Both the car and the e-scooter started dragging their brakes
Guangdong had several straight days of rain last week because of a typhoon. When the weather is fine, I usually commute on my little electric scooter, and only switch to the car when it rains.
Maybe it was just age catching up with the car, maybe the wet weather made things worse, but the car definitely didn’t feel quite right that day. The accelerator seemed heavier than usual, and when I let it coast in neutral at around 60 to 70 km/h, there was noticeable resistance instead of the smooth glide I was used to.
The drive to work was only a few kilometers, so I checked it after getting out. I touched the brake discs on the left front, left rear, and right rear wheels first, and all three felt normal. Then I walked over to the right front wheel, squatted down, and out of habit lightly tapped the disc with the back of my finger. That tiny half-second was enough. The heat from the disc caused an instant sharp burn and I jerked my hand back immediately. A blister was unavoidable.
So yes, my hand had personally confirmed that the right front brake was dragging.
I took the car to a mechanic friend’s shop and had the brake caliper taken apart. At first I suspected the guide pins were short on lubrication, but after a closer teardown the real issue turned out to be the caliper piston. Its inner wall had too many rust spots. Sanding it down too much might have led to a fluid leak, so there were really only two options: replace it with a new aftermarket part, or find a used original factory part.
In the end, I sourced an original used caliper from the same model, made by Wanxiang. After it arrived, the mechanic checked the inner wall of the caliper and the guide pins, and both were in good shape. Once installed, repeated brake testing showed the car had returned to its previous smooth feel. The brake disc no longer overheated and there was no more dragging. Problem solved, and the car was finally back to normal.
With the car fixed, you’d think that would be the end of it. But the scooter decided it wanted in on the fun too.
It showed almost the same symptoms: reduced range, sluggish acceleration, weak power, resistance while coasting, abnormal noise from the rear brake, and a very hot brake disc. After inspection, the mechanic confirmed that the scooter’s brake caliper was also bad and needed replacement. The shop didn’t have the part in stock and had to order it, so the temporary fix was to remove the rear brake pads and disable the rear brake until the new caliper arrived.
I was honestly speechless. Two vehicles, the same problem, happening at the same time. What are the odds? Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket just to calm my nerves. Or maybe I should blame that round of typhoon rain.
Singles’ Day
Since it was something I actually needed, I placed an order on the 10th and used a 50-yuan discount tied to a Ping An credit card, bringing the final price of a 55-inch TCL FFALCON TV down to 1,065 yuan.
These days the phone does most of the work and the TV is secondary, but a living room wall without a television still feels like something is missing. Replacing the backup 39-inch set with a 55-inch one made a big visual difference right away.
I didn’t use the TV’s built-in system. I went back to my modified set-top box and installed TV Home to watch programs, so in my case this purchase was basically about getting a screen. The operating system hardly mattered. TCL is a domestic brand, and since I hadn’t used one before, this felt like a good chance to show a little support.