Anonymous

Car seems to hesitate slightly, only noticeable in 5th gear at around 1800-2000 rpm if I floor it. It feels as if I've hit a puddle whilst driving, that sensation of being pulled back a little, any ideas what could cause it? Tried new plugs but no change, it's more prominent up hills and only in this rev range....Anyone know what to look for, I'm an apprentice mechanic at the moment but a little bit stumped on what I should do?

I have been playing for the best part of 6 years now however I feel like I can't play my instrument like a true musician. When I was 13 I started playing, but wasn't really interested that much and only did 4 months of tuition. However, I picked the guitar up again shortly after finishing my lessons and have been a serious player, self taught for the last 4 1/2 years now generally playing metal and pretty much nothing else. I would consider myself a good guitarist in this field but I feel saddened at the fact the other guitarist in my band whilst not as skilled as me in this genre, is so much more versatile than I am, being able to play other genres on the most part very well. He can finger pick, play chords (something I have never learn't!) and play many more different styles of music than I can simply because of this. I say to myself sometimes that I want to learn scales and chords etc, but I just get bored however I feel a tutor would motivate me and help me to perfect my technique in playing chords especially. My ability to play fast licks and notes is fine, but I can't change chord positions for toffee which is the main reason I lose interest in trying to play them...I know it may sound ridiculous that a player for this long has no music theory knowledge or can play basic chords but that's how it is. I'm definitely not saying I'm an amazing guitarist either, I would consider myself someone who can play songs, more than an instrument if that makes sense.

I am having some issues with a recent 7 string guitar I have bought (electric) The G string, suffers from some real bad fret buzz in tunings Drop G#, A and A#. These are the three tunings our band plays in so I have tried all three and I still get the buzz. To resolve this, I have to undo the locking nut, loosen the string around the tuning peg, then tune the string from the floyd rose. If I do the opposite to this however as in roughly get to the pitch with the tuning pegs, then fine tune with the tuners on the tremolo the resulting fret buzz makes the string unplayable. I have played for near 6 years and done regular maintenance on my previous guitars but I have never owned a guitar with a floyd rose and I feel like a complete idiot that I can't resolve this.... The fret buzz on the G string is both open and when playing frets so is it a nut problem? The low E string also suffers from fret buzz on the 14th fret if the action is low how I like it. It's uncomfortable to play now because of having to raise the action but despite this, there is still some annoying buzzing but it isn't unplayable. It's not a case of taking it back to the shop either as it was a private seller. The guitar is okay at the minute, but every time I drop tune the G string starts violently buzzing and I've never had an issue like this before. The strings are brand new, my other guitar is capable of playing drop D, C, and B without any interference so I don't know whats wrong.

Just wondering if I'm liable to paying any training or other fees etc if I wanted to leave my apprenticeship early and go to university instead. I can't seem to find a yes or no, I don't want to end up hating my apprenticeship and then being unable to leave if I can't afford the fees if there are any??

Hi there, I have recently replaced my bumpers and alloys in an attempt to replicate a classic version of my car. Now, the stock alloy wheels which are FORD where 14" however I have swapped them out for a set of FORD 16" alloys. The same goes for the body kit, if it can be called that. Again the bumpers have been replaced for another genuine OEM part again which is a FORD part. So in essence all the mods, are not aftermarket but are genuine parts from the "hot hatch" version of the car. Do I need to declare these since these are still OEM parts therefore standard or not? If so would you imagine an increase in premium, I am declaring my AFTERMARKET steering wheel tomorrow when it's fitted but I'm unsure about these standard parts. Thanks.

Please look at the pictures tell me if you think they are slightly buckled. Experiencing wheel wobble and trying to rule out. Please follow links, thanks.

http://s938.photobucket.com/user/JoeyBoyden/media/...

http://s938.photobucket.com/user/JoeyBoyden/media/...

Today I bought and fitted a set of second hand alloys. Two tires are brand new, the front two are worn and need replacing anyway but regardless, I took the car down a private road and at about 70mph the steering wheel shakes quite a bit. Now unless there has been a massive coincidence since me fitting them, I can't imagine it being the calipers because my other alloys which I used to pick the new ones up never caused any shaking. Now I know I could have tightened the lug nuts a bit more which I will do when it's light tomorrow, could this have caused it? I checked the wheels for buckles and they look good, cant see any damage, so what could it be. I must stress, that it only occurs around 70mph and only since I changed my alloys over today. The new wheels are 16" as aposed to the original 14" but these alloys have been fitted to the same car many other times by other people. The car is a Ford Fiesta 2001.

