I'm doing the pads myself and front were no problem. The rear ones I'm having trouble since the automatic parking brake sets when the car is off. I put the car in nuetral to trick the auto parking brake and I managed tosqueeze the caliper piston in enough to install the driver side rear pads. But the passenger side rear piston won't budge using a giant "C" channel to squeeze it.

Anyone know a trick to this?

Not sure why the piston is stuck and will not compress. THX

 

The rear brakes don't push in like the fronts do... You have to turn the piston to move it in and out. You can either get a tool made specifically for this from the parts store (should be about $10 at the most), or you can use a needle nose pliers to grab it and twist.

 

Interesting.....so how do you know what position to turn too? I notice the piston has slots opposite from each other where the knub from the pad back fits into. Is it 90 degrees or something from that original position?

 

It doesn't turn to a certain position to allow it to push in... turning it pushes it in. Just think of it as a threaded screw that goes in and out. Turning it one way pushes it in, and turning it the other way pushes it out. Just keep turning until it is back into the caliper, then replace the pads and go as normal for the rest of the brake job.

 

Thanks SBXT, that would explain how I got the driver side done. When I was using the "C" channel, I noticed the pivot part of the C channel is free to turn and it was turning the piston in a clockwise direction. I thought I was squeezing the piston when really I was turning it and making it smaller. Great Job! THX

 

Just replaced my brakes all around myself and found your suggestion of using needle-nosed pliers for the rear caliper pistons worked fine (but you have to be strong and brace the caliper on the frame or someplace it won't slip. NOTE: rear pistons both rotated clockwise and I did this with the bleeder valve open with a plastic tube on it going into an empty soda pop bottle. I put on Akebono ceramic pads and new disks, bled the brake lines with new fluid, and it works great. Thank you for your suggestion or I would have had to borrow a special tool from my mechanic friend (mechanic friends don't usually like to lend specialty tools out though)

Actually thinking of painting my calipers too. Anybody tried this yet?

Don G.

 

so3dude & Troopdad . . . you might find this thread
helpful. It istheexperienceI had"good and bad" withreplacing my brake pads.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/m_46830/tm.htm, under the heading "I Hate Jaguar"

Good Luck

 

Cajun:
I did see that thread and post and now I remember where I saw those nice painted calipers--yours! They look great and I think I'll do the same....but what color? Red or yellow are my preferences with leaning toward red. Thanks for the good photos too.

Don G.

 

Sure Don, lots of people have had a go at it with great success. You can go any color paint, just make sure it's the high heat safe type. I didn't remove my calipers entirely, only the part that wasn't attached to lines..lol.

It is pretty easy, just tape off alot of the areas you don't want oversprayed.

Myself and others have also taken the opportunity to take the rotors off and paint the 'hat' and edge of the rotor where it often rusts from not being painted from the manufacturer or treated somehow. You might want to do this if you can easily see the rotors between the spokes of the rim. Again, once the calipers are 'dangling' and you have the strength to remove those rear bolts on that other caliper piece, the rotor should slide right off.

Enjoy!

 

Just wanted to show my new painted brakes. It really sets off the car color nicely I think.

http://s149.photobucket.com/albums/s...rrent=jag3.jpg
http://s149.photobucket.com/albums/s...rrent=jag2.jpg

For the investment, it's definitely worth it.

Don G.

 

Looks good, although I would "personally" paint them silver and it looks like it came from factory.

 

Instead of the links, just popped the image into here for you. We're all lazy you know. Just be sure to use that 'direct' link on your photobucket page, and drop it in using the symbol above.






The calipers are really flashy now! I painted mine black, since the car wasn't really a Sport or 'R', but then again, I did my jeep's calipers in red too...so don't listen to me.



If you like the look, you did a good job and should be proud of yourself. (and you can always change it later if you want)

 

Trooperdad - the red looks great. My Jag is British Racing Green so I'm afraid the red would look too much like Christmas colors. So I'm leaning towards silver or black.

Regarding the rear brakes I read somewhere on the Internet that a special tool is required. You might want to do a google search as I don't recall thename of the tool.

Where did you buy the pads and rotors? What brand, etc. did you buy? I'm interested in doing this job myself as a Jaguar mechanic (non-dealer) quoted me 500 - 600 per axle to do a brake job!

 

The mechanic (local non-Jaguar shop) said he'd purchase all the brake components I needed to do a brake job (pads and rotors). I used Akebono ceramic pads $80 per axel, and I can't remember the rotor mfctr but cost was about $200/axel average so total was under $600 just for parts! Rotors were not special or drilled, just smooth. Kept the old rotors to see if I can turn them so they will be replacements in the future. Not that hard to DIY if you've done disc brakes before. Good luck! Ask questions anytime.

Don G.

 

Well done Don!