Seloc Manuals - Not Satisfied...

sincraft

Seaman
Joined
May 24, 2005
Messages
72
Dunno how the rest of you guys feel, but I was excited to get my new Seloc manual to start tooling on my engine this weekend. When I received it, I was VERY disappointed at the quality of the product I received.<br />The images are black and white's that look like they have been photocopied, THEN photographed with little tags on them (that say what the item is you can barely see) THEN photocopied, then put into a master book copy, THEN photocopied again.<br />I can barely see the images in the book. I expected highly descriptive illustrations that were large, bright, and clear..<br />Picture an image in a newspaper showing an engine part, like a screw, then photo copy it ..and that's what i got EXACTLY.<br /><br />It's definetely a Seloc manual and not a ripoff or 'dub' - and was purchased from here at IBOATS. (Btw Iboats was GREAT in shipping it to me VERY quickly - Kudoos to Iboats for this!)<br /><br />ANyway - just wondering what you guys thought. I've been told that Seloc was the greatest thing since sliced bread by more than a couple people, and was very surprised to see a garbage quality product that I would, as a company, be completely ashamed to sell. <br /><br />How do the other manuals fair up?<br /><br />S
 

Laddies

Banned
Joined
Sep 10, 2004
Messages
12,218
Re: Seloc Manuals - Not Satisfied...

It's hard to beat the OEM manuals, but they aren't as available as some of the eftermarket ones
 

JB

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Mar 25, 2001
Messages
45,907
Re: Seloc Manuals - Not Satisfied...

Outboard Non-repair topic
 

dajohnson53

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Apr 28, 2004
Messages
1,627
Re: Seloc Manuals - Not Satisfied...

I've got a Seloc and an OEM for my merc kicker. The Seloc for this engine is good, I think. I've found both of them to be useful so far, but I've only done simple stuff. I've found it beneficial to have both, actually. The OEM is maybe a little more "perfect", but the Seloc has some helpful stuff that the OEM doesn't have.
 

umblecumbuz

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
Sep 25, 2004
Messages
1,062
Re: Seloc Manuals - Not Satisfied...

Sincraft, I agree with you.<br /><br />Haynes Manuals started in the UK, covering cars. Their quality has always been good, and their photos or drawings have been rated high consistently since they started.<br /><br />It shows what CAN be done, and my view is that manuals like the one you've got fall short because the commitment is lacking. <br /><br />There is absolutely no reason, given modern printing and reproduction techniques, why commercial manuals of any sort cannot be produced to a consistently high quality.<br /><br />Seloc, or any other manual producer, has no excuse for not doing so.
 

roscoe

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Oct 30, 2002
Messages
21,709
Re: Seloc Manuals - Not Satisfied...

Depends what motor you have.<br />I have several Seloc and Clymers manuals.<br />For Force motors, the Clymers is much better.
 

Navigator

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Feb 6, 2001
Messages
517
Re: Seloc Manuals - Not Satisfied...

I find that the seloc manuals are good for basic maintenance type information, assuming you already have basic engine knowledge. They try to cover too many engine ranges and years in a single section so the details and pictures may not be of your motor. Frustrating yes, but its cost effective for them.<br /><br />I would recommend getting a OEM manual for your engine. They're about $60-$100 (at least for my engine anyways) but the information and pictures are dead on. Plus if you have any questions, you can talk to your dealer and let him know you've done stuff "by the book". I just figured the cost of the manual into the price of the engine and haven't regretted it once!<br /><br />Nav :cool:
 

bossee

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jul 18, 2002
Messages
727
Re: Seloc Manuals - Not Satisfied...

I had Seloc, Clymer and Shop manual (Suzuki) for an outboard I owned before. The images in the first two manuals was so and so (the wiring diagram was almost unreadable in one of them). The Shop manual was better, but none of the manuals where "perfect".<br />One of problems with Seloc and Clymer is that they cover so many models it is difficult to get an overview of a specific model, You have to jump around on pages to find what You need to know. The Shop manuals are better regarding this (the Shop manual I had covered two basic models where the difference was just hp, 55 and 65 hp) and it was much better organized in the manual.
 

Straightup

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Apr 5, 2005
Messages
317
Re: Seloc Manuals - Not Satisfied...

Just did my water pump and housing on my like new '84 Johnson 70HP. Looked high and low, but OEM Manual for my engine was not available. Got Seloc through iboats and it helped me throughout the job. I made a lot of notes of things that helped me out. You have to use common sense too. They told me to take of my starter motor to get to the shift linkage. I skipped that and took of the plastic carb shroud and was able to get at it fine. I don't think taking of the starter motor would have helped at all, but like was said above, the manual covers LOTS of models. I think the manual WAS worth the purchase price - especially for a new OB repairer like me. There's also LOTS of great info on safety, fuel systems, ignition - just lots of basic knowledge in there. I'd have been lost without it on my repair!
 

dajohnson53

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Apr 28, 2004
Messages
1,627
Re: Seloc Manuals - Not Satisfied...

