Does anyone know the functional difference, if any, between these two '03 Trailblazer Service Manual sets? They're both on eBay; the green ones are pre-owned for $193 and the purple ones are "new" for $450. That's quite a difference! Is there any real difference in their contents? Thanks!


$193 pre-owned on eBay

$450 "new" on eBay

 

Well, since I cannot make out much of the wording other than Service Manual and 2003, about the only difference I can think of is that one set is the early or preliminary release and the other set is the final version that allegedly has all the errors contained in the preliminary set (spelling errors, wrong diagram numbers, etc. corrected.

My advice to to follow FlyBoy's suggestion and go over to GMTNation and use the one that is posted there. So what if they are not indexed - they are very usable. Going through them will and getting used to them will be beneficial in the long run.

 

The ones at gmtnation are not complete. Not even close. There's no Table of Contents, even. Not overall, and not by section. Many, if not most of the pages came out of an Isuzu Ascender manual. The .pdf labeled "4.2L ENGINE REPAIR" is only engine specs and teardown, not On-Vehicle Repair Procedures.The first thing I needed a manual for—the procedure for replacing the oil pan *with the engine on the vehicle*—is not in there. Neither is the procedure for replacing the waterpump. Etc,...

How do I know? I went to https://www.acdelcotds.com/subscriptions and paid $20 for 3 days access to *all* of GM's Service Manuals. I got access to all the Service Manual data for *this* TrailBlazer *by VIN Number*.


From "Repair Instructions - On Vehicle":




The entire "Repair Instructions - On Vehicle" section for Oil Pan Replacement is missing from the gmtnation .pdf's. That one procedure refers to *40* other sections in the manual! I followed all the links, like "Refer to Differential Carrier Assembly Replacement" and printed them all to .pdf. Let me repeat: This one procedure, "Oil Pan Replacement" has links to *40* other Repair On Vehicle sections. It's no wonder they're not included in the gmtnation docs!

Don't get me wrong, the those docs are a fantastic value, free for the asking. A tremendous amount of work went into creating them, and they are great for getting basic specs and info about certain systems. But they are in no way a complete *Factory Service Manual*. I looked at them first and did not get close to the answers I need for getting access to a leak on the back side of the oil pan without dismantling the drivetrain. I did get those answers from the ACDelco TDS, and it was well worth $20.

It might get a bit pricey, ponying up $20 every time something needs to be fixed, but it's not too crazy. $450 for a new set of manuals is a lot of $20 jobs! 22.5, to be precise. But I do like having the Factory Service books on-hand, so maybe $200 for a used set is not a bad investment.

I appreciate your help, fellas. I've learned a lot, thanks to you.

 

It seems to me that the "new" ones are indeed new—sourced from Helm and sold at a markup.

No idea if there's any difference between new and old, but I suspect it's minimal.

 

i am looking for the procedure on checking for coolant lose on a 5.3 liter in a 2004 trailblazer.

 

Charm.li has the manuals; click that link and pick which Trailblazer you have.