RTFM: Read the F***ing Manual!

[jimchi]

First off I want to make sure everyone knows the title of this thread is made in jest. I mean this to be a serious discussion thread.

So a lot of people in my life think I'm silly for reading a vehicle's manual. "I know how to drive a car, why would I need to read the manual!?" Well the answer is that there is a boatload of information contained in the owner's manual that is put in there, by the engineers, to help a driver better understand the systems included in their vehicle. This is especially true as we are in a time where more computers are integrated in vehicle design than ever, and there are tons of features and functions that just aren't obvious or intuitive to the driver. For example, I've helped answer questions from members on this very forum by referencing the owner's manual (2021 edition):

• How to browse media folders on USB drives plugged into UConnect
• Diesel & Biodiesel specific fuel additive requirements
• How to lock the keyfob in the truck
• Operation of the Anti-spin (LSD) Differential
• The parking brake switch is momentary while the vehicle is in motion
• Transmission fluid change requirements
• How to disable Trailer Sway Control (TSC)

Of course some of the information in the manual is open for debate, but in general, it's a very good guide. I suggest everyone at least take a look at the outline (typically on the left side of a PDF reader) of the online manual. That way you at least know where to look for info when you need it.

I reference the 2021 manual, which can be found here:
2021 Ram 1500 Owner's Manual

The owner's manual for other years (and US FCA makes/models) can be found on Mopar's site:
Mopar Vehicle Selection

So what does everyone think? Have you read the manual? Are there things missing, or is there too much info? I'm interested in everyone's thoughts.

 

[Richard320]

I miss the paper manuals. I always encouraged people I knew to bring it in the house and leave it in the bathroom and read a few pages at a time until they were through it. You learn all sorts of little things.

I learned about the tire fill alert in the manual. I am unimpressed with it and find a gauge to be faster, but that's not the manual's fault.

What's missing, at least in my 2019 manual, is how to shift in and out of 4WD. Especially low range.

 

[jimchi]

I didn’t know about the tire fill alert. Going to go read about it now.

 

[William1034]

I read it twice, learned stuff each time.

 

[Trippi]

I grew up reading the back of cereal boxes you can be sure I am reading the manual!

 

[Awood05]

I read my manuals.

Didn’t find anything in there to answer my question in this thread....

Off-Road Display in Instrument Cluster

Hello. I’m wondering if someone can clue me into the purpose/use of the ‘Drivetrain’ screen in the IC on my 2021 1500 Limited. My question is regarding the image on the left. Is there any purpose other than to show the differential state and the front wheel position while in 4WD modes? -...

5thgenrams.com

 

[jdmartin]

I got the paper manual sent to me, but I also have the digital one. I would be lying if I said that I had read the whole thing. Mostly what I tend to do is read the applicable parts as I need them. I'm sure there's things my truck can do that I don't know about because I haven't cover to cover the manual, but that's ok because I like discovery and surprise. There's very little anticipation or wonder left in the world, so I am pleased to discover things months or years later. Mostly I care that I can put it in drive, turn on the AC, open the windows, and crank the radio. Everything else is gravy

 

[RickWaz]

I downloaded all 600+ pages of the manual for the 2019 Ram, weeks before ordering my 2020 Ram. I've read the 2019 manual twice and the 2020 manual once. I also have the 2020 manual saved in my Google drive so I can access virtually anytime. I agree that there's FAR too posts w/ questions that are easily answered by reading the manual, but I still often answer them and include a screen shot to assist them.

The only thing that I'd do to improve the PDF manual, is to include relevant links to Mopar videos or other interactive sites to further educate Ram owners.

 

[V509]

I am a product support technician for an American company that manufactures construction equipment. Many calls I get could easily be answered if the caller had looked in the operation manual that ANSI code requires is attached to each machine
But we all know
Instructions are just another mans opinion!

 

[HemiDude]

I've read my manual, and the manuals for every vehicle I've ever owned. While I agree with your point that there are many questions on forums with answers that reside in the manuals, let's also consider a couple of things:

Not everyone ingests what they read in the same way. Have you ever read something a second time and picked up on something you missed the first time? Sometimes I just gloss over something and go back to read the minutia later.