Originally posted by Bo:<br /> ...<br />One of problems with Seloc and Clymer is that they cover so many models it is difficult to get an overview of a specific model, You have to jump around on pages to find what You need to know. The Shop manuals are better regarding this (the Shop manual I had covered two basic models where the difference was just hp, 55 and 65 hp) and it was much better organized in the manual.
I was hoping for this when I ordered the OEM manual for my old ('74) merc 9.8 kicker having already owned and successfully used the Seloc. I bought the OEM because I was going to do my first ever carb/fuel pump rebuild and I wanted every advantage possible. Turns out the carb diagrams in both are exactly the same, including captions and quality of diagrams. Also turns out the OEM manual covers, I believe, the huge array of years and motors that the Seloc does. About a decade of motors and everything from 7.5 up through 6 cylinders. It's quite a complicated manual - but organized differently and easier to follow than the Seloc. But like I said, since I have both and am a totally poor mechanic, it's good to have both perspectives. Sometimes it helps. If I were to get rid of one it would be the Seloc for sure, but it is still worth while. Just a data point, not trying to contradict anyone.
 

Mark42

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Oct 8, 2003
Messages
9,334
Re: Seloc Manuals - Not Satisfied...

I have to agree with you on the Seloc photo quality. Very washed out. The photos in my Johnson/Evinrude manual are much clearer, the text is laid out better in relation to the photos, and there are color highlights in the text. Another good feature of the Johnson/Evinrude manual is it is specific for my year an models, not like the Seloc that covers multiple years and models so photos are not specific to my model year.<br /><br />I do like the OEM manual better.
 

AMD Rules

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Sep 23, 2004
Messages
1,707
Re: Seloc Manuals - Not Satisfied...

Just to add fuel to the fire...<br /><br />My factory service manual for my 4cyl 40 Mercury has crystal clear images.<br /><br />The equivalent Seloc manual that covers both the 3 and 4 cylinder models also has clear quality images.<br /><br />My other factory service manual for the 3cyl 60 Mercury is horrible. Images are definitely copied multiple times and some almost to the point of being useless. I was suprised to see that. It is a legitimate copy, but must be a reporoduction later on by the publisher.<br /><br />As far the content, the factory manual is worth its weight in gold, but in some instances it skips over some 'obvious' steps that most mechanics would likely know. The Seloc is a great compliment, and is written with the backyard mechanic in mind. They both have good features, and when combined they make a great resource. Something that you should not be without.
 

McGR

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jun 19, 2004
Messages
654
Re: Seloc Manuals - Not Satisfied...

I agree with AMD, having both Seloc and OEM manuals available can be beneficial. The Selocs sometimes are a bit too generic, but they usually make some good points regarding certain aspects of a particular repair job. On the other hand OEM manuals match a specific motor but often seem to assume you are already a professional outboard technician who knows all the tricks already.
 
Joined
May 24, 2005
Messages
60
Re: Seloc Manuals - Not Satisfied...

Haynes Manuals started in the UK, covering cars.<br /><br />Hi Ya Stillfishing, I wonder why Haynes never did outboards, they would have made a killing.
 

Nos4r2

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Dec 12, 2004
Messages
1,533
Re: Seloc Manuals - Not Satisfied...

I don't really rate Haynes after I set up a bike engine with one and the instructions (followed to the letter and rechecked 5 times) put the cam timing 180 degrees out.This resulted in the valves and pistons contacting. They are OK for getting stats from though.<br />Clymer however are utterly wonderful as far as I've used them.
 

TELMANMN

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jun 9, 2003
Messages
465
Re: Seloc Manuals - Not Satisfied...

In order of liking: OEM, clymer, seloc.
 

P51D

Petty Officer 3rd Class
Joined
Jun 2, 2005
Messages
78
Re: Seloc Manuals - Not Satisfied...

The Seloc manual for my 1993 Merc 175 hp is too generic. It often refers back to steps outlined on previous pages for smaller outboards. I find myself wading through a lot of irrelevant info, wasting time. <br /><br />Also, when I changed my impeller and pump housing, it didn't mention the step about using silicone sealer between the pump and exhaust cavities. I later got a real service manual, which does mention using the silicone. Ended up having to drop the L/U to seal it. :mad: I HATE having to re-do a job!
 

gss036

Commander
Joined
Jan 18, 2003
Messages
2,914
Re: Seloc Manuals - Not Satisfied...

I was able to get an OEM Mercury on EBay this week, hopefully it will get here so I can start reading about all the things I often wondered about. It even listed what sr#'s it applied to, plus HP rating and only covers 2 years of mfg motors. I will enjoy doing my own work. That way one knows it is done right and if it fails, you know who is at fault, OPPS!, did I say that?
 
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