Infinitrium

Do you think it s ethical or even legal to present a bill for work performed when the work has yet to be completed? As part of my effort to keep up on the status of the ongoing (2 months now) repairs on my Jeep Compass being performed at a shop on the west side of my town, I decided to take a drive over there to see if anything has been done to it in the past week. Long story short- it hasn t moved from the spot it was parked in last week. Anyway, as I was pulling into the shop s yard, I just managed to catch the assistant mechanic there as he was leaving for the day, so of course I asked him if they ve done anything else to my vehicle. He tells me that the abs STILL isn t working, it s an electrical problem and the interior bits they removed haven t been put back together. I m damn pissed now. How can the owner/head mechanic of this shop present me with a bill just short of 1000 dollars when the work hasn t been done yet? Is that even legal? I m going to phone them tomorrow and if I don t get a satisfactory response I will be contacting the better business bureau, as much good that ll do me.

When I was 15, I had an accident on a motorcycle that lead to a traumatic brain injury. I ve suffered permanent mood changes, short term memory loss, etc. I ve noticed lately in the past year or so that my short term memory loss has gotten, well, worse. For example, I can come home, set my car keys down then 2 minutes later forget where I put them. Just today I was reading an article that I couldn t fully understand, but what I got from it was that traumatic brain injury significantly increases the chance of getting Parkinson s later in life. I can honestly say I m scared now. I m 36 now, can my doctor do any tests or something to check for early signs or will I just have to roll the dice and wait til I m older to find out what will happen?

I'm getting a rental car through my insurance company for a week, do i have to fill it back up when I'm done with it or will my insurance company take care of that for me?

I'm considering either buying an Ouya or a Gamestick so I can play old SNES, Genesis and NES games on my HDTV. I've known about the Ouya for a while but the Gamestick is new to me. I'm mostly concerned with playing games from PS1/N64 era down. Movie playing isn't important. Web browsing on the TV might be a bit useful if I'm too lazy to get up and get on my computer. I realize Gamestick isn't out yet but the hardware has been around for a while. Anyone know which would be the better buy?

I bought a new HP Envy 700-059 computer last week. IT's plenty powerful but the gaming performance is choked by the HD8470 card in it. I am going to buy a new graphics card for it soon but I don't really know what's the best card for around $250. I was looking at a GTX 760, the specs sound good but I'm really outside of the hardware information loop so I don't know if there's something better for the money I am willing to spend.

I am considering buying a 99 Malibu with the 2.4 for 300 bucks just to use as a cheap beater for a few months. The car seems to run nice, transmission shifts good too. I don't hear any unusual engine or water pump noises, no warning lights on in the dash either. The temperature gauge sits a little over the halfway mark, is that too high? The car has 211000 kilometers on it. It does need some work, not surprisingly. The heater fan does not work at all, the fan itself isn't seized and power is at least getting to the relay under the hood. There's one seized strut bearing up front. It needs a few tires but I think I have some here that would fit it. The interior is filthy, cigarette ashes everywhere (seriously! even in the fuse boxes!) and the paint is scratched and chipped away in a few places. You guys think it's worth the price?

I am considering getting an Ouya just so I can play old video games on my TV. Mainly I'm just interested in consoles up to the 32 bit era, and possibly some Nintendo 64 games if its possible. My main concern is how well the Ouya controller would work when playing old Genesis/Saturn games that use all 6 face buttons on the Sega controller, since the Ouya controller has only 4 face buttons. Also, if Nintendo 64 emulation is possible, how does the Ouya controller deal with all the weird button placement on the Nintendo 64 controller?

My brother got his car stuck partially in his driveway. He only made it about 3 feet into the driveway because the driveway was snowed in (we got nailed by a nasty blizzard up here) and the back end of the car is sticking out on the road a few feet. It is impossible right now to get a tow truck up here, the police are telling everyone (including tow trucks i guess) to not be on the roads except for emergency travel. A snowplow may or may not plow out our road before the morning when we can try to dig the car out. If by chance a snowplow does come up the road and hits his car, what happens then? Would be be charged with anything? Who would be held liable for any damages caused?

Sorry about the title, just didn't know how to put it. So, every once in a while I'll feel my heart kinda get tight or heavy or whatever, then right after it'll do what feels like a real heavy heartbeat. Sort of like two beats at once, if you can picture it like that. It'll do that usually 2 or 3 times then it might not happen again for weeks or even months. Another thing my heart will do is it'll get kinda tight or heavy, but then nothing...until I feel slightly lightheaded and dizzy. Not really enough to impair my walking or anything, but it's puzzling to say the least. The light-headedness might last for a minute or two then not happen again for weeks or months. Now I don't know too much about the heart health of my family, but my dad did have a pacemaker put in about 15 years ago when he was in his mid 40's because he was having a condition where his heartrate would drop so low that he would get dizzy and would have to stop working or doing things and sit down. Do heart problems run in the family? I'm only 32, wouldn't I be a bit young to have heart problems?