Second, discussion of the obvious is part of what makes these forums interesting. As you mentioned, just because something is in the manual, that doesn't mean it is what it is. If everything written in an owners manual was gospel then we wouldn't have TSBs/updates/recalls, etc.

Additionaly, I believe that alot of the members here appreciate the opprotunity to help educate others on whet they read or learned, even it can be considered "common knowledge" by some. I say, keep asking those easy questions!

 

[Neurobit]

Great advice. My fam thinks I’m crazy too.
Must be the engineer in me. I read the manuals cover to cover with all new vehicles

 

[Scram1500]

I tried to read the manual, but it was written by a safety committee, Warning! Caution! is on every other page. Sometimes the whole page is a warning. The warnings about the seat heater are kind of amusing in a scary way, and the children, my God the children! Apparently you shouldn't leave them unattended, after 90 pages or so I came across that warning at least 10 times

 

[BNeal]

Yea, I've got it pretty bad. My wife just bought a new toaster... I read the manual cover to cover. I also keep boxes when I purchase electronics. Attic is full!

 

[Neurobit]

I tried to read the manual, but it was written by a safety committee, Warning! Caution! is on every other page. Sometimes the whole page is a warning. The warnings about the seat heater are kind of amusing in a scary way, and the children, my God the children! Apparently you shouldn't leave them unattended, after 90 pages or so I came across that warning at least 10 times

LOL. Very true, but then again, it’s like that for everything nowadays. That and the awful California Prop 65 labels where everything, even filtered water, has to have a label that it may cause cancer...

 

[Scram1500]

It's mostly common sense stuff. Unfortunately common sense has left the building

California has declared the female breast a congenital defect so take anything they say with a grain of salt lol. I've always been a congenital defect man myself

 

[Jako]

I grew up reading the back of cereal boxes you can be sure I am reading the manual!

How old are you? I remember those days. What happened to the back of the cereal box?????????? Cheerios the same front and back or is that 2 fronts?

 

[Neurobit]

How old are you? I remember those days. What happened to the back of the cereal box?????????? Cheerios the same front and back or is that 2 fronts?

LOL. Ditto.

 

[jdmartin]

I've read my manual, and the manuals for every vehicle I've ever owned. While I agree with your point that there are many questions on forums with answers that reside in the manuals, let's also consider a couple of things:

Not everyone ingests what they read in the same way. Have you ever read something a second time and picked up on something you missed the first time? Sometimes I just gloss over something and go back to read the minutia later.

Second, discussion of the obvious is part of what makes these forums interesting. As you mentioned, just because something is in the manual, that doesn't mean it is what it is. If everything written in an owners manual was gospel then we wouldn't have TSBs/updates/recalls, etc.

Additionaly, I believe that alot of the members here appreciate the opprotunity to help educate others on whet they read or learned, even it can be considered "common knowledge" by some. I say, keep asking those easy questions!

Also: sometimes something in the manual is just plain wrong. Manual writers aren't foolproof. I can think of 2 vehicles I've owned that had an actual error in the user manual, and I'm not talking about something that just applied to a different trim version of the vehicle. Manual writers use a lot of boilerplate language, especially between models of the same manufacturer, and it's extremely easy to leave a sentence or two in a manual that does not apply to that vehicle at all. I remember one of my Mazda trucks the manual instructed about a device that needed to be changed every 75k miles which was totally incorrect; the device didn't exist at all on the truck and the light was reset by hooking to a different plug (there were two plugs on timers).

Besides, if we knew all the answers, and there weren't any dumbasses for us to give some learnin' to, what would we talk about on here?

 

[SpeedyV]

Also: sometimes something in the manual is just plain wrong...I can think of 2 vehicles I've owned that had an actual error in the user manual...

I can think of at least one significant omission in the Ram 1500 owner's manual: Any non-Rebel that has the ORG and air suspension will have 4 height settings, exactly like Rebels with air suspensions. But the owner's manual doesn't make this distinction; the only time it mentions the 4 mode-variant is in the "Rebel Models Only" section.

 

[eTorqueCoasting]

I am a product support technician for an American company that manufactures construction equipment. Many calls I get could easily be answered if the caller had looked in the operation manual that ANSI code requires is attached to each machine
But we all know
Instructions are just another mans opinion!

I can tell you absolutely without a doubt those manuals are NOT getting read on jobsites!