Who makes really good repair manuals for outboard motors? Is it best to get one from the manufacturer or a third party that makes repair manuals? What do you guys use? I was recently laid off and must do some of my own maintenance and repair myself so I can keep fishing. Repair shops are great, just expensive when your income suddenly stops. Any help? I am not a mechanic, but know enough to take care of the general maintenance and light duty repairs.

I just ordered a SELOC for my Mercury. It looks like it does a decent job of explaining things. For my cars, I use Clymer because they are cheaper. I do have a few old sets of Chiltons laying around from my dad's mechanic days.

Factory manuals are almost always best, and they are not that expensive. The main problem is, these new mottos require special test equipment that many times is only available to the dealers and they don't tell you anything you can use in its place. They may give you the factory part number to use for a test, and a Fluke multimeter does the same thing. However, they may have info you need you want find in the Clymor or what ever they call it.

I just ordered a service manual from Mercury for my 1996 outboard. It was $50, but its the same service manual that a marina would use. I would say call the manufacturer and order the service manual.