Go get new rotors, Did you reuse the existing pads? I'd replace those too.

I bet you're hyperextending the rear calipers, hopefully you didn't tear the little rubber boot around the piston.

As far as pedal pressure, have someone step on the brakes and look at the fluid level in the reservoir. I bet you it goes lower than you want it too.

Take care,

George

 

Rick-

There's very little reason to turn a rotor and this action frequently causes problems where none existed before. 'Warpage' is pretty much a myth as a thumping pedal or wheel shaking is caused by easily removable pad deposits on the friction surface.

It's possible that your present clunking is caused by the pads moving around in the caliper due to misplaced spring clips.

 

Thanks guys for the suggestions. In my stuper, I did not get the "pin" on the pad centered to the piston notch. So basically the pad was not making complete contact with the rotor, I had a hunch on this.

I just drove around the city for awhile, reseated the pads to the rotors all is well!!!

 

I think Mikey is on to something. I bet one of your pads isn't seated properly. Turning a rotor wouldn't cause the issue you describe. They only remove a couple thousandths of an inch off the rotor when turning it so that wouldn't make a difference.

The soft pedal will harden back up after the caliper pistons expand back to where they need to be. I'm assuming you squeezed them closed to be able to make room to get the caliper and pads back on the rotor?

When doing brakes I always put the car in reverse and pump the brakes several times while rolling slowly backwards. Keep doing this until the pedal firms back up. DON'T do this as you roll towards your closed garage door or PANIC will set in as you furiously pump the pedal to no avail!! (been there done that) lol.

Another source for the clunking noise is the wheels. MAKE SURE the wheels are seated properly before tightening up the lug nuts. I can't remember about my stock wheels but the 18" aftermarket wheels I have on my Jag are HUB CENTERED and not STUD CENTEREED. I have had 2 different tire stores break studs completely off by not centering the wheel first and then running the lug nuts up with an impact wrench. I heard a loud thunk and them it sounded like loose lug nuts rolling around in the hub cap. When I removed the hub cap there were STUDS rolling around!!! 3 of them on one trip and 2 of them on another trip. Be aware............tire store employees are not well trained for the most part. And if you weren't paying attention it could happen to you too. It's just something else to check when you pull it back apart.

Good luck!

"EZ"

 

There's no reason to have the car in motion at all- these are not drums brakes with automatic adjusters that work only when backing up. Leave it in park.

Rick- glad you got it fixed.

 

You are correct Mikey. Backing the car up is not necessary but it's an old habit. I build a lot of old 60's cars and trucks too so they have rear drums. My current project is a '66 Cadillac Coupe DeVille.

Glad you get 'er fixed Rick and glad it was not expensive!!

"EZ"

 

That's great news! Glad you were able to get it fixed without the outlay of some serious coin.

Rob

 

So easy, Rick.....you had plenty of time to drill the heads on your caliper bolts and fit the safety wire....

Glad you got it squared-away!

 

Congrats on getting your rear brake issue resolved, Rick. I am not looking forward to replacing our rear pads when I do the 60,000-mile service (the car's at 58,250 now). I've never had to deal with a piston that has to be both compressed and rotated at the same time - all my previous brake pad jobs were just using a big ol' C-clamp to compress the piston....

I'm sure I'll be pumping both you and Zane for more tips and tricks when my turn rolls around to tackle our S-Type's rear pads. The new ones are sitting on a shelf in the garage, waiting for the big day....

Oh, and I will NOT be resurfacing the rotors....

 

Jon,
For brake caliper pistons that need to be compressed and rotated at the same time you must buy this tool. KD Tools 3163 - Disc Brake Piston Tool | eBay

Hope this helps!

"EZ"

 

Most of the BIG box auto stores will rent them basically for free, just need to put a deposit down.

After reading some of the posts I did run up and pick up some new ceramics and installed them on the rears, can't hurt.

Jon it is a pretty straight forward procedure, with the tool it goes quick. Just FYI I did use the cube from Joels car on Joyces, the pistons rotated in easily without opening the bleeders. I just loosened the resevoir cap.

Zane I thought about it, I just don't have that tool vance850 posted, or otherwise ?????? NOT!!!!


Oh BTW there are 2 listings for our rear pads, totally different animals. We have the Akebono Calipers.

 

This is not quite true. The piston itself is threaded and retracts of it's own accord when rotated. The compression feature of the tool is redundant.

 

Rick, how much material was remaining on your factory rear pads? I'm guessing less than a quarter of an inch on all four....

Also, you mentioned that there are two listings for our rear pads. I purchased the Wagner ThermoQuiet semi-metallic rear pads from rockauto.com back in March. I put the Wagner ThermoQuiets on our S-Type's front axle in July 2009, they fit perfectly. I assume the rear pads will also fit perfectly. Both Advance Auto Parts and rockauto.com say they are the correct rear pads for our 2005 model (the Wagner part number for the rear pads is MX944). They will indeed fit our rear calipers, correct?



