Immediately after purchasing DB9 1936 I was on a quest to find a DB9 Service Manual. I started in the usual fashion by Googling for it. At best, I was lead to sketchy websites and forums where a zillion people had be asking looking for one to download, and usually someone overseas would post a link that wouldn’t work anymore (or worse leads to some site with Spyware).
It’s illegal to post a copy of the PDF of the manual. Aston Martin frowns upon this greatly it appears.
This search did lead me to the ‘legal’ solution to the issue. Aston Martin has a Technical Information website where it publishes EVERYTHING for its cars, old and new. This is really a resource for shops and dealers, but even us lay persons can get in on the action.
You can find it here https://www.astonmartintechinfo.com
Go ahead and create your login account. The account is free, but you’ll soon find the documents you want can only be viewed/downloaded with an active subscription that costs a few $$.
You can enter your VIN number and it will filter down the library to just the relevant items to your car. I did this first to see what is available for my car. The answer is a lot of stuff, from nearly irrelevant minutia to the full on Service Manual.
Convinced I wanted to get access to it, my sweetie Karen gave me a one-day subscription for Christmas. You can get a 1 day, 1 month or 1 year subscription. One day costs 70 British pounds (about a hundred USD). If you are whining about spending a hundred bucks – you bought the wrong kind of car. Think of it as the cost of going and buying a Chilton’s manual. If you have an earlier model DB9, its highly unlikely that anything new will be published, so doing this one time should suffice for a lifetime.
The day I signed up I was fully prepared to download EVERYTHING available in that one day. I sucked down the manuals, service bulletins, checklists, everything. I saved them all in a folder on my computer (my Dropbox folder actually so its backed up and available from my phone, ipad, and PC). Now I have everything I need!
The manuals are NOT written like a Haynes or Chilton DIY guide. They are written for Factory trained technicians and short on some of the advice and finesse that might be needed. I still find it completely helpful to see the instructions, have all the specifications, and diagrams.
Aston 1936 
Hi Steve.
I have recently seen this article in the AM Quarterly 2017 Magazine.
I sent of the following email
.” Hi Steve,
I have just read your article in AM Quarterly magazine on Aston on the Web. Great article.
I have a DB9 08MY. I like to do a bit of maintenance and troubleshooting when necessary.
The idea of obtaining the full set of workshop manuals and related documents is very appealing.
How large were the files you downloaded? Did you manage to download all the relevant files for your DB9. How long did it take. I live in the UK so internet speeds are not great.
Your comments will be appreciated.
On another topic. Being a February 08MY the ten year service is due next month. The handbook states that at the 10 year service ” all airbags units must be replaced ” and ” all seat belt pre-tensioners must be replaced ” Your comments again would be welcome.
You faithfully
Malcolm Skeen :AMOC member M93840 ”
to the email address given. But I have now found what appears to be a original article.
Your direct comments would be welcome.
Thanks Malcolm
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Hi Malcolm. Thanks for reading both articles. One was inspiration for the other. Nice to hear you do some of your own work.
All the downloads for my DB9 were only 155MB total. The connection is worse here in California since the servers are actually in the UK. Even so, it only took about 1 – 2 hours, and I was noodling around while I was at it. I’d just say plan to spend most of an afternoon exploring and downloading. The workshop manual is just one PDF, but all the service bulletins, etc. are one by one.
I saw the note about the airbags and tensioners. I think that’s a Cover Their Ass type of statement. I can’t imagine what those would cost to change, but not cheap. There are lots of other 10+ year old make/models of cars on the road, and I don’t hear of them changing airbags. What do you think?
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Hi Steve,
Great info!
Question: For some reason the Owner’s Manual for my ’05 DB9 has only sparse info about my Linn audio system, “infotainment”? and DVD player. I just wondered if you found anything in your search that would help me and if so, what’s it called? I can’t understand half the buttons in my console!
Thanks,
Steve Sheffield
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Looking at buying a 2005 DB9 this coming Sat. Never used service manually for my other cars (figured it out without one and also used the web). So the only manually available are through the Aston Martin tech site and are they any good? Also would like to talk if possible.
Thanks great site and videos.
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Hi Goggles (or is it Fred?). Congrats on the upcoming purchase. Yes, the only official manual I know about is the one I wrote about in my article regarding AstonMartinTechInfo.com. Please read that article for my opinions on what it does and doesn’t do well. I’d recommend you invest in it so you’ll have all the torque settings and diagrams. But, this website is me really trying to create a better manual for the rest of us all to use. I’d also suggest you check out the article I made about the book Definitive Guide to Buying an Aston Martin https://aston1936.com/2016/03/07/thinking-of-buying-an-aston-martin-db9-then-this-book-is-for-you/
Good luck with the purchase!
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Hi Steve,
Really great website. Also enjoy watching the youtube videos.
I’m currently having some fuel pressure problems with my ’08 DB9 and saw that there was a specific Service Bulletin (SB-10-0260) titled “DB9 Fuel Pressure Problems”.
Just wondering if you had downloaded that bulletin when you downloaded all of the manuals for your car?
If so, is there an intro/blurb about what this covers? Can’t seem to find anything about that service bulletin online.
Car is throwing P0191 codes when under load at higher RPM in paddle shift mode which shuts down one bank of cylinders; P0087 code is intermittent. I’ve tried swapping the fuel pressure sensors between the banks (no change) and swapping the fuel pump driver modules between banks (no change).
When idling the engine and “blipping” the throttle, primary bank drops from 40psi down to 25psi then shoots up to 70psi before returning to 40psi. The secondary bank increases from 40psi to 45psi then down to 35psi then back to 40psi.
Probably need to replace the fuel pumps in the near future but looking for options before I go down that path.
Thanks
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Hi. A P0191 and P0087 are the codes mentioned (along with a P115B). Applies to VIN A09174 through A10560. “It is possible that on vehicles in the above VIN range, the fuel pump pressure relief valve can stay open. This can cause the engine check light to illuminate.”
Says to Start the engine then stop it, then immediately hookup with OBDII and monitor the fuel pressure in the system with the engine off. IF the pressure decreases quickly, bad news I guess about the fuel pump pressure relief valve. In a coupe you’ll be removing the fuel tank and replacing the supply lines. In a volante its much easier and can be done in the car I guess. They change the tube assemblies, not the pumps.
Might be worth signing up for the Techinfo website and snagging a copy of the bulletins and the workshop manual if you are going to undertake the repairs. Let me know how it goes!
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Hi Steve,
I believe the link has now changed to https://technicalhub.astonmartin.com/
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