Got a bit of a question regarding these. According to the police these false claims are on the rise in terms of staged accidents, false wiplash claims etc. but how exactly do these fraudsters make money. If a car false accident is caused for example and the car is damaged but can be repaired, then these fraudsters won't see any money as insurers direct the victim, to a certified garage to have the work carried out and the person sees none of the money? I'm not a criminal, just seen them on road wars but never actually explain how they make their money. Sorry if I'm clueless ....Thanks

Hi guys, I am currently planning on lowering my car and getting all the components ready to do all at once whilst the wheels are off. So I've ordered replacement parts for, both front control arms and bushings, anti roll bar links and lowering springs kit with uprated shocks. Anything else I should/need to get, such as new top strut mountings? These are in good condition but should I get new ones? The car is being lowered 40mm so will I need a camber kit or not? I plan to get it aligned at a garage once I've fitted the parts myself. I'm new to lowering, I've replaced shocks and springs before but never lowered so any advice other than "don't lower" is welcomed, thanks.

I managed to get a full body kit (Just subtle skirts not an ironing board...) for £16 (around $27) and with this I new the kit wasn't going to be show spec and it is second hand so I accepted the damage it had received and plan to fix. The car is a replica project and the kit is quite hard to come by especially in my area so please don't say "get a new bumper" as it's a little out of the question when the part is rare. The image can be seen here [URL=http://s938.photobucket.com/user/JoeyBoyden/media/...

As can be seen there is a fair chunk missing. Please anyone give any ideas how to fix, fiberglass sounds like an option but I have no experience and apparently In contact with plastic, is very susceptible to cracking? I have no intentions to taking it a body shop either so please don't suggest that...Thanks for the help.

Now I normally check my tires on a regular basis but recently I haven't been using my car much and had forgotten however today upon inspection I discovered some wear which is not good. I checked all my tires, 3 are perfect and a wearing as they should but my drivers side tire has badly worn on the inside, the rest of it still has tread. It was only MOT'd in March and no advisories on tires like there was a few years ago when they were close to legal (I only just bought the car at that point) so surely if the wear was bad the tester would have seen some indication of uneven wear as the inside of the tire is like a slick now! I'll be changing it over tomorrow but not before I sort what could be causing it. I already know that my front wishbone bushings could do with replacement on both sides which should be coming tomorrow for me fit but surely the tire on the left would be the same story if it was the bushings. What else could be causing it? Springs are only 5000miles old, could the tyre have been out of balance? Maybe bad tracking (it does slightly pull to the left but again could be bushings and bad tire is on right) what you reckon it could be and what should I replace, other than the tire and front wishbone bushings obviously?

I've been reading up about these HPI checks and how they can identify whether a vehicle has a hidden past etc. From what the adverts suggest, the HPI check seems fool proof but is it really? After doing a bit of researching, a lot of opinions suggest that a HPI check in no way guarantee's a car is legit. For example, a criminal writes off their blue Ford Focus but doesn't inform the insurance for instance. They then go and steal another Ford Focus in the same colour as the one written off, put the plates from the knackered car onto the stolen one, cut the VIN stamp out and weld into the stolen car and there is now a stolen car which is running on false plates and tags. V5 documents and what not can be forged, so for unsuspecting people, a HPI check surely wouldn't provide any indication that the car you're looking at is in fact false? The reason I ask is that my father has been looking at what I think looks like a dodgy motor, the VIN plate on the floor has apparently "rotten through and had to be welded" so there is now no stamp on the chassis and it's easy enough to change the tag that's on the dashboard surely if it is a stolen car right? The car is pretty cheap hence why he's looking at it but I'd rather him not having the police seizing the car and him losing the money for it. Is there anything else I can check over to ensure the car is legit, any VIN tags in the engine bay I can check for?

Hi there, I recently sold a Guitar amp head on eBay and now that he's taken it home, it doesn't work apparently. I did offer to test it when the bloke came, but he refused so its his word against mine really even though it did work when I had it. Anyway the guy is saying that the amp powers on as it should, and if headphones are plugged it then sound can be heard. I can back that up, because I had it wired to my combo (cab is elsewhere) and had the head running from the headphone jack, into the input on my combo. All the effects worked so the head is defiantly fine from the headphone jack. The guy says there is no sound coming from BOTH the outputs on the rear of the head, so when it's wired to a cab there is no sound, but if he plugs headphones in, then he can hear the amp working through the headphones. Obviously I don't have the head in my possession so I can't take a look myself, can anyone think of any problems this could be or if it's legit? Obviously I'm not prepared to get mugged off especially when it was sold as spares with no returns in the first place! Thanks for the help.

Okay so we have a pedigree German shepherd whom we had when he was 8 weeks old. He is now just over 5 months and I feel as though he hates me. Now I understand that puppies can and do bite/nip but he seems to show more aggression towards me as if he is challenging me to get "above" me in the "pack". He does bite my step dad and mum occasionally and most of the time it's just he likes to nibble but for some reason especially today he seems to show aggressive behavior to me. For example today, I had some food, so I gave him some once I finished and then he jumped up at me but I showed him my hands were empty so he tried to bite me. This then escalates when I push him down, he jumps up, I push him down firmer, he comes back more viscous. Now I don't abuse the dog, I don't beat him all I do is push him off but it's as if he thinks it's a game. I raise my voice and say no then he growls whereas he doesn't do this when my step dad/mum raise there voice at him, he generally stops and sulks. I really like the dog, but it's just he's very aggressive towards me sometimes and only when I have food does he seem interested, he shows no real affection if I come home from work maybe it's because I don't spend as much time with him as the other people in my house. Most of the time I put his muzzle on if he does it, but as soon as I take it off I'm bitten. Obviously I don't resort to hitting him because I don't want the dog to hate me but I really don't know what to do. Can anyone help me?