EZ, I'll be "borrowing" the caliper kit from Autozone to do the job. In my neck of the woods, you put down a $25 deposit, and you get it back when you return the kit to the store within the timeframe specified....

 

"REALLY" well warpage also goes by another more technical term thats not pad deposits, nor is it a myth, its called runout. Ive replaced many rotors and hubs for excessive runout, AKA warpage. Pick up a dial indicator and measure the inner and outer faces of rotors. mark the high spots on each side to also check for parallelism. I do not believe in turning "factory" rotors as theyre not thick aftermarket ones that you can barely get new pads to slip around. Factory rotors for the most part if turned will be below minimum specs for thickness.
Jaguar like to see no more than .008, i like no more than .002 personally. also if checking runout and the rotor surface is found to be out of spec. remove the rotors and check the hubs(be sure theyre clean without rust) and check them. I think hubs should be .000" because anyrunout here is magnified times the diameter of the rotor. .002" on the hub is many times .008"+ on the rotor. After replacing hubs(and rechecking, since new arent always perfect either) recheck the rotors. Many times ive found only the hub a problem and the rotors fine. hope this helps. now on to a later comment

 

While theyre disc all the way around I always "seat" pads and or rotors. Especially if replacing pads and not rotors to "seat" the 2 surfaces to each other quickly before returning the car to a customer. Otherwise the pedal is pretty soft untill the 2 surfaces bed together. This is nothing more than a quick bed. Their normal braking afterwards will do the rest. And Rick(and others)
On brake squeel Ive found it more oftens happens to those that are "light frequent" brakers, which is mostly women since we men tend to drive alittle more aggressivly. Light braking tends to build deposits, or basically "polishes" the pad and rotor surfaces.
Semi metalllics while great performers tend do this to light brakers. My "temporary fix" its to clean the surfaces which meens panic braking a few times forward and in reverse. This cleans deposits or the glazing from the surfaces and will stop the squeeling. May need to be done more than that depending on the amount and how bad. Reason I say temporary is because the person driving and their braking "HABITS" will get you right back to were you start. case in point I use when talking to customers about this is from my personal experiance.
My ex had a Beemer that always squeeled like crazy when braking and she always thought she needed new brakes. But after I drove it for a few days it would stop....until she drove for a few days again. I let her drive my Jag for a week when I was in school, my brakes NEVER squeek. She picked me up in the airport and I drove off. 1st time I hit the brakes and SQUEEEEEEEEKK!!!
She just hung her head and said "SORRY" I got them to finally stop by the time we got home.
Now this is the same car and same pads/rotors. only differance is the drivers and those drivers differant braking "habits".
I would follow her to work sometimes and all I would see is. brakes brakes brakes. she would hit the brake 20x's to my once. I would take my foot off the gas and let the car slow down( yes I leave room between the car in front of me) and then when I needed to brake I used them.....

 

Sorry Mikey, I guess I was not clear in my post. If you look at the link I posted there is no "compression ferature" on this tool. It's just a cube with multiple pins on it that fit various applications. It does not "compress" anything but does turn the caliper piston and screw it back in. I only said compress because a previous poster had used the term and I understood what he was talking about and figured everyone else would too. Some of you **** retentive types love to pic nits.

When I said you "MUST" buy this tool I was merely meaning that it is almost impossible to do the job without it, at least in my experience. And it's a very cheap and handy tool to add to the tool box!! (for us tool collectors in the group)

"EZ"

 

Brutal,
I'm hoping you have described my problem with my squeeling brakes on my 2003 S-Type. It has the 6 cyl and a manual 5 speed so I usually gear down and let the engine do the braking and then I only have to lightly use the brakes to stop the car. Many times in traffic by gearing down I dopn't have to touch the brakes at all. But my front brakes ahve started squeeling like crazy here lately. I'll try your method of stopping the squeeling and see what happens. Thanks!!

"EZ"

 

I'm very familiar with the two terms and they are not interchangeable as you infer. Runout can be caused (for instance) by a incorrectly machined rotor or hub. Nothing has 'warped', using the correct definition of the word- which means being twisted, bent or distorted out of it's original shape. The compenent was probably incorrectly manufactured in the first place and does not meet manufacturing standard in terms of lateral runout and possibly parallelism of the two surfaces as well.

Rotor warpage subsequently being induced by misuse of the brakes is a different kettle of fish and again, I've never seen a case that can be fixed by resurfacing the piece. Routine turning of rotors at every brake job is unnecessary and just machines away expensive metal.

1965-82 Corvettes are very sensitive to runout given the fixed caliper design and can withstand approx. .008" runout accordingly. Floating caliper designs as used on our S-Types are much more forgiving.

 

The idea of warped, or out of round rotors comes mostly from extreme heat cycling. Something like hitting a puddle and spraying cold water on a hot rotor.

Honestly, rotors at least stock blank ones are so cheap for these cars, that there is NO point in turning them. $20 to turn, $35 gets you new ones.

Take care,

George

 

Have you ever seen one? I haven't.