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  • Autos: replacing brake pads: cleaning the carrier

    Changing brake pads, mechanics say to clean the carrier. Why is that so important?

    The following is by my understanding.

    Brake pads are a wearing surface: they are meant to wear out and be replaced. Calipers, however, are not. When one needs to replace brake pads, one hopes not to have to replace the caliper as well, since it makes the job more expensive.

    Calipers, as I understand, wear out because of heat: because, in particular, the brake pads aren’t moving in and out like they should be. One reason for that can be jammed caliper pin(s), from insufficient lubrication. (Needless to say, when replacing brake pads, the caliper pins and their housings, including the boots, need to be cleaned and regreased.)

    However, another reason the brakes might not be opening and closing freely can be that the pads themselves aren’t moving well on the tins – those metal liners between the carrier and the ears of the pad.

    One reason the pad can become sticky against the tin is that dirt and corrosion have gotten behind the tin, between it and the carrier body, effectively pushing the tin inward against the ears of the pad. Hence, as I understand it, the reason to clean up the carrier, then grease where the tins will go: so corrosion won’t start there.

    Therefore, to protect the caliper, one must clean and maintain the carrier: that’s why mechanics emphasize cleaning up and regreasing the carrier when replacing brake pads.

    Source:

    TRQ. (May 20, 2025). “How to Replace Front Brakes 2007-2017 Jeep Patriot 2.4L L4.” [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-5gU6DTpZw

    -js

  • Autos: caliper pins

    Replacing brake pads, one faces brake calipers. In particular, their pins seem to demand attention, regarding their removal and even which is which.

    The following is by my understanding.

    I mention in my post from Sept 26 using penetrating fluid to loosen caliper bolts. On the vehicle I’ve been working on lately, a 2013 Jeep Patriot, the caliper bolts and caliper pins are the same thing.

    A peculiarity of this vehicle is that the two pins of a caliper are different. Specifically, one has a rubber bushing while the other doesn’t. Which is which, and why?

    It turns out that if one caliper pin has a rubber bushing, it’s usually what they call the trailing one, meaning the second one a point on the rotor would pass during a revolution of the wheel. The rubber bushing is meant to prevent vibration, noise, etc. It seems to work pretty well, in that regard.

    Yet, the rubber bushing can make the trailing caliper pin very hard to extract. I’ve been in a situation where the caliper pin was unscrewed past the threads, would turn freely, but just didn’t want to come out. Putting a wrench around the underside of the bolt head can facilitate more effective pulling, but even then it can be surprisingly hard to remove.

    Source:

    ScrewsNutsAndBolts. (Nov 22, 2024). “Brake Caliper Slide Pin Rubber Bushing – Top or Bottom?” [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfMLBOd5Ox0

    -js

  • Hardware: how long for penetrating oil to work?

    Sometimes it seems like a stuck bolt might never come loose. How long is reasonable to wait, after applying penetrating fluid, before trying?

    Yesterday I was working on the brakes of a vehicle. Knowing that soon enough I’d have to replace the pads, I decided to loosen the caliper bolts, then tighten them back up. That way, when I would have to undo them next time, they (hopefully) wouldn’t be so hard to get loose.

    In my experience, caliper bolts can be really tough to loosen. Yesterday I did manage to get each one loose, with some struggle.

    A tried-and-true method, it seems, is to apply penetrating fluid to the stuck bolt, then wait before trying to loosen it. Yet, how long should one wait?

    Apparently, a few hours to overnight can perhaps be reasonable to wait for penetrating fluid’s full effect.

    Yesterday, I waited five to ten minutes. Did I end up working too hard simply from my lack of patience? I guess it’s something to think about, going forward:)

    Source:

    Spaans, Jacob. (Apr. 19, 2019). “Use Penetrating Oil to Loosen a Stuck Nut or Bolt.” https://winworks.com/use-penetrating-oil-to-loosen-a-stuck-nut-or-bolt/

    -js

  • Hardware: a case for lanolin

    One hears about ways to get rubber seals or pipes into place. Might lanolin be a candidate?

    I was working on a dishwasher (see my previous post for some background). During reassembly, I had to fit a rubber pipe back into a plastic port.

