Program for DIY diagnostic and maintenance

[jeetS]

I am rapidly approaching the end of my warranty and I want to keep the truck running for another 20 years...

What is the best program/system to be able to do this? 

Our other vehicle is 25 years old and I do all the maintenance on it...

 

so many freaking computers in these new vehicles...

 

 

Going into the shop this week for messed up compasses...one always says North the other always says East 

[davester]

maybe start with indicating what year/make/model/engine truck you have?

[fondupot]

I use AllDataDIY.com for all my repair manuals. Been using it for years. Its a subscription service, but very reasonably priced.

I have a manual for my 2024 Silverado 2500HD duramax, and my 2021 GMC Yukon. 

[asilverblazer]

2 hours ago, fondupot said:

but very reasonably priced

I think it is overpriced myself, but it's about the only consumer option available. 

[davester]

There's also mitchell, which was cheaper (at least, years ago when I used it).  But towards the end of my subscription mitchell revamped their site, and they put a LOT of effort into making sure not only did you only have one computer logged in at a time, that you also only had one tab in one browser open and logged in, so it became for me to use (as many repair procedures reference/link to other ones), and I liked just opening a bunch of tabs with all the steps and just switch between them.  And they had a stupidly short login timeout, so I would need to keep logging in, and then re-finding where I was to move on.

 

I switched to alldata, which a) has a long timeout (weeks or months), b) includes aftermarket, interactive color wiring diagrams (I think mitchell added these as well), c) I can open a bunch of tabs.  And I think mitchell had also bumped up their price to be a lot closer to alldata's when I was switching.

 

Neither service is perfect, as I've found a few things missing or wrong, but IMHO, alldata is much better than mitchell (but perhaps mitchell has changed in the last couple of years, as IDK about their service right now)

[fondupot]

On 12/19/2025 at 12:50 PM, asilverblazer said:

I think it is overpriced myself, but it's about the only consumer option available. 

 

I think I paid $130 for a 3 year subscription. Comes out to like $43.33 a year. 

 

It's saved me thousands of dollars in repair costs, by giving me the knowledge and procedures to do it all myself. 

 

Worth it IMHO. If you're interested in pinching pennies, they do run promotions from time to time I get the emails for 15% off or 20% off. So maybe sign up for their emails so you can be alerted when it goes on sale. 

 

Right now they are running a 15% off promotion... coupon code: HOLIDAY15

 

https://www.alldata.com/diy-us/en

Edited December 21, 2025 by fondupot

[silveradosid]

alldata in canada is 30 bucks a month, at that price i pay gm for service info and download and keep what i want

[bruceb58]

I bought an OEM manual online in PDF form.

[davester]

8 hours ago, silveradosid said:

alldata in canada is 30 bucks a month, at that price i pay gm for service info and download and keep what i want

Yes, the short term stuff is relatively expensive.  Get a long term subscription, it's a lot cheaper.  And alldata regularly sends out codes for anywhere from 15%-30% off their subscription fee's.  I re-upped early this year, even w about a year left on my subscription, for 30% off...

 

And you can print to pdf or download html for whatever you want from them as well.

[fondupot]

On 12/21/2025 at 12:45 PM, silveradosid said:

alldata in canada is 30 bucks a month, at that price i pay gm for service info and download and keep what i want

 

The stuff on AllData is downloadable...buy one month and hoard all the info. Then cancel...

[bruceb58]

Go to factorymanuals.net and buy the OEM manual.

[Chuck FB]

8 hours ago, bruceb58 said:

Go to factorymanuals.net and buy the OEM manual.

 

I wonder if there are any changes in the manual from 2024 to a 2025 model. Also wondered if it covers every aspect of the vehicle including a complete break down and specs of both the gas and diesel engines and transmission ?

 

These manuals are not actually from GM though are they, same manual but someone else supplying them as buying this doesn't give any incentive to go through alldata assuming they are the same manual and coverage of the trucks components. 

[bruceb58]

21 minutes ago, Chuck FB said:

 

I wonder if there are any changes in the manual from 2024 to a 2025 model. Also wondered if it covers every aspect of the vehicle including a complete break down and specs of both the gas and diesel engines and transmission ?

 

These manuals are not actually from GM though are they, same manual but someone else supplying them as buying this doesn't give any incentive to go through alldata assuming they are the same manual and coverage of the trucks components. 

You are not buying them from GM but they are the OEM manual. 

[Chuck FB]

54 minutes ago, bruceb58 said:

You are not buying them from GM but they are the OEM manual. 

 

That's what I assumed given the price and I noticed when I was on the website and partly went through the motions a little pop up came up and asked if I wanted to pay the extra 5.00 for the ability to access the manual if I lost it on my device and was curious if you had chosen that also or not. 

 

As to the year of the manual, that may just take some time for them to put a 2025 year manual on the site. There must be a pile of pages to factory manuals these days. 

Edited December 24, 2025 by Chuck FB

[bruceb58]

14 hours ago, Chuck FB said:

 

That's what I assumed given the price and I noticed when I was on the website and partly went through the motions a little pop up came up and asked if I wanted to pay the extra 5.00 for the ability to access the manual if I lost it on my device and was curious if you had chosen that also or not. 

 

As to the year of the manual, that may just take some time for them to put a 2025 year manual on the site. There must be a pile of pages to factory manuals these days. 

Send them an email. I don't believe my 2024 manual was on the site yet when I ordered it.