Just wondering if anyone can help me. Have my MOT coming up for retest again so I don't have to pay full price. MOT failed on knackered spring, so I decided to get myself a new set of springs and shocks but to my dismay, I discovered the shocks they sent which were meant to fit my chassis number, don't.....As my MOT is Wednesday, I don't have enough time to send the shocks back and get new ones that fit and fit them before my retest and I'm wondering if my old shocks will get through. There are no leaks and shocks are still good, but the stud where the nut screws onto has lost some of its thread as the old nut was knackered and I was forced to drill it off on one of the shocks. I got hold of some new bolts, and filed some of the stud away and the bolt now once again screws on and stays secure on the strut. Please see the attached image to show you what I mean. First image shows one side of the stud where it is unthreaded, the other picture shows where the stud is threaded. Keep on mind, the bolts I bought were slightly too small on purpose, to re thread the stud. Thanks for your help.

http://i938.photobucket.com/albums/ad226/JoeyBoyde...

http://s938.photobucket.com/user/JoeyBoyden/media/...

Could anybody help me here, the section of my car where chassis number is, has unfortunately corroded and has resulted in a hole so there is no chassis number present on the chassis of the car. There is one in the window however and in the engine bay I believe so if I repair the car and fix the hole, will I still be able to pass the MOT despite the VIN from the bottom of the car being missing? Thankyou

I've recently been experiencing some unprovoked problems with HP Pavilion G6 laptop. The screen had started becoming blurred and unresponsive unless I lightly knocked the laptop then it would come to life again...It would sometimes start up with this fuzzy screen the only thing I can say is the screen was white with like grey lines and gradually it would change to like a grey color with lines going vertical down but normally after restarting it would start up normally. The other day however no matter how many times I restarted it wouldn't work and eventually when it did I got an error message I cant remember what but the code was something like 0x00000090 or something. So I restored my computer to factory, yes deleted everything because it kept on failing to backup. With all that done when I finally came to reboot it, I was then presented with "Windows failed to start. A recent hardware or software change might be the cause. To fix the problem;

1. insert your windows installation disc and restart your computer

2. Chose your language settings, and then click "next"

3. Click "repair your computer"

File: \Boot\BCD

Status: 0xc000000f

Info: An error occurred while attempting to read the boot configuration data.

Now that's easier said than done because, this laptop is two years old and I have no idea where this disc is, I've looked high and low. To add to the problem my warranty is out and HP expect me to sit on the phone for hours on end so I can empty my bank account with them, not to mention charge me for their "help" before even starting....no guessing where I told them to stick it.....

is there anything at all I can do to fix this without a disc, I ran a hard drive check and that passed but I don't really know anything about computers but i'm good at following instructions if there are things I can try? Fortunately I have access to a PC but only limited so I could do with all the help.

Thanks xox

Hi there guys, on Thursday 6/03/14 we picked up our 8 week old German Shepherd. He is absolutely wonderful despite the fact he is asleep near enough 24 hours of the day haha. I don't mind playing with him at all, but a lot of the time he tends to bite. It isn't with lethal intention or anything and he only sort of nips or chews but he still does it and sometimes he gets a little rough. I understand that he's only lived with us for the best part of 3 days but he doesn't seem to understand when enough is enough. When he tries to bite I tend to move him away and say "no" or "leave" and gesture to him but this seems to egg him on more than anything. I'm persistently moving him away to stop but he comes back for more.....I know he's only playing but as far as I'm concerned I don't want any biting/chewing of flesh or clothes period whether it friendly or not at this stage. Is there anything I can do to stop him, is it just something he'll learn with me telling him?? He has plenty of toys to play with, but when I sit on the floor with him he's either trying to tear my socks of or trying to chew my hand despite the fact I don't let him do it he just comes back every time I shoe him away. I understand he is a puppy and much like a child, he doesn't really know wrong from right or when to stop but is there anything I can do?. Thankyou!

There has been this really bad creaking noise coming from my car ONLY TODAY though. Normally when I set off, because my mudflaps need adjusting they'd sometimes contact the tyres making a noise but only when turning sometimes but after taking the mudflaps off I've noticed a bad creaking sound when going over bumps and the car looks to me lower than it was before. There isn't much play either when I push down on the front end, I don't really know what to look for to see what the problem could be. What's strange is that yesterday or any other day, there has been no such sound yet there has been today....thanks for your help!

Unfortunately I couldn't afford the tax when it expired therefore I was forced to declare SORN. Problem is, now I have been paid I have come home to find that there is a pending transaction and now I can't reapply for tax for another five working days, this was pretty much the message the automated phone answered and online. I need the car ideally ASAP, is there any way of getting round this, like the post office??