ford people everywhere. At least there are reprints of individual carlines' wiring and vacuum diagrams available now. Before that, intact books brought piles of money just to get one diagram.