    The fit was tight, of course, to prevent leakage. Therefore, I knew I wouldn’t get the pipe properly into the port as it was. I needed some lubrication, but what to use?

    I settled on lanolin, which I’ve read is generally safe to use on rubber and plastic. I just applied a thin film around the outside of the pipe, then pushing it into the port was achievable.

    Source:

    Dy-Mark Global: Lanolin Lubricant.

    -js

  • Hardware: pinch clamp vs screw clamp

    With appliance repair, one likes to replace an old part with the same new one. Sometimes, that may not be feasible.

    Last week I was working on a dishwasher with a stuck circulation pump. The pump situation got resolved, but then I had to reconnect, then reclamp, the pump back in the system.

    The pump had been held by pinch clamps, but in my situation screw clamps were much easier. I bought a couple, then clamped the pump in place with them. I’ve run the dishwasher a few times now – no leaks so far.

    Source:

    Practical Mechanic. (Dec 20, 2023). “Pump Replacement – Whirlpool Dishwasher – Circulation Pump Fix.” [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6dG5J4e4vk

    -js

  • Antivirus: how long might a full scan take?

    Running a full virus scan is likely good once in a while. Yet, how much time might such a scan require?

    I mention in my post from July 17, 2026 running a full virus scan on a computer after giving it a tune-up. Assuming no hang-ups, how long might a full virus scan take?

    Of course, the duration of a full virus scan will depend on the CPU, whether the hard drive is solid state (which I guess most primary ones are by now), and how many files are stored on the device. However, some examples might be good, just to give perspective.

    The desktop I’m using right now, purchased in 2022, I believe, has a SSD and an i5 chip with six cores. It shipped with Windows 10, but has auto-upgraded since to 11. Its SSD (the primary hard drive) has about 100GB on it, with another 50GB on a HDD (old school).

    I run Norton360, and a full virus scan takes about six minutes.

    In my experience, full virus scans take less time, the more often one does them. I try to do it about once per week.

    I’ve had devices that took much longer than six minutes to scan; in fact, this one, right now, likely has the fastest scan time I’ve seen in years. Why that might be, and how one can get their computer more quickly scannable, I hope to discuss in coming posts.

    PS: I always hope to post more often than has been happening lately. However, I’ve been tending to some problems that will likely be material for future posts:)

    -js

  • Web: browser hijacking, part 2

    Wondering what website you might have visited to pick up a problem, something might jog your memory.

    The following is by my understanding.

    I mention back in my post from Sept 8 about a browser hijacker that necessitated me to uninstall Chrome.

    I mention in that post that I’m aware that browser hijackers can happen because of downloads. Yet, there was nothing in the Downloads folder, nor among the programs listed in Control Panel, that was suspicious. Moreover, after uninstalling Chrome, I ran a full system scan which showed clean.

    This morning I was looking up the manual to an old multimeter, and ended up at a manuals download site. There, one can view the manuals or download them. I typically just view them, as I did today.

    Suddenly, I was transported into a new tab – a scareware one – where I was told of unsafe content, etc. I clicked the x to close the tab, but it took maybe 15 seconds before it finally closed.

    I recalled, then, that I had visited a manuals site, perhaps that very one, a few weeks back. I think the manual I needed had only been partly viewable, so I’d eventually gone to the manufacturer’s website and found the manual there instead. My system never complained about the manuals website.

    Perhaps, without my knowing, that manuals website, a few weeks back, was the source of the browser hijacker that took over my installation of Chrome.

    Today, when I was visiting that manuals website and got the scareware attack, I was using the Edge browser. Naturally, after I’d closed the scareware tab, I checked Edge for any weird settings changes, especially of the home page, search engine, new tab page, etc. Yet, nothing seemed different.

    So, there might be two lessons here: using caution when visiting nonspecific “manuals” sites, and that Edge might be pretty good at resisting settings changes from hijackers.

    Source:

    IBM. “What is Scareware?” https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/scareware.

    -js

  • Windows: quick format vs format

    In Windows, one gets an option for quick format. What is the difference between that and “not” quick format?

    The other day I ran across a USB drive perhaps fifteen years old. I asked my wife about it; she said all info on it was defunct. I asked if I could have it for my own use: “That’s fine,” she replied.