I noticed the left shoulder button on my Xbox360 controller feels like it's broke somehow. It still works if I press it really hard though. Can I take apart my controller and fix it to make it work properly again or will I have to get another controller?

My brother is getting himself a 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix GT with the 3800 series III engine and the 4 speed automatic. How are these cars for reliability? I've read lots of stories about the older series II 3800 for leaking intake manifolds, was that problem fixed on the series III 3800? I'm not real familiar with GM automatic transmissions. Are they good? The car currently has 136000 miles on it and it does run nice and seems to drive good too.

My 94 2.5 Spirit with 38700 miles seems to have a cooling system issue. Symptoms are:

The radiator cap stays cool to the touch, unless the radiator fan comes on.

The radiator doesn't seem to pressurize. I can drive for 20 minutes and open the radiator cap and not notice any pressure at all.

Check the video link, and the bubbles in the overflow bottle around the 1:05 mark. Is that normal? That is the only time I notice any bubbles, that is, just before the radiator fan turns on (so around 220 F).

http://youtu.be/4eF-yR5NugI

I am having some cooling system trouble with my 1993 Dodge Spirit 4 cylinder. I changed the thermostat and gasket recently and I was told to bleed any trapped air out of the system by pointing the nose of the car slightly uphill and running the engine with the radiator cap off until the cooling fan kicks in. If I run the car with the rad cap off, the coolant in the radiator will start boiling before the radiator fan turns on. That's not right, is it? If I put the radiator cap on then let the engine run until the cooling fan turns on, I can feel water boiling in the upper radiator hose and at the radiator cap. Any idea what is causing that? The car doesn't overheat while driving normally and the coolant doesn't look dirty.

Second problem. It seems that my cooling system doesn't make or hold any pressure. I can drive the car for a length of time, shut if off and right away open the radiator cap (which at this point is only lukewarm to the touch) and there's no obvious pressure release. I have tried 2 different used radiator caps and 1 new one all with the same lack of pressurization. I don't notice any oil in the coolant, or coolant in the oil or any crusty white buildup on the spark plugs, so I don't think the headgasket is bad, is it? Any ideas what's causing this to happen?

I'm doing some work on a friend's 2001 Corolla to get it ready for a safety inspection. The mechanic told my friend that the car needs the left front backing plate/dust shield(that thing that sits behind the rotor) thing replaced. Does the car really need one? What are they for anyway?

The parking brake for the right rear wheel on my 94 Dodge Spirit sticks when the parking brake is released. It will release if you get out, reach under and grab the cable and tug it a bit however. All the drum brake hardware is nearly new, along with the brake cable. I did find one small abrasion on the plastic sheathing for the parking brake cable, would that cause it?

Also, along the same topic: Should the parking brake hold the car as well if the car moves backward as it does if the car moves forward?

I seem to be having some trouble with the thermostat in my Dodge Spirit. I removed it and dropped it into a pot of boiling water and after 15 seconds it hasn't opened a bit, 30 seconds and it's open maybe halfway. 45 seconds and it's still not open fully. 60 seconds and again it's still not fully open. Shouldn't a good thermostat open a little quicker than that?

I asked a few questions here a few minutes ago in 2 different categories, but after I posted them then go to the category I posted them in, I don't see my question. Why is that?

My 98 Civic is starting to rust in a few places (bottoms of doors and frame rails) but in other places it's pretty clean. It was undercoated at one point in its life before I got it and the protection has worn off now. Would it make any sense to get the car undercoated again, even if there are some rusty spots?

I went and mixed up a few martinis for myself for the first time, and I just found them rather harsh and bitter. I must say though, I'm primarily a beer drinker. The martinis I made seem to be just a bit less bitter as they close to the bottom of the glass. I mixed about 2 ounces of gin to 1ounce of vermouth. What should I try next time?

Should I go used or new? My 98 Civic LX needs its exhaust manifold/catalytic converter replaced. It's got a nice crack right by the front O2 sensor which I have read was rather common on D16Y7 engines. I did some eBay searching and found a new one (Chinese I assume) for $190 shipped. Canadian Tire lists one for $218, but I didn't think to ask if the cat converter is included. I might be able to find a good uncracked one in a junkyard, would that be a good choice or should I go with the new one instead?