Good point Alvin - and you are doing great for 79! Probably better than me and I'm in my mid 30's.

The tool he is referring to is commonly called a "brake cube" or "caliper cube" - it is designed to fit usually on a 3/8 ratchet. It has little protrusions on each face designed to match the dimples in the face of the caliper piston. This allows the cube to bite the caliper piston so you can turn it, while applying force to push it in - sometimes it requires a good deal of force.

I'd highly recommend you pick one up, they go about $12 to $15 at any auto parts store. Now they are made to be semi-universal so you may have to play with it to find out which face matches the dimples on your car. I had to slightly grind down the protrusions on mine to fit the rear pistons on my SAAB. Nothing a dremel and a few minutes of time couldn't correct. Also if the rear piston is really fighting you when trying to depress it, you can crack open the bleeder valve at the caliper - then you are pushing fluid out at the wheel rather than forcing it back through the entire system. You will need to bleed the brakes if you do this however, so take note.

The job could be done with needle nose pliars, but it will be much more difficult and you risk stabbing the piston seal.

Use quality rotors and pads, this is not something to skimp on. I prefer EBC rotors for the X type. EBC pads are good too. I used Centric ceramic pads on my X - much less dust and a better bite.

Don't skip over the brake fluid change (assuming you have not done so already) - it can be a PITA if you don't have the right tools but it can be done. Over time your brake fluid will accumulate water from condensation in the lines and this will allow your fluid to boil at a lower temperature. Brake fluid boils = no brakes. I use a Mity Vac to suck all the old stuff out, but you can use a helper and the pedal pump method too.

 

Be sure to let us know the results. I'm sure you will be glad you did it.

 

Guaranteed you will do your first brake job and never again pay for one. I can do the pad replacement on any car inside 10 minutes per wheel if the caliper isn't seized. The toughest part is pressing the piston back into the caliper, front you use a c-clamp back you buy the 2.00 tool that fits on your ratchet to rotate them back in.

 

Steve11 has a few great tips on brake jobs, especially about never pushing brake fluid back into the system. See his post here (#4)
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/s...ghlight=brakes

 

Akebono’s were recommended on this forum and I put them all around last week.
They work great. No more sticky brakes. No more brake dust. Shorter pedal travel.

Note: The rear pads have a "guide" pin protruding from the back which line up the outside pads. This pin interferes with the inside pad where the caliper piston sits against the pad. This means that the piston presses on the pin and only the outside edge of the pad presses against the rotor. And since this distorts the pad and the whole setup, the outside edge ends up dragging on the rotor heavily without the brakes applied, and noticeably slows the car. It also produced a “burning brake” odor, and worst of all it resulted in generating a tremendous amount of heat. I was worried about warping my rotors.

I had to grind the pin down on each of the inside pads to get the piston to press uniformly on the back of the pad and for the pad to apply flat against the rotor.

I checked out the old pads and I could see the same issue there, with the caliper piston outline overlapping the pin. You could see that the pin got caught in one of the two groves of the piston that are used to turn the piston back into the caliper. The result seems to be that as the pads wear, the pistons cannot continue to slowly turn out, as they should in order to the take up growing gap between the pad and the rotor. This creates a gradual increase in brake pedal travel over time.

I assume I have the correct pads. They fit fine and they match the old ones.

Anyone else recognize this issue?

 

I replaced the original rear pads with OEM pads at roughly 50000 and now have 70000 plus. There wasn't any pins of any kind that I saw, such as you've described. There wasn't any unusual wear on the old pads and the new ones are wearing normally. I can't picture what you're saying.

 

Here is a picture of what I purchased from RockAuto. There is a guide pin on the back side, opposite the butterfly spring. Other brands appear to have the same pin.

 

Oopps... this is the X-Type forum.
I should have posted to the XJ8 forum.
Sorry for the confusion.

Never mind.

 

Just installed Brake Motive drilled and slotted rotors $135 off ebay and got ceramic pads from Advance Auto $140 I did have to go with a new master cylinder $340 and i also put larger calipers(Bosh) on the rear $468 this seems to make a big difference for me in stopping power