cubeguy

I have an old car and had my brakes replaced by my mechanic of over 10 years. I had put just over 3,000 miles on them and the other day, I started hearing a loud scratching noise every time I apply the brake. I immediately got it over to him and he said it's just the pads, your brakes are fine, that's why your hearing the scratching, but don't worry your brakes are fine. I know him a long time, but this is scary as hell. Can I get some mechanics opinions on this please. Thanks

My system restore completely stopped working. First off, I'm using the latest Firefox and XP. Last week, while online Firefox crashed and then nothing would load. I checked AVG and it had lots of locked files (which have since been removed) along with AVG and now I have McAfee and a full scan came up 3 fake alerts grb and it quartered them, but my SR still does not work even in safe mode. What is going on? Any help would be greatly appreciated and best answer given to the fix that works.

My 1988 Cougar LS (6cyl) will not shift past N...it goes forward in R or N...and does not read correctly what gear I'm in. I was told the shift indicator is broken, but is the steering column shift indicator really broken or is it some linkage or band that is broken and that's why it won't drop into the correct position. I can't get past N or get a read on what gear I'm in. To drive it, I have to count down 1,2, 3, 4 and then go forward (even though it will read on the steering column R or N....It will not show past N whatsoever.

Today when I went to buckle my driver seat belt, it had suddenly became loose from the bottom, so there is no re-traction or tightness anymore, it seems the bottom part came out too far or simply broke from age, I don't know. But it no longer tightens up when the door is opened. It would clearly be of no value in an accident. Please let me know if this can be fixed and is it a big or small job.

Thanks....

I have an 88 cougar that (engine wise) is running and idling fine, but I just failed state inspection. It says on the paper....

Primary Emission Test performed TSI- FAIL

HC ppm Reading 302...Standard 200

A friend of mine said that is so petty for that to apply to a 1988 car. He said to get a can of the CRC Guaranteed To Pass Emissions Test Formula... and pour it in and it should then pass otherwise, it will cost a small fortune if a garage starts fooling with it, they make a fortune from these small things. My friend said it's not a big deal, but repair facilities will make it a huge deal so they can hand you a high bill for the tweaking.

So is this a big deal, and is anyone familiar with the CRC Guaranteed To Pass Emissions Test Formula.... will that really do the trick on it's own (or is it a waste of time and money).

I have an 88 Cougar and the brake pedal is "on the floor" (very low). I have all new front brakes (I was told the rear drum brakes were still ok). But now even after two rear adjustments, my pedal is still on the floor. When I pump the brake while driving the pedal will rise back up, but if I do a non pumping stop, I have to push literally down to the floor for it to stop. It's not a hard push, more of a soft and spongy push. I'm told there is no fluid leak....

So my question is, what are the most certain reasons for a pedal to be literally to the floor, if the brakes are new and the fluid level is good. Firestone said they bled the new brakes, but I'm very suspect if they actually did, and if they did, maybe it wasn't done properly. I also tried the booster test of pumping hard before I start the car and then with foot on the brake start the car, the pedal dropped down (so I don't think it's the booster).

Now it has to go to yet another (third) mechanic. And they all seem to be drawing a blank on it.

A lot of good songs were "one hit wonders" what's your favorite. Mine is... More Than Just the Two of Us - Sneaker

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJhvJ31M3Rs&feature...

The pedal is low and feels soft and spongy. But there is no noise at all, I had the fronts done not long ago and was told the rear brakes were good. So I'm thinking all they just need an adjustment.

I have a 1988 cougar and I seen I had lost some trans fluid from leaks, and I put a quart of what I had which was the Mobil ATF DM, it said for all GM and FORDS from 1988 and newer. Now I see online that I may have put the wrong trans fluid in, I'm seeing it says MERCON or F fluid. Did I put the wrong damn fluid in, and if so will it cause damage. I will have the fluid changed asap if I put the wrong one in. But my concern is if it was wrong, what will happen.