    I like small USB drives; this one, at 2GB, is great. Moreover, I like formatting old drives to brand new, empty condition. What data might have been on that drive, I wanted it gone. After double-checking with my wife that she was really sure the information on it was no longer wanted, I plugged the drive into a Windows 11 laptop and went to format it.

    The “quick format” option was checked, I believe, but I didn’t want that one. It’s my understanding that quick format leaves all the info on the drive except perhaps the file table. So, an ordinary operating system won’t be able to find the info physically present on the drive, even though it’s still there. However, some programs outside of ordinary operating systems – forensic programs, one might call them – can search a drive cell by cell and find anything still on it.

    I wasn’t worried about a forensic audit of said drive; nonetheless, I wanted it back to brand-new, empty condition. Therefore, I unchecked “quick format.”

    As I mentioned, it’s an old USB drive. The “not quick format” option did take quite a long time. I left it after about five percent completion, so it might have taken anywhere from several minutes to around an hour.

    Source:

    Campbell, W. (Nov 14, 2023). “Formatting Hard Drives Within Windows.” https://blogs.dsu.edu/digforce/2023/11/14/formatting-hard-drives-within-windows/

    -js

  • Web: browsers: hijacking?

    Sometimes, when you open a browser, you might be surprised. At the start, what might one do?

    The following is by my understanding.

    On Windows, I typically use Edge and Norton Private Browser. On Linux, I use Firefox. The Brave browser is also very good, I think: it’s on one of my Windows laptops, but I don’t always think to use it.

    That said, my wife and son like Chrome. I don’t mind it, but prefer the others I’ve mentioned. However, I typically set the search engine to Google.ca, whichever browser I’m using.

    The other day something funny happened: I opened up Chrome but I couldn’t use it. It was for a two-step reason:

    1. Chrome’s home page had been changed to thaitingshopica or some such site.
    2. Norton 360 (the security suite on the computer) wouldn’t let that site open, classifying it as a dangerous webpage.

    It took a couple of minutes for me to realize what was going on, since I don’t, to my knowledge, ever go to thaitingshopica (or whatever) or even know what it is. However, I realized I had to change Chrome’s homepage to something else; otherwise, nobody could use Chrome.

    I did go into the settings and sure enough, the default homepage was thaitingshopica (or whatever). I changed it to Google.ca. However, that wasn’t the only place in the settings I encountered thaitingshopica. I found it in one place greyed out, so it couldn’t be changed. In response, I uninstalled Chrome. Next, I ran a full system scan, which came up clean.

    How Chrome’s home page, on this computer, got switched to thaitingshopica (or whatever) is strange. I looked it up online, and it suggests such could happen with a download. However, I’ve checked the downloads; nobody has downloaded anything recently. Next, I checked the Control Panel for weird programs; nothing there either.

    The situation was mysterious, but I’ve had to uninstall, then reinstall, a browser or two for various reasons. I plan to reinstall Chrome to this computer after maybe another week.

    In the meantime, my wife will likely use Norton Private Browser, which seems to look enough like Chrome that she probably won’t mind.

    Source:

    learn.microsoft.com (Nov 5, 2025). “My browser is hijacked by Thaitingshopica.com how to remove?” https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/5610525/my-browser-is-hijacked-by-thaitingshospica-com-how

    Malwarebytes Labs (2026). “Browser hijacker.” https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/threats/browser-hijacker

    -js

  • Hardware: monitor stuck on hdmi

    A seldom-used system gets started, and the monitor refuses to work. What might one do?

    The following is by my understanding.

    I mention in my post from June 30, 2026 about resurrecting an old computer from 2017 by loading Lubuntu Linux onto it. To my knowledge, the monitor it came with is of the same vintage.

    I went to start up said computer yesterday, but its monitor was unresponsive. It seemed stuck on HDMI mode but the computer is connected to it via VGA. Not knowing what to do, but busy, I left it until today.

    With the computer on, but the monitor unresponsively sleeping, I unplugged the monitor from the power bar, waited maybe a minute, then plugged it back in. The monitor immediately detected the VGA signal, and began displaying as appropriate.

    God knows what happens with system components sometimes, eh?

    Source:

    superuser.com (Jul 9, 2015). “Monitor stuck in HDMI mode.” https://superuser.com/questions/938476/monitor-stuck-in-hdmi-mode

    -js