Lots of good ones out there, but I would go with....Beth by Kiss

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbtO_Ayjw0M

I have a 1988 Cougar and the other day after starting the car, out of the blue I had no vacuum in the brake pedal (zero). I was not having brake problems or hearing any grinding and no brake light ever came on. So I opened the hood and checked it seems I literally had no brake fluid, so I added about half a can and filled it, then the suction power came back on.

I got it over to a local mechanic and he said it must have evaporated over time, and said just keep an eye on the fluid. But, even though the brakes are working, to me the pedal feels low and I told him, but he said it doesn't mean anything. Meanwhile, I got a bad feeling about this, I never heard of any brake fluid evaporating (much less so much of it) and why didn't my brake light come on.

He said worst case scenario you may have a slow leak. I don't buy his cavalier attitude towards the very thing that will stop my car. And I'm ready to take it to a different mechanic, but I'm like to know if this mechanic was way off base about all the fluid evaporating and him not being concerned that I got no advance warning brake light long before it went empty.

A legend yes, he made so many great songs. Come on Clapton fans which one is yours. Mine would have to be "Tears In Heaven" from the movie soundtrack....Rush

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxPj3GAYYZ0

I just burned a disc and now neither my CD-Rom or CD Burner trays will open. So I have a disc stuck inside the burner drive. I even tried a push pin in the tiny emergency hole and it lights up and makes noise like it's trying to open, but still won't open (the rom). When I push the burner button, I get no light or sound whatsoever (like it's not even attempting to open). It's a Dell Dimension 3000 desktop. Thanks

Could be new, recent, or old. What is the song that you never grow tired of and always feel good hearing it and it holds some special meaning for you. Mine is... Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmDtbtyZaQQ&feature...

Is this stuff good for 2 meal replacements a day. I heard the scooper inside is more like a shovel (so huge). It's supposed to have like 600 calories and 55 grams of protein per serving. I lost a lot of weight the bad way (stress and not eating) and the doc said don't lose anymore, only now I don't have much of an appetite so I need something that will replace 2 good meals daily. The calories and protein amounts per serving sound great. I'm hoping this will do it. Thanks.

I got a TrojanFakeAlert in volume system restore, and I had to go through hell getting rid of it. I had to system restore and then drop the restore to get rid of it. But in the restore I lost all my favorites in IE8 and all my desktop folders with pics in them are gone (the folders are there, but they are empty). I'm hoping all this stuff is still on the computer somewhere (because of the folders still there). Anyone familiar with this kind of trojan and have any idea now where all my pics and long list of my favorites in IE8 would be. Thanks

There is so much buzz about saw palmetto, everything from prostate health to hair re-growth, and good skin, increased libido. These are all things that it's supposed to be good for, but the only actual user reviews I see are all bad. Many saying even after only a few pills, they were left with all kinds of nasty side effects that still have not gone away. One guy even wrote a article saying how saw palmetto ruined his life. So is anyone currently taking saw palmetto (or had taken it before) what brand was used and what was the results, good or bad.

The sign in page no longer has the boxes "Save my name" and "Save my Password". It changed about a week ago. It does have one box that says "Keep me signed in" but gone is the option of having your id already saved (for those who don't want their password saved) but still don't want to type in the full id every time. Every time hotmail makes a change it's always for the worse. Is anyone else now forced to keep putting in their full id and password every time now

The sign in page for hotmail and windows live mail seems to have changed. It no longer has the 'remember me' or log into a different account boxes. So now each time all the info has to be put in over and over again. With the 'remember me' box before all the accounts were already listed and just needed the password, now all that is gone. Even when I check 'keep me signed in' it still doesn't, and comes back blank each time. Does anyone have a hotmail or live account and also finds this to be the case.

I have my Yahoo messenger set to block anyone that is not on my contact list. That part is fine, but what I don't understand is that I keep getting invites form people I don't know. I know there is the option of checking the part that says block only those listed below, but I went past that and checked block "anyone" who is not on my contact list (and still they keep getting through). I find this to be extremely annoying. Does anyone have an idea how they keep